Ms. Ruth Thompson, the newly appointed Director of the Higher Education Strategy and Implementation Group visited the OU today for in-depth discussions with OU Vice-Chancellor Prof Brenda Gourley and most of the Vice-Chancellors Executive Team. Ms. Thompson visited KMi to have a first-hand look at OU innovations in learning and knowledge technologies. Dr. Paul Clark…
Douglas Engelbart (inventor of much of today’s personal computing) accompanied by Frode Heglund (UCL) spent 23 June with Simon Buckingham Shum, demonstrating technologies and discussing the overlap in their visions of future computing infrastructure for knowledge work. Engelbart is recipient of the US National Medal of Technology "for creating the foundations of personal computing including…
Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, today came to KMi as part of a visit to the Open University to find out about the current state of the art of Open Learning. He was shown Lyceum (in the context of the OU's flagship Language Learning courses); and a…
Trustees of the OU Foundation today visited KMi to learn of the research projects that are gaining income and prestige for the University as a whole. The visitors included Lord Alf Dubs, Martin Hall and Joan Armatrading, together with existing Trustees Michael Woodall, Brian Wolfe, Penelope Hughes-Hallett and Dr John Drysdale. Projects were demonstrated by…
Today KMi hosted a visit by key members of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Dr. Marshall (Mike) Smith, Program Director of the Foundation's Education Program, and Dr. Catherine Casserly a consultant to the same program, were visiting the Open University at the invitation of Vice-Chancellor Professor Brenda Gourley. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation…
René Olivieri, Chief Executive of Blackwell Publishing and Trustee of the Tubney Charitable Trust, paid a brief visit to KMi today as part of an in-depth visit to the OU. The overall visit, organised by Sarah Jarman of the OU Development Office, had several goals, focussed on highlighting the scale and quality of the OU’s…
The Hon Richard Godber, High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, today visited KMi. The Sheriff is Her Majesty The Queen's representative in the County and the office dates back over a thousand years. The system of appointing Sheriffs reflects the antiquity of the office. It is the responsibility of each High Sheriff to provide the names of…
Hilary Baxter, the new Business Director for UKERNA (provider JANET, the UK’s education and research network), visited today to discuss the pioneering work KMi has undertaken with local schools. Baxter’s team undertakes “account management of JANET within HE, FE, Adult & Community Learning, Specialist Colleges and possibly schools in the future.” KMi initiated the MKSchools.net…
On September 11th, KMi were host to 45 representatives from the Danish Association for Flexible Learning who were on a three day tour of the UK. The group had expressed a particular in interest in e-learning. The OU has a growing number of students in Denmark and delegates heard presentations from Judith Margolis & Mike…
Margaret Sharp, Baroness Sharp of Guildford, came to KMi this afternoon as part of her visit to the Open University. Her interest in coming to KMi was to discuss the effective use and development of new technologies in learning. Baroness Sharp is the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Higher Education in the House of Lords. She…
