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Increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in education has, along with other consequences, shifted the context from teacher-centric to student-centric. These changes pose fresh challenges to the prevalent education systems all over the world, which already have fallen short of the expectations. The purpose of this study is to show that e-learning is not only about ICT following a holistic approach to learning which embeds systemic approach and learning loops but also about students and teacher’s actions in ICT-enabled learning environment. This study investigates the importance of engagement of students and teachers in blended learning with a focus on factors which affect this engagement.

Based on systems theory and socio-technological approach to e-learning, the paper documents an experiment which was carried out in a higher education institution. Postgraduate students of one course were divided into two groups. Instructor of the first group was not required to engage with the online content and had to deliver his course in a traditional face-to-face format. Instructor of the second group continuously spent time on the learning management system (LMS), developing more content, participating in online discussions and responding to students. LMS tracked the online activity of both the instructors, and semi-structured interviews of students were conducted.

Based on behaviour of 152 students of a postgraduate programme, students’ time spent online is directly proportional to the instructor’s online time, promptness of instructor’s response to online activities queries of students increased student engagement, the students’ engagement increases if the online content is related to the syllabus but engagement is not the same as the face-to-face lectures in the class.

The research was conducted in India and is based on the behaviour of instructors and students in India. It was focussed on engagement issues of blended learning, while other issues of blended learning have not been in the focus of the research.

The research is important for the practice of higher education, and the result of the study can be taken into consideration while developing online courses for students enrolled in higher education.

If higher education institutions take a strategic decision to use ICT in e-learning, engagements of participants and factors affecting engagement are crucial for the better quality of education. In such a way, blended learning fulfils requirements of a holistic approach to learning.

Despite the fact that e-learning as a way to deliver academic content has been extensively researched, there are not many studies focussed on engagement issues in blended learning, and even fewer studies have been conducted in an experimental way which allow in-depth research.

Covers such techniques as action learning, open learning, computer‐based training, mentoring and group facilitation.

Recent publications and resources concerning the dramatic changes in European politics, and future business prospects following the introduction of the Single Market in 1992 are discussed.

This paper investigates the interaction effect of audio and video, and studies lip synchronization (lip sync). The study shows a comprehensive evaluation of achievable audio and video quality undertaken based upon different sets of impairments between audio and video, prior to transmission. The tests have been conducted on two different task scenarios, i.e. passive communication and interactive communication (person to person). The research concentrates on quantifying the effects of network impairments (packet loss) on perceived audio and video quality, as well as finding the correlations between audio and video in multimedia applications. The results presented in this paper show the strong interaction dependency between audio and video. It was justified that video has a unique benefit on multimedia quality for its psychological effects. The findings also concluded that the sensory interactions, and the attention given to a particular aspect of performance, are clearly content‐dependent.

This paper aims to present the schematic for building a multimedia information visualization system and digital archive which takes advantage of a wider spectrum of media elements (images, sound, datasets) and interactivity with regards to research level historical body of knowledge.

The methodology for this interactive multimedia visualized system was based on create a digital environment to explore larger bodies of research that expand on simple text‐based Information Retrieval Database systems. Through photos, videos, interactive maps, digital audio interviews, primary documents and narrative structures the system presents new methodologies for building digital libraries. The “educational” objective of this project was to present a stylistically elegant yet intellectually robust interactive multimedia information system for academic libraries.

Building new online digital libraries must involve robust interactivity to take advantage of the computer's intrinsic specificity and the wider set of choices open to the human perceptual apparatus. Instead of text‐based navigation systems, a more creative set of visual “tools” should be explored for digital libraries including interactivity and cognitive cartographies. Key here are the terms “visual metaphor” and innovatively structuring visually intuitive “narratives” into non‐linear dynamic but humanly usable information systems.

In expanding the range of “allowable” “historical archival media” (audio, video, images, datasets, databases) in digital libraries and keeping research level academic integrity, future questions regard what this means for historiography, information construction, and questions surrounding epistemology and “archives” of the future.

Technically, the successes in building this digital library information system solve the question of how to present a large robust amount of information indifferent rich media formats in an interesting and engaging manner. The project points to methodologies to present a research spectrum depth structure of textual material that can seamlessly be incorporated through wider spectrum of media elements: images, video, audio, music, datasets and interactivity.

This paper provides a methodology for marrying a textual body of academic research with a wider spectrum of media elements (sound, images, datasets, music) and incorporating them into a digital library through an innovative methodology. It will be valuable to anyone needing guidelines and specific algorithmic recipes and suggestions for building new millennia digital libraries which take advantage of a wider spectrum of media elements.

The paper deals with the design and creation of an intelligent user interface augmenting the user experience in everyday environments, by providing an immersive audio environment. We highlight the potential of augmenting the visual real environment in a personalized way, thanks to context modeling techniques. The LISTEN project, a system for an immersive audio augmented environment applied in the art exhibition domain, provides an example of modeling and personalization methods affecting the audio interface in terms of content and organization. In addition, the different evolution steps of the system and the outcomes of the accompanying user tests are here reported.

Collaborative learning with recorded lectures and presentations can be supported by allowing users to anchor notes in the documents and exchange them with other learners. While the traditional modality for annotation and discussion is text, there are a number of reasons in favour of supporting other media and modalities as well. We describe the extension of a lecture‐on‐demand annotation and discussion system that allows learners to use spoken notes. Our main focus is on the development of a suitable user interface that facilitates the retrieval of speech data employing signal‐processing algorithms while at the same time being simple and easy to use.

TV changes in several disciplines concurrently: from analogue to digital, from scheduled broadcasts to on‐demand TV on the internet, from a lean‐back (passive) to a lean‐forward (active) media, from straight watching to the consumption of content connected to additional services, from the sole TV viewer to the viewer being part in social networks and communities regarding to the TV content, etc. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the adaptation of design and realization of TV program formats to the changes that happen to television. In addition, the paper would like find out how to support the design of interactions, dynamic narrations and content types as well as the role of the internet within these processes and this application area.

Currently, there exist many approaches towards the development of social, collaborative, and interactive TV program formats and systems. Within the scope of this paper, the authors present latest case studies and example program formats for each case. The paper examines them concerning their interaction possibilities and architecture as well as the influence and utilization of the web. Finally, the paper provides a simple categorization according to the narration character, content, and interactivity types of the listed TV program formats.

Caused by the collaborative and interactive characteristic of the web, a big influence of the web concerning the hardware‐ and content‐sided development of TV is discovered. Nevertheless, the web's potential is absolutely not exploited in this area, neither to give more dynamic to the narration, nor to appreciate the content type or the interactivity. Finally, the paper identifies a high effort, occurrence and development in the interactivity, in contrary to the narration characteristic and content types.

Only one representative, example TV program format enabling interactions by the viewer for each case in the paper, has been chosen. The authors make no claim to be complete, in covering all genres, possibilities of interaction or TV program formats existing for the field of interactive/social/collaborative TV.

This paper presents an extension of a previous paper presented at the MoMM2009.

Multimedia is the integration of text, graphics, sound, still and moving images all on the same medium. Examples are television, videotapes and videodiscs—but these are often some‐what inflexible because the viewer/user cannot interact and actively participate in any real sense with the material being viewed because the user, despite seemingly being in control (e.g. with a videodisc), has to go where the program goes.

The planning and production phases of the project Interactive Video on Microcomputers in Libraries were funded jointly by the British Library Research & Development Department, Brighton Polytechnic Department of Librarianship, and the Polytechnic of Central London Library Services. The duration of this phase of the project was 1 September 1985 to 31 August 1986. The research, analysis and planning stages were completed between September and December 1985. During the eight months from January to August 1986 production was completed and limited evaluation attempted.