Digital educational resources. The rapid expansion of the use of ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) as a support tool in face-to-face education as well as in the development of entirely virtual study programmes has generated the need to develop and move forward in the knowledge of Learning Objects (LOs) and Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs). In this area, GIEL-ELIT has carried out an important task in collaborating with the Spanish Learning Objects Network (REDAOPA) in the development of a range of projects such as participation in scientific dissemination work on LOs, the organisation of a Symposium on Learning Objects and Learning Designs (2007), the maintenance of REDAOPA's website, etc... In particular, GIEL-ELIT researches and advances in the knowledge of LOs through the in-depth study and generation of several Learning Object Repository projects (Bildu, Goxo, etc...), the maintenance of a blog on the topic (re-learning) or the development of authoring tools such as Autore as part of the 2002-2007 Basque Country in the Information Society programme.
Authoring tools. Involvement in the design and development of AUTORe
Platforms. LMS, CMS, involvement in the creation of eKASI. Learning management platforms have been, and continue to be, one of the historical core themes the GIEL-ELIT group has been focusing on; several of its members have been working on this field since 1997/98 and the fruit of it is the start-up of Virtual Campuses based on the use of these platforms; their evolution and in-depth study have enabled the group to manage several types of LMS (Learning Management Systems) platforms and to design and develop new and advanced Open Source platforms such as eKASI.
PLE (Personal Learning Environment) Personal Learning Environments are resources for the personal organisation of learning. Outlined for the first time only in 2000/01, their use did not take off until the appearance of web 2.0 and the resources accessible from that environment. The possibility that many of these resources are easy to personalise and facilitate learning through the most varied means has brought about a resurgence of interest in PLE design and management. GIEL-ELIT works on this area, in particular on the design and management of PLEs that allow users to manage the rich and varied source of resources currently accessible and which undoubtedly result in improved types of learning which are the focus of our designs: formal, non formal and informal.
Training and dissemination of the use of ICT among teaching professionals. GIEL-ELIT believes that the training of faculty is one of the mainstays for the implementation and innovative use of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the classroom, and hence for facilitating learning. Consequently, GIEL-ELIT promotes actions for an improved training of faculty at the different university levels (for example, it has designed and developed a Master's programme for the training of teachers responsible for ICT at non-university education centres, it is committed to the development of teacher networks for the development of ICT at universities, designs courses for the training of tutors in virtual environments, etc...), participates in national and international forums that address this topic (EDEN, Fundación Telefónica, elearningeuropa, IADIS, etc...), and promotes de dissemination of advances in the areas it works on (by organising seminars, courses, conferences, etc.).
Quality and evaluation of e-learning. One of GIEL-ELIT ‘s genuine interests is to monitor and control the quality of the results of learning in virtual environments; to this end the group participates in national and international task forces on the topic (AENOR, ...), in research projects for determining the best quality indicators of virtual learning, and participates in conferences where it disseminates its views and findings (Guadalajara 2006, etc).
