University of Reading to roll out e-learning tool

The University of Reading is developing an e-learning resource that will allow lecturers to deliver teaching via mobile phones.

As part of a three-year project funded by the European Commission FP7 Research programme - which is looking to meet various objectives in the categories of Cooperation, Ideas, People and Capacities - the institution is hoping to enhance the digital needs of students through its product INTUITEL.

The theme of the platform is Technology Enhanced Learning and it was initially rolled out in October this year, after its creators received €2.9 million (£2.35 million).

It has been designed to offer the positive aspects of traditional education and deliver them through an online portal, while students will receive all feedback from tutors face-to-face.

Professor Atta Badii, director of the Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory and leader of the INTUITEL research at the university, said higher education facilities will ignore e-learning "at their peril".

"They will need to embrace such disruptive trends and seek to leverage their intellectual and social capital, as well as their international standing and alliances to exploit this trend," he added.

Feedback will be based around insights gained from monitoring students' learning styles, pace and attitude to the e-learning.

This is also seeking to assess the cultural and emotional context in which studies take place, as well as environmental factors such as noise, screen size and download speeds.

According to Prof Badii, this project gives universities the opportunity to re-invent their offerings and launch new accredited courses in order to support the rising number of individuals looking to engage in online training platforms.

The expert stated that INTUITEL is aiming to transform e-learning by using technology that is more intelligent and which gives students the best of both academic worlds.

He remarked: "We want to empower teachers and learners and to improve their quality of experience, liberating their interactions and knowledge-sharing from some of the constraints of time, place and space."