The future of web applications

Students now arrive at university and college armed with smart phones and laptops with a bewildering range of applications and functionality. Increasingly IT managers are struggling to know how to adapt ageing institutional systems to connect to these applications. This webinar will focus on how widgets and plug-ins can be used to extend the functionality of systems as well as connect to mobile devices.

The webinar will include an introduction to current developments exploring the potential to extend the Virtual Learning Environment and will provide an overview of the Jisc Observatory report  Delivering Web to Mobile. A short overview of the Jisc Distributed Virtual Learning Environment (DVLE) programme will be followed by a a demonstration of the widgets developed by the Widg@t project and the Edukapp store project which is developing an Education app store for the UK. The session will conclude with an opportunity to ask questions.

Presenters

• Scott Wilson, Assistant Director, Jisc CETIS
• Rob Englebright, Programme Manager, e-Learning, Jisc
• Fridolin Wild, Edukapp project, Open University
• Lucas Anastasiou, Edukapp project, Open University
• Franck Perrin, Widg@t project,

What will you learn or take away?

Webinar participants will be given a good overview of current publications and an understanding of the potential for widgets and plug-ins to extend the functionality of legacy learning environments. Participants will take away ideas to use in the their own institutions.

Relevant links / websites

• Web to Mobile report
• Jisc Distributed Virtual Learning Environment programme
• Edukapp store
• W3C Widget specification
• Apache Wookie widget engine