The project will focus on the setup and working through of the feasibility of peer-2-peer (P2P) technologies to aid the design of learning in the UK.

Secure personal institutional and inter-institutional repository environment (SPIRE)

The project will focus on the setup and working through of the feasibility of peer-2-peer (P2P) technologies to aid the design of learning in the UK. This will be undertaken in three main forms:

  1. The pragmatic setup and working through of a supported installation and running of a P2P system (LionShare) for HEis for until March 2007
  2. Researching the range of working practices and methodologies involved in combining e-learning courseware authoring with the collaborative possibilities of a P2P system
  3. Initial exploration into combining the Reload tool with LionShare functionality

We expect that these approaches will expose a number of technical and institutional / policy issues within the UK. The project will then act as a catalyst for the take up of P2P systems within the UK at both the technical and methodological levels. The SPIRE project will also propose a road map for the wider introduction of P2P systems and their strategic linking with the e-learning landscape in general.

NB- the objectives described above were those at the start of the project. For a variety of reasons, the installation of Lionshare in this way was not possible. The SPIRE final report will detail the reasons for this. As a result, the project focused on Web2.0 more broadly, and conducted a major survey of tutors' and students' use of Web2.0 services. 

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