Use of innovative technologies on an e-learning course

This paper examines how four innovative Internet technologies were incorporated into one course at The UK Open University. The technologies were: blogging, audio conferencing, instant messaging and Harvard’s Rotisserie system. Each of the technologies is addressed, and details from the student evaluation are provided. The student feedback on all the technologies was positive. The role of the learning object based course design is examined and it is suggested that this approach facilitates the incorporation of innovative technologies into a course. The authors suggest that as students become increasingly accustomed to standard communication tools such as asynchronous bulletin boards, there will be a shift towards implementing a range of technologies, each offering particular affordances for different forms of communication. D 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.