Information and communication technologies play a crucial role in a number of modern industries. Among these, education has perhaps seen the greatest increases in efficiency and availability through Internet-based technologies. E-Learning as a Socio-Cultural System: A Multidimensional Analysis provides readers with a critical examination of the theories, models, and best practices in online education from a social perspective, evaluating blended, distance, and mobile learning systems with a focus on the interactions of their practitioners. Within the pages of this volume, teachers, students, administrators, policy makers, and IT professionals will all find valuable advice and enriching personal experiences in the field of online education.
Vaiva Zuzeviciute is an Honorary Professor of Pecs University, Hungary (since 2013), Vice Dean of the Faculty of Public Security at Mykolas Romeris University, Kaunas, Lithuania. Her Masters degrees are in Education (1995) and Public Management (1998); her Doctoral thesis was defended in 2005 in the field of Higher Education Didactics, and in 2008, a Habilitation procedure in the field of Lifelong Learning Culture was completed. Areas of scientific interests include didactics of higher education, development in e-learning, sustainable development and intercultural learning, and civic education. Her teaching responsibilities include teaching graduates and doctorate candidates, delivery of courses (Development and Implementation of Projects, Researching Adults Learning Needs, Lifelong Learning Strategies, Strategies of Foreign Language Learning, Intercultural Competence), development and implementation of courses for e-learning, and consultations on curriculum development methodology. Prof. Vaiva Zuzeviciute acts as deputy-chair at the Joint Committee of a doctoral study programme in education (http://www.educationdoctoral.eu/), acts as a board member of National Association of Distance Education in Lithuania, serves as an institutional representative for ASEM-Hub (Asia Europe Meeting, Adult Education HUB), and participates in a number of other professional associations.
Edita Butrime graduated from Kaunas University of Technology with Masters degree of Computer Sciences and Masters degree of Education Technologies. She defended her Doctoral thesis in 2011 in the field of e-learning at the Department of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, Vytautas Magnus University. Edita Butrime works at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences as director of the Teachers Educational Competence Center. Her areas of scientific interests are e-learning as a sociocultural system, computer-supported collaborative learning, and creativity. She has 10 years of teaching experience in computer graphics at Vilnius Art Academy. She teaches undergraduates and also delivers (and organises) professional development courses for higher education teachers. She leads blended learning courses: Introduction to Studies, Introduction to Computer Science and Study Skills Training. She participates in a number of international activities and projects: 6th Framework, INCLUD-ED; Strategies for Inclusion and Social Cohesion in Europe from Education, No. FP6-028603-2; Socrates, E-learning, FeCONE, No. 2005-3872/001-001ELE-ELEB14, Socrates Minerva, AITMES; No. 225398-CP-1-2005-1-ES-MINERVA-M; and others). She is a member of National (Lithuanian) Association of Distance Education, IADIS (International Association for Development of the Information Society), and other associations.
Daiva Vitkute-Adgauskiene is the Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and an Associated Professor at the Department of Applied Informatics. She graduated in Applied Mathematics from Kaunas Technology University, earned her PhD degree in Informatics from Vytautas Magnus University and EMBA from Baltic Management Institute. She has 24 years of teaching experience in different disciplines of informatics, and has also worked for more than 10 years with a mobile operator in Lithuania, leading the development of innovative mobile services and solutions. Her main research interests are in system simulation and control, text mining and semantic analysis, and e-learning technologies.
