Managing Learning in Virtual Settings : The Role of Context

Managing Learning In Virtual Settings: The Role Of Context discusses the basis for the development and management of learning contexts, with contributions from many diverse domains. It stresses the dimension of context in a world dominated by a focus on the dimension of content while explaining the development of balanced, organic and successful learning environments and strategies. Managing Learning In Virtual Settings: The Role Of Context emphasizes the role of context in the development and management of virtual learning environments and opens up new threads in clarifying the influence of contextual issues on learning.

Antonio Dias de Figueiredo is a Professor of Information Systems at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, since 1984. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Manchester, U.K., in 1976. For a period of six years he represented Portugal in the Intergovernmental Informatics Program of UNESCO, where he was elected Vice-President for the Western Europe Region (1994/1996). At the invitation of the NATO Science Committee, Brussels, he integrated for a period of four years the NATO Special Program Panel on Advanced Educational Technology. He has participated in various European projects, both as a partner and as a science advisor, and acted on various occasions as a consultant to the European Commission in matters regarding the definition of strategies for ICT in education. At the invitation of the European Commission, he contributed in 1995 to the preparation of the White Book on Education and Training for the XXI Century. He has collaborated with! OECD on various occasions in initiatives regarding Information and Communication Technologies in Education. He was the Chairman of PROMETEUS (PROmoting Multimedia access to Education and Training in EUropean Society), a Memorandum of Understanding promoted by the European Commission, between March 2000 and March 2001. He was awarded an Honoris Causa by Universidade Aberta, the Portuguese Open University, in 1997, and the Sigillum Magnum by the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2000. He is the author of over 200 papers.

Ana Paula Afonso is a Doctoral student in Educational Sciences, major in Educational Technology, at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Simultaneously with her doctoral studies, she is a researcher at the Centre for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra, since 2000. She was also a researcher at the Institute of Cognitive Psychology, a Research & Development unit of the same Faculty, since 1999. She obtained her M.Sc. in Educational Sciences, major in Educational Psychology, from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, in 2000. She graduated in Educational Sciences in 1996, at the same University. Her main scientific research interests include Educational Sciences, Educational Psychology, Organizational Psychology, Organizational Learning, Knowledge Management, Web-based Learning, Learning Communities, and Information Systems.