RITE/LINCS: Research Institute for Technologies in Education and Learning through Interactive Networked Collaboration and Simulation

New Information

RITE and LINCS Merge

The LINCS conference had an overall attendance of some 80 participants. It served its purpose of familiarizing our stakeholders with the NCE program, other stakeholders and researchers. It also provided an opportunity for all those submitting LOI's to meet - 6 were represented including all 4 who were asked to submit full proposals.

After the LINCS conference, we met with Carl Cuneo of McMaster University to discuss merging the RITE and LINCS proposals. This has been an ongoing discussion since before the submission of Letters of Intent. LINCS and RITE have very similar objectives and philosophies, and are complementary in terms of the participants involved.

We have agreed to merge the two proposals and submit one proposal that synthetises both projects, combining the strengths of the two. The final proposal will be submitted through McMaster.

LINCS and RITE have similar strengths in terms of research teams, stakeholders and industry participation. They have a common emphasis on evaluation. They differ primarily in their statements of research objectives, with those of RITE being defined in terms of networks and products, and those of LINCS being defined in terms of socio-economic impact. It is straightforward to combine these objectives with those for LINCS becoming part of the evaluation framework for RITE, and the research teams in LINCS becoming part of the RITE networks.

The LINCS and RITE teams at Calgary and McMaster will now work together to prepare a strong final proposal. The RITE team has already prepared a set of documents for their university, industry and government partners and these are being sent to LINCS participants:

Tom Calvert co-leader of the SFU proposal attended the LINCS conference, and we had some discussion about the possibility of a single combined proposal. This would be desirable in achieving the NCE objective of a Canadian network incorporating all of those deeply involved in Technology-Based Learning. The limited funding available currently makes it very difficult to address this objective, and none of us are optimistic that a single project can be achieved. However, the discussions will continue, with RITE and LINCS now being a unified project, and we will report any significant progress to all our partners. Currently, we are focused entirely on developing RITE/LINCS as a very strong and competitive proposal.

RITE/LINCS Conference

RITE/LINCS is holding a 2-day conference at the Ramada Inn, Toronto Airport, 2/3 December. Contact Carl Cuneo (cuneo@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca) for information on attendance.

Groups Selected to Submit Full Proposals

LINCS is one of the 4 groups out of the 12 submitting letters of intent who have been invited to submit full proposals by the deadline of January 13, 1994.

A letter has been received from the NCE inviting LINCS to submit a full proposal and commenting on the LINCS LOI. The NCE/RCE guidelines for a full submission are available in English et en Français.

Details of the submission preparation process will be sent out to all LINCS all current participants shortly. The coming LINCS Conference will facilitate detailed project planning--please try and attend in Calgary or at the video-conference sites in Toronto and Montreal.

LINCS also welcomes approaches by individuals and organizations who are interested in participating in the LINCS research program. While the process of application for NCE funds is competitive, the only meaningful outcome will be collaborative - the mobilisation of resources across Canada in an open network of cooperation targeted on national interests.

The LINCS network is open to all those who can contribute to, or benefit from, its activities. It will remain open at every stage of its operation.

In particular, it would be inappropriate for the NCE competition to be seen as resulting in `winners' or `losers' - the outcome has to be a network encompassing all relevant centres of excellence. We have seen a number of the other proposals submitted, and they have all been intellectually strong with significant outcomes. We see it as important that the full proposals encompass all those individuals and institutions who can contribute to the objectives of the Technology-based Learning target area.

The LINCS project is accessible by email at LINCS@acs.ucalgary.ca.

LINCS Conference

LINCS is holding a one-day conference on November 10 at the University of Calgary. Videoconferencing links are being set up for remote attendees. This date has been chosen because it is immediately after the Canadian Multimedia Show at the Calgary Convention Centre and will make it easy to attend both meetings.

Background

LINCS is a network of research and application groups across Canada concerned with the development and application of collaboration and simulation technology for learning. LINCS supports Canada's transformation into a learning society through a network for research and development on technology-based lifelong learning. LINCS participants include a wide range of industries, universities and government agencies with interests ranging from high-technology skills training to enhanced cultural understanding.

TLRN--Technology-based Learning Research Network

TLRN (pronounced ToLearn!) is a network of researchers at the University of Calgary who are concerned with technology-based learning. The University has a wide range of activities concerned with teaching development, multimedia applications in learning, computer-assisted learning, and so on. These activities span virtually all disciplines and are managed and funded through many different agencies. TLRN provides an informal forum for communication, liaison, and the sharing of knowledge, experience and technology.

Network of Centres of Excellence--Letter of Intent

The most significant major activity of TLRN to date has been to initiate the LINCS network as a basis for a research proposal to the Network Centres of Excellence program. LINCS was built from the existing networks across Canada of groups within TLRN who were concerned with the use of collaboration and simulation technologies to provide computer-supported social and experiential learning environments.

Click here to access the LINCS research proposal as outlined in the letter of intent.

Click here to access the terms of reference for Networks of Centres of Excellence proposals.

The LINCS proposal was prepared by the executive committee of TLRN:

Please feel free to contact any member of the committee about LINCS, or email LINCS@acs.ucalgary.ca.

Contact Tim Buell (buell@acs.ucalgary.ca) for information on attendance and presentation facilities.


NCE Page, University of Calgary Page, KSI Page
LINCS@acs.ucalgary.ca 27-Nov-94