E-Learning as a Socio-Cultural System: A Multidimensional Analysis

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 Master's 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 Master's degree of Computer Sciences and Master's 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-Adžgauskiene 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.

Vladislav Vladimirovich Fomin is a Professor at the Department of Applied Informatics at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania and holds a visiting position at the University of Latvia. After earning his PhD degree in 2001, Vladislav V. Fomin held academic positions at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (2001-2003), Copenhagen Business School (2004-2006), Delft University of Technology (2006), Montpellier Business School (2007), and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (2008). Dr. Fomin has extensive experience in international research and professional projects. Vladislav is serving on the editorial board of the International Journal of IT Standards & Standardization Research (JITSR) and Baltic Journal of Modern Computing (BJMC), is serving as a reviewer for many recognized journals, and is regularly invited to serve as a scientific committee member to recognized international conferences. Fomin is a member of European Academy of Standardization (EURAS) and The Association for Information Systems (AIS). Vladislav has over 70 scientific publications in journals, conferences, and as book chapters, including Journal of Strategic Information Systems , Communications of the Association for Information Systems , International Journal of IT Standards & Standardization Research , Telecommunications Policy, Knowledge, Technology & Policy . Conference publications and presentations include The International Conference on Information Systems, European Conference on Information Systems, Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Academy of Management, and Turiba University in Riga, Latvia.

Kathy Kikis-Papadakis received her PhD in Educational Planning and Evaluation (area of investigation: Employability and Language Training of Minority Groups in the USA). In the past, she held the post of leading the section of bilateral cooperation at the Hellenic Ministry of Research and Technology and taught at the Department of Philosophical and Social Science at the University of Crete. Since 1993, she is leading the Educational Research and Evaluation Group at the Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics at FORTH. Her research interests are in the study of impact of technology enhanced learning, from effectiveness and innovation introduction perspectives, and on the socio-cultural aspects of learning and e-learning. Other areas of interest include gender and mathematics and curriculum development for teachers' professional development. All of her research work is supported by competitive grants (national and community levels) and concern educational policy and evaluation.