This paper reports on two UK nationally funded eLearning projects in which the University of Nottingham (UoN) is involved. These are the V-ResORT and the eChina-UK eEducator projects. The resources that have been developed within these have been designed so that they can be both localised, i.e. adapted to suit local institutional needs, and personalised, i.e. learners are supported in selecting pathways through the materials to match their personal learning needs.

The Virtual Resources for Online Research Training project (V-ResORT) seeks to change teaching and learning practice in Higher Education in relation to the teaching of research methods. The project is led by the University of Nottingham and central to the web based project materials at www.v-resort.ac.uk is the recognition that video narratives can present authentic multiple representations of ‘real’ researchers projecting their knowledge and experience of the research process, can show complexity and the contested nature of educational research and can help to build online learning communities. The project has developed a conceptual and a pedagogic framework to support the materials. It uses internet-based technologies that support video streaming and captures a wide range of researcher experiences, case studies and expert views organized into flexible e-learning materials to give an authentic context for theory and practice. These are supported by skills training and links to resources. This represents a radical departure from conventional text based and theory led approaches to introducing research methods in education and response from academics indicates that they may be suitable for use across a much wider range of subject contexts than education studies.

The eChina-UK eEducator project has involved the School of Education, University of Nottingham, UK and Beiwai:Online, Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) Beijing, China. The outcome is a generic module for the training of online tutors as part of the eChina-UK programme www.echinauk.org. This has led to a learner centred approach to the training that provides trainee tutors with a range of bespoke tools designed by the UoN that can be used to support them in taking a critical approach to the analysis of the online learning activities and to supporting their online students. An online Workspace tool supports reflection and peer sharing and the development of a portfolio of work. Activity theory has been used as the basis for the development of an online Learning Activity Analysis Tool (LAAT) which supports tutors in analysing and then discussing these with their peers. The online LAAT acts as a research tool within the project as it provides a rich source of data on the tutors’ perceptions of effective online pedagogy.

Research into these differing perceptions has been a focus in both projects – something explored through localisation of the materials. The UoN would be keen to collaborate with U21 partners to support the localisation and further development of these resources and to continue the research into intercultural perspectives of effective eLearning.