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15th April 2008

UKS and Giunti Labs showcase mobile learning at the IMCL2008 Conference

UKS, the Middle East's leading learning solutions enabler, in cooperation with its technology partner, Giunti Labs, Europe's leading e-learning and mobile learning content management technology provider, will be showcasing mobile learning content management solutions at the third International Conference on Interactive Mobile and Computer Aided Learning, (IMCL2008), hosted by Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan, from 16th to 18th April.

The IMCL 2008 conference aims to promote mobile learning in the Middle East. It provides a forum for education and knowledge transfer, gives students access to the latest information communication technology (ICT) applications and encourages the study and implementation of mobile applications within teaching and learning.

Fabrizio Cardinali, CEO of Giunti Labs, will be delivering a keynote speech at the conference entitled: ‘Innovating Learning Content Management towards 2010 Knowledge Society: Global Challenges, Threats and Opportunities'.

According to Cardinali, current trends in this area include:

• The increasing use of mobile and location-based content delivery means that learning experiences are becoming informal and personalised.

• There is a growth in informal access to learning via portals and software-as-a-service (SaaS) systems. This means that the learning content can now be customised by the learner rather than the developer or producer.

• With the development of digital marketplaces, a network of content providers operating as ‘learning clearing houses' has grown up. They take content, version it, deliver it and track it once it has been delivered.

• With the development of these digital learning content marketplaces, content providers, content brokers and end users now interoperate on the basis of open and standard architectures and formats. They can ‘download and play' mobile models and innovative publishing models for education which embed professionally published contents with self-produced open and shared Web 2.0 contributions. It is a sort of 'iTunes' for education in an open, government-led marketplace for exchanging and trading digital resources for students.

• Today's big challenge facing providers of corporate learning materials is how to enrich existing standards for learning content publishing and distribution such as SCORM – especially adding web services protocols to content packages making the learning experience richer and more customised.

• Other challenges relate to how to develop web-based services to search, query and retrieve repositories of learning content.

During IMCL2008, UKS will be showcasing the latest developments in Giunti Labs' learn eXact Suite for mobile learning.

According to Ms. Nada El-Marji, UKS's Marketing & Sales Director: "We will be demonstrating how eXact Packager can be used to create learning objects for mobile devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs, and BlackBerrys, as well as showing how the content can be published to the digital repository and then retrieved by the learner on his/her mobile device.

"We will also be demonstrating the advanced templating technologies of eXact Packager, such as the ability to create a 3D-based virtual reality (VR) content which is packaged according to the ADL SCORM specification, and allows monitoring the learner activities and learning progresses."

Furthermore, UKS will demonstrate the new learn eXact MS-Office plug-in, which allows users to import MS-Office files into the eXact Packager's authoring templates.

"The mobile phone has become such an integral part of modern life that educators are grasping its potential for improved educational coverage," said Ms. El-Marji. "Today's big challenge in educational content management technologies is to create and profile e-learning content, making it available wherever and whenever a user may need it. Giunti Labs' mobile learning content management solutions can help in tackling this challenge."

End

Notes for Editors

About UKS

UKS is the Middle East's leading learning solutions enabler, with years of experience in the fields of education and training. UKS uses its unique expertise and strategic partnerships with leading educational and technological providers to deliver a comprehensive range of learning products and services that serve schools (K-12), higher education, Government and corporate sectors.

Its highly experienced technical staff work with clients to design, develop and deliver flexible, cost-effective and customised learning solutions, based on state-of-the-art training needs analysis frameworks, blending online and face-to-face learning.

UKS is a subsidiary of Al Tanmiya Holding, a conglomerate committed to the development of human capital in the corporate and academic worlds.

About Giunti Labs

Giunti is unique in the international publishing industry.

In 1497, Giunti publishers and typographers in Florence, together with others in Venice, began modern book manufacturing. Over the years Giunti has built a 'historical catalogue' of huge dimensions, through a gradual process of 'fusion' of different publishers, but also through the creation of new brands, including Giunti Labs. Giunti Editore now includes 20 companies in the publishing sector.

Giunti Labs, which has its global headquarters in Italy and offices in London (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Lund (Sweden) and in Boston (US), provides a wide range of services, in response to any content, learning and knowledge management need, covering:

• Content production

• Research and development

• Technological solutions for content, learning & knowledge management

• Architectural and technological solutions for mobile & wireless

• Training and consulting

Giunti Labs provides the learn eXact® suite, Europe's leading e-learning and mobile learning content management technology. This suite is interoperable with all major vendor-driven and open source LMS and VLE solutions in the market including Plateau, Oracle, SumTotal, Saba, WebCT, Blackboard, Sakai, LRN and Moodle.

Moreover, Giunti Labs does not just adhere to the international standards relating to the LMS/LCMS world, it is one of the organisations that helps to determine and drive these standards: co-writing and developing them. Giunti Labs plays a key role in most of the international institutions for the definition of eLearning specifications (IEEE LTSC, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC36, CEN/ISSS WSLT, AICC, IMS, ADL-SCORM and OKI).

Further information from:

Minna Leikas, Giunti Labs, +39 3489 399127
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405