Plagiarism: A piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work (Definition from Princeton WordNet Search, http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn).
Podcasts: Podcasts are audio files containing voice recordings. Some podcasts also contain video materials. They can be produced at home using inexpensive digital recording equipment, and listened to (or watched) on a computer or any MP3 player, including most mobile phones. The verb 'podcasting' refers to making podcasts using sound recording equipment and podcasting software.
PDA: Personal Digital Assistant - a handheld mobile device that operates like a very small computer.
Portability of credits: the ability to have educational credits obtained from one institution recognised by another.
Recognition of prior learning: Formal acknowledgement of previous learning from formal and informal learning situations. (http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/recognitionofprior.htm)
Search Engine: Search engines are designed to search for information on the World Wide Web. Information may consist of web pages, images, information and other types of files. (Ref: Wikipedia)
Social Bookmarking: A method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata. (Ref: Wikipedia)
Social networking: A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services. (Ref: Wikipedia)
Social presence: A learner in an online course has 'social presence' to the extent that s/he is perceived by other learners in the group to be a real person.
Scaffolding: anything in the learning environment that supports learning, including tasks, learning materials, and dialogue with other learners and the educator/trainer. As the learner becomes more competent in the subject, the amount of support provided is reduced. The concept of scaffolding was made popular by Lev Vygotsky, a psychologist who has been extremely influential in the development of constructivism in education.
Synchronous communication: Synchronous communication is a ‘live’ conversation that takes place using technologies such as instant messaging, web-conferencing, teleconferencing or video conferencing. In synchronous communication, all participants are taking part at the same time.
Technology steward: A member of an online community who helps his or her peers with technology advice and support.
Transparency (in assessment): Making all the necessary information available to learners so that they are not ‘caught out’ by surprises in an assessment.