White paper

Napsterisation of e-learning (P2P)

Halfway through the year 2000, at about the same time that the Internet bubble finally burst, a new kid appeared on the block in the shape of peer-to-peer computing (P2P). Napster, a revolutionary file-sharing programme, written by 19-year old Shawn Fanning in his bedroom, soon had tens of millions of young Internet users sharing music files over the Internet - heralding the arrival of P2P as a mainstream phenomenon.

In fact, peer-to-peer networking takes the Internet right back to its roots. Before it became the client-server monster we have all come to know and love, the Internet was originally designed as a peer-to-peer system.

So having rocked the music world to its foundations, what does P2P have in store for e-learning?

This white paper by Donald Clark, Epic, provides some answers. Describing how this 'disruptive technology' figures in the ongoing debate over e-learning's potential role in lessening some of the current 'control-freakery' associated with large scale management of training, Donald surveys the issues and practicalities around using P2P for learning, and gives a case study of the P2P e-learning system developed by Epic in partnership with I&DeA.

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Summary of contents:

• Napster: Disruptive technology
• e-learning: not yet disruptive
• Don't blend it, napsterise it!
• The Napsterisation of learning
• Issues around P2P learning
  • Different P2P models
  • Standards
  • Quality
  • Technical issues
• Case study - Epic & IdeA (P2P learning)