algorithms. Finally, we have developed an implementable '#technology pull" plan that is underscored by two key themes: the careful fostering of selected robotic component technologies and the orchestration of timely technical interactions with challenging field applications. The application

Abstract: Online learning initia-tives over the past decade have become increasingly comprehen-sive in their selection of courses and sophisticated in their presen-tation, culminating in the recent announcement of a number of consortium and startup activities that promise to make a university education on the internet, free of charge, a real possibility. At this pivotal moment it is appropriate to explore the potential for obtaining comprehensive bioinformatics training with currently existing free video resources. This article pre-sents such a bioinformatics curric-ulum in the form of a virtual course catalog, together with editorial commentary, and an assessment of strengths, weaknesses, and likely future directions for open online learning in this field. Online Learning Comes of Age Online academic ‘‘courseware’ ’ at the university level has now been available to the public for a decade, the earliest concerted effort having originated in 2002 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and their OpenCour-seWare initiative

I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution.

are appropriated to serve commercial and institutional ends. This is a process, in other words, that in part destroys the autonomy of private and community lifeworlds. The challenge is to make space available so that different lifeworlds -spaces for community life where local and specific meanings can be made -can