Scots make attractive proposal

Heriot-Watt University is rolling out its e-learning Scholar system to an international audience. It believes the move could boost overseas student recruitment to the United Kingdom.

This is the first commercialisation of the interactive science courses, which are designed for university entrance level. The Open University of Malaysia will use ScholarTutor for its foundation courses from July, aimed at students taking the common science and engineering first year.

ScholarTutor is being marketed by Scottish Knowledge, which exports Scottish expertise in education and training, and is part-owned by News International, which also owns The THES .

Roy Leitch, Heriot-Watt's assistant principal for learning strategies, predicted that the courses would promote overseas recruitment, as they attracted points under the Scotcat (Scottish credit accumulation and transfer) scheme that could be "cashed in" in the UK.

The Scholar programmes include video clips and quizzes. Following a pilot programme, 70 per cent of Scottish schools will use the material for senior pupils in the coming year. First-year students at Heriot-Watt also use Scholar, and it can be used for Higher National courses.

Details: http//www.scholartutor.com