Glossary
PROMISLingua has a very innovative approach which requires a common understanding and a common nomenclature. The following section presents a list of specialist words and their definitions
- Value-added services
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In the context of the e-learning industry, value-added services include custom training needs assessment and skill-gap analysis, curriculum design and development, pre-and posttraining mentoring and support, training effectiveness analysis, reporting and tracking tools, advisor services and implementation consulting, hosting and management of Internet- or intranet-based learning systems, integration of enterprise training delivery systems, and other services.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Vector graphics
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Computer-aided design (CAD) programs and drawing applications such as Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw produce graphics that don't look blocky when you zoom in on them.
They scale up easily because they store geometric information about shapes and lines called vectors. These images are unlike pictures from paint programs or scanners, which are called bitmaps.
- Videoconferencing
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Using video and audio signals to link participants at different and remote locations.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Viewer
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A viewer assists your Web browser by handling files that the browser itself can't. Viewers can be any type of application, since they may be called upon to handle any kind of file-even sound files. Because it seems weird to use a viewer to play a sound file, some people prefer to call them helpers.
- Virtual
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Not concrete or physical. For instance, a completely virtual university does not have actual buildings but instead holds classes over the Internet.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Virtual community
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See online community.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Virus
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A destructive type of computer program that attempts to disrupt the normal operation of a computer, rewrite or delete information from storage devices, and in some cases, cause physical damage to the computer.
Source: Learning Circuits
- VoD (video on demand)
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See CoD.
Source: Learning Circuits
- VoIP (voice over IP)
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Voice transmitted digitally using the Internet Protocol. Avoids fees charged by telephone companies.
Source: Learning Circuits
- VPN (Virtual Private Network)
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A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a private network of computers that's at least partially connected by public phone lines. A good example would be a private office LAN that allows users to log in remotely over the Internet (an open, public system).
VPNs use encryption and secure protocols like PPTP to ensure that data transmissions are not intercepted by unauthorized parties.
- VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language)
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The World Wide Web isn't a linear experience like leafing through and reading a book. The Web enables you to jump around from place to place. But in most cases, you jump from one page-based site to another. HTML is the specification for page-oriented Web navigation. VRML is a 3D navigation specification, hammered out by Silicon Graphics, Intervista Software, and other organizations and individuals.
It enables the creation of 3D sites (not necessarily just chat rooms, though this is one example of its use). Many sites and FAQs are devoted to discussing and showing off the technology. The specification is also available online.
- W3C
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World Wide Web Consortium, an organization developing interoperable specifications, software, and tools for the WWW.
Source: Learning Circuits
- WAN
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Stands for Wide Area Network. A network of computers that covers a large geographical distance.
- WAP (wireless application protocol)
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Specification that allows Internet content to be read by wireless devices.
Source: Learning Circuits
- WBT (Web-based training)
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Delivery of educational content via a Web browser over the public Internet, a private intranet, or an extranet. Web-based training often provides links to other learning resources such as references, email, bulletin boards, and discussion groups.
WBT also may include a facilitator who can provide course guidelines, manage discussion boards, deliver lectures, and so forth. When used with a facilitator, WBT offers some advantages of instructor-led training while also retaining the advantages of computer-based training. Source: Learning Circuits
- Web Application
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An application in which all or part of it is downloaded from the Web each time it is run. The term typically refers to the use of Web browsers and Java applets. Web pages increasingly resemble the interactive behavior of local applications.
Retrieving a Web page may cause the execution of code in the Web server as well as code in the HTML page brought into the user's machine. Clicking an icon on a Web page may cause a Java applet to be downloaded and executed in the user's machine.
- Web conference
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(noun) A meeting of participants from disparate geographic locations that is held in a virtual environment on the World Wide Web, with communication taking place via text, audio, video, or a combination of those methods.
(verb) To participate in a Web conference. Source: Learning Circuits
- Web Page
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A Web page is a document written in HTML and meant to be viewed in a Web browser on the Internet or World Wide Web such as Netscape, Internet Explorer, or Opera.
- Web-based learning
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See Web-based training.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Webcast
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(Web + broadcast) (noun) A broadcast of video signals that is digitized and streamed on the World Wide Web, and which may also be made available for download.
(verb) To digitize and stream a broadcast on the World Wide Web. Source: Learning Circuits
- Webinar
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(Web + seminar) A small synchronous online learning event in which a presenter and audience members communicate via text chat or audio about concepts often illustrated via online slides and/or an electronic whiteboard. Webinars are often archived as well for asynchronous, on-demand access.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Website
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A set of files stored on the World Wide Web and viewed with a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. A Website may consist of one or more Webpages.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Whois
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An Internet database that provides information on a person or an organization.
- Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity)
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1) Term developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance denoting products that can connect to each other without wires, acting as either wireless clients or base stations.
Products bearing a “Wi-fi certified” label should always be interoperable; some non-logoed products will interoperate as well.
2) Any network adhering to the IEEE 802.11 standard, including 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and so forth. Source: Learning Circuits
- Wizard
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A mini-application that prompts a user through the steps of a particular computer-based action. The user provides necessary information as he or she proceeds through the wizard s screens, while the wizard completes the actual steps behind the scenes.
Source: Learning Circuits
- WML (Wireless Markup Language)
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XML-based language that allows a reduced version of Webpages text to be displayed on cellular phones and personal digital assistants.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Workstation
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1) A device, often a microcomputer, that serves as an interface between a user and a file server or host computer.
2) More generally, a computer or a computer terminal. Source: Learning Circuits
- WWW
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Stands for World Wide Web. A very popular Internet service that organizes information using a hypertext and hypermedia system of linking documents, FTP sites, gopher sites, WAIS, and telnet.
- XHTML
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XHTML eXtensible HyperText Markup Language. HTML re-written as an application of the XML language. See the W3C Working Draft: Building XHTML Modules
- XML (Extensible Markup Language)
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XML is the Extensible Markup Language, a system for defining specialized markup languages that are used to transmit formatted data. XML is conceptually related to HTML, but XML is not itself a markup language. Rather it's a metalanguage, a language used to create other specialized languages.
- XSL (eXtensible Stylesheet Language or eXtensible Style Language)
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A Webpage design language that creates style sheets for XML pages, which separate style from content so that developers can specify how and where information is displayed on the page.
Source: Learning Circuits
- ZIP
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An open standard for compression and decompression used widely for PC download archives, ZIP was developed by Phil Katz for his DOS-based program PKZip, and it is is now widely used on Windows-based programs such as WinZip and Drag and Zip. The file extension given to ZIP files is .zip.
- Zip disk
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Portable storage disk that can hold 100 or 250 MB of information, manufactured by the Iomega corporation. Used in a Zip drive, Zip disks can archive or back up large amounts of data.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Zip drive
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An external data storage device that reads Zip disks.
Source: Learning Circuits
- Zip file
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1) A file that has been compressed, often with the .ZIP format originated by PKWARE.
2) A file on a Zip disk, not necessarily compressed.
3) A compressed file with the .EXE extension that is self-extracting (can be unzipped simply by opening it). Source: Learning Circuits
