Taking human experience rather than commerce as a starting point, sound reveals to be essential (to hearing people) whereas from a commercial perspective, it can be seen as a welcome luxury as long as technological hurdles can be overcome. The lack of sound in so many websites we surveyed is a failing which reveals the influence of commercial interests in making the contemporary World Wide Web a very quite place. Retailers need to do more than exploit techniques for representing the hedonic aspects of products and should be looking at ways of enriching websites with sound to represent products more completely, yet in a way that does more than make purchase decisions easier or more fun, by actually contributing to giving people a means to express and experience for themselves what they think and feel about a product.   more »

This essay explores current strategies for educational improvement at the University of Wolverhampton. Commencing with a very brief ‘macro-analysis’ of the external context in which the University operates, the first three paragraphs explore the purpose of HE today, the prevailing concepts of quality assurance and improvement and the role of strategic management approaches in setting the agenda for educational improvement in a market-driven sector. Here the emphasis is upon exploring how the macro-environment influences and shapes the possibilities for educational improvement within the institution. Further, with a micro analysis, an examination of strategies for educational improvement at the University of Wolverhampton is carried out. Critical examination of some themes within the learning and teaching strategy, particularly widening participation and lifelong learning focuses upon some of the factors impacting upon the achievement of stated aims and the implications such aims can have. Criticisms focus on dynamics created by strategic approaches to quality which may harm the quality of provision.    more »