Dr. Gihan Wikramanayake
Visiting Professor
Gihan Wikramanayake, Ph.D. was a visiting scholar from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka for the spring semester of 2009 and his OLIT faculty mentor was Prof. Lani Gunawardena. His visit was sponsored by the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) under the National e-Learning Centre Project which also included 9 months placement in Sweden with Umeå and Stockholm Universities. During his stay at UNM he audited OLIT courses, and began the development of a Masters course in “Evolving Technologies in e-Learning” for the University of Colombo School of Computing. He received his bachelor degree in Physical Science from University of Colombo; Masters and PhD degrees in Computer Science from University of Wales, Cardiff. Gihan’s main interests have been on Statistics, Database and Internet technologies, and e-learning.
At UCSC, Gihan is a Senior Lecturer and has served as a head of an academic department and as the Deputy Director of UCSC. He is also the academic coordinator of the Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) degree program offered externally with the involvement of training institutes and is currently serving his 25th year with University of Colombo. Since his initial exposure to online learning in Australia in 2003, Gihan has been actively involved in introducing learning technologies into courses offered by UCSC. In recent past he has been actively involved in research projects in multimedia databases (funded by Japan), e-learning (funded by Sweden) and on accessibility, acceptance & effects of distance learning technologies in South Asia (funded by Canada). His efforts were recognized in 2006 when the University of Colombo awarded him their Research Award. He has written over hundred articles, reports, and presentations in the field of computer science locally and internationally.
For more information on Gihan, please visit his faculty page at the University of Colombo School of Computing website.
Selected Publications
- Ken Larsson, Annika Andersson, Gihan N Wikramanayake, Henrik Hansson, Lars Glimbert, Thushani A Weerasinghe (2009). Evaluation of didactics from a cross cultural perspective: The eBIT project: online education in Sri Lanka. Proceedings of the 23rd ICDE World Conference on Open Learning and Distance Education (pp. 7-10). Maastricht, The Netherlands.
- Sangay Jamtsho, Sonam Rinchen, Nazir A Sangi, Sheeraz Ahmed, Gihan N Wikramanayake, P Wimalaratne, K P Hewagamage, Dilhari Attygalle (2009). Accessibility, Acceptance and Effects of Distance Education in South Asia. In Jon Baggaley and Tian Belwati (Eds.), Distance Education Technology in Asia (pp. 5-25). Virtual University of Pakistan.
- Gihan Wikramanayake, Jon Baggaley (2008). Accessibility and Selection of DE Media. In Tian Belawati, Jon Baggaley and Gajaraj Dhanarajan (Eds.), PANdora Distance Education Guidebook (pp. 88-91). Pan Asia Networking (PAN) Programme Initiative of the International Development Research Centre Lahore: Virtual University of Pakistan.
- G N Wikramanayake, K P Hewagamage, G I Gamage, A R Weerasinghe (2007). Asia eBIT @ UCSC: Implementing the paradigm shift from Teaching to Learning through e-learning framework. Proceedings of the 25th National Information Technology (pp. 68-81). Computer Society of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- K P Hewagamage, G N Wikramanayake, T A Weerasinghe, Peter Mozelius (2007). Analysis and Development of Curriculum to Build the Foundation for eLearning Courses. Proceedings of the 2nd eLearning Africa - International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training (pp. 63-65). Nairobi, Kenya.
- S C Premaratne, D D Karunaratna, G N Wikramanayake, K P Hewagamage, G K A Dias (2005). Efficient Profile Construction Algorithm for Video Indexing in E-Learning. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia, Belgium.
- G N Wikramanayake (2005). Impact of Digital Technology on Education. Proceedings of the 24th National Information Technology Conference (pp. 82-91). Computer Society of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- S C Premaratne, D D Karunaratna, G N Wikramanayake, K P Hewagamage, G K A Dias (2005). Implementation of a Video Segmentation System to Support E-learning. Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Management in a Knowledge Society (pp. 89-100). India, Mumbai: Allied Publishers.
- S C Premaratne, D D Karunaratna, G N Wikramanayake, K P Hewagamage, G K A Dias (2005). Improvised Profile Construction for Multimedia Databases in E-Learning. Proceedings of the MMU International Symposium on Information and Communications Technologies (TS12: pp. 9-12). Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
- K P Hewagamage, D D Karunaratna, G N Wikramanayake, G K A Dias (2004). An Open Multimedia Database System to Support Web Based Teaching. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia (pp. 1005-1114). Softopia, Ogaki City, Japan. Netherlands: IOS Press.
- S C Premaratne, D D Karunaratna, G N Wikramanayake, K P Hewagamage, G K A Dias (2004). Profile Based Video Segmentation System to Support e-Learning. Proceedings of the 6th International Information Technology Conference (pp. 74-81). Infotel Lanka Society Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- G N Wikramanayake (2003). e-Learning: Changes in Teaching and Learning Styles. Proceedings of the 22nd National Information Technology Conference (pp. 118-124). Computer Society of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The "L" stands for "Learning"