E-learning at Universities in Saudi Arabia: Active steps toward collaborative success, Medina, 26-28 May, 2008

Challenges in setting up an International Virtual Campus

Pierre-Yves Burgi

University of Geneva

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Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline

Background

Case study 1 : e-LERU

Case study 2: Swiss Virtual Campus

Perspectives

Questions

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BackgroundBackground

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Virtual Campus (V.C.) : Definition 1Virtual Campus (V.C.) : Definition 1

« refers to the online offerings of a university where studies are

completed either partially or wholly online, often with the assistance of

the teacher »(adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Campus)

(Blended learning)

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V.C. : Definition 2V.C. : Definition 2

« Part of a university or faculty that offers educational facilities at any time or, in theory,

any place, by Internet »(from www.elearningeuropa.info)

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Two-step in Institutions’ maturityTwo-step in Institutions’ maturity(within V.C.)(within V.C.)

1. Rationalization of academic processes, without serious impact on pedagogy

2. Pedagogical structures and way of thinking are challenged

Granularity can be smaller, e.g. Bates’ 5 development stages

(www.elearningeuropa.info/directory/index.php?page=doc&doc_id=5943&doclng=6)

7Campus Level (meso Level)

National Level (macro level)

International Level (macro level)

Open Universities

V.C. Levels

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Aparte: Open UniversitiesAparte: Open Universities

“A large and diverse institution of higher learning created to educate for life and for a profession and to grant degrees” (Collins Essential English Dictionary)

Product of governmental planning set to fulfill national missions, through an industrialist model of operation.

More than 40 in the world, e.g., OU UK, the Arab Open University, Al-Madinah International University, etc.

(see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Open_universities)

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Examples of V.C.Examples of V.C.

State University of New York

Numeric University of StrasbourgCL

The Finnish Online University of Applied Sciences Swiss Virtual Campus Bavaria’s Virtual University Canadian Virtual University

NL

African Virtual University e-LERU, Real Virtual Erasmus, The Virtual Campus for a Sustainable Europe, EUCOR, Baltic Sea Virtual Campus Universitas 21, Universitas 21 Global Global Virtual University, Worldwide Universities Network, Global University Alliance, IVIMEDS

IL

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… … what is not a V.C.what is not a V.C.

M.I.T. Open Courseware (show-off, ”intellectual philanthropy”)

Merlot, ARIADNE, EdNA, etc. (LOR)

JISC, Switch, etc. (National Support in ICT)

…and other consortia like IMS, OKI, etc.

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• Teachers (D)

• Administration (M)

• Quality (D)

• IP (M)

• Technology (M)

• Sustainability (D)

• Language (M)

• Culture (M)

• Distance (M)CL

NL

IL

• National Policies (M)

• Access (M)

• Calendar (D)

D: difficultM: moderate

Major issues in setting up a V.C.

meso

macro

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Success/Success/criticalcritical factors factors

CL Small scale, reactive Lack of long term vision

NL Political incentives Competition between institutions Sustainability

IL Stems from major programmes High motivation to share practices Sustainability, quality label

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Case Study 1:Case Study 1:

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What is e-LERU?What is e-LERU?

Began as a 2-year European Community funding (programme )

Total cost about US$ 1.5 millions

8 participating universities from the LERU network

Targets the setting up of a European Virtual Campus

Promotes e-modules and top-science talks

Participates in the implementation of the research-based education concept

Website: http://www.e-leru.leru.org

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Research-based education based on ICT

Portal http://eleru.leru.org

« Watch » systemDatabase of free e-learning resources

in Life Sciences

Top Science High Level

filmed

conferences

E-ModulesOnline courses

Joint courses

Modules from a single

university

Integrated to a curriculum

Freely accessible to all

e-LERU Virtual Campus: The offer

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Founded in 2002 by a group of 12 European universities with the objective of creating a common policy forum of top research universities in Europe.

It was extended to 20 universities in January 2006, totalling over 500’000 students and 100’000 staff. Main Objective :

“Promotes the values of high-quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research”

LERU Network

LERU Partners

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University of Cambridge

Université de Genève

Helsingin yliopistoUniversiteit LeidenKatholieke Universiteit Leuven

Lunds universitet

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenUniversity of OxfordUniversité Paris-Sud 11

Karolinska Institutet

Universiteit UtrechtUniversität Zürich

Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg

Université Pierre et Marie Curie

Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg

Università degli Studi di Milano

University of Edinburgh

Universiteit van Amsterdam

University College London

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Jan. 2007 2010« Setting up of

the virtual campus »

« Consolidation period »

« Exploitation period »

Jan. 2005

Building of the virtual campus architectureDevelopment of the first training offer-

Open to e-LERU students

Increase the training offerPartner’s agreement

Enlarge the partnership to new LERU Universities

Increase the training offer, possibly with joint masters

Open up to external students, employees, lifelong learners

January 2007 : End of the EC funded project

e-LERU Milestonese-LERU Milestones

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Lesson learnt aboutLesson learnt about

Teachers’ involvment

Administrative issues

Quality

Intellectual property

Technology

Sustainability

Culture

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Teachers’ involvmentTeachers’ involvmentFollows the principle of :

Stage of technology adoption

Adapted from R. Zemsy & W.F. Massy 2004

Enhancements to traditional course configurations

LMSLearning objects

New course configurationsStage of

innovation

Time

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Teacher collab.

From R. Zemsy & W.F. Massy 2004

and :

e-learning’s adoption cycles

… in all, less than 10 active e-modules …

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TutorsCoordinat

ors

Students

Administrative support

Technical support

Students

Teachers

Teachers

Administrative supportTechnical

support

Complex relationships

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Administrative issuesAdministrative issues Calendar: semesters between countries not synchronized

Integration of e-modules within specific curricula

Weak support from university boards

Recognition of students’ credit between universities:

--> Erasmus program targeting student’s mobility helped (learning agreement + transcript of records)

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Targets a series of reforms to make European Higher Education more compatible and comparable, more competitive and more attractive for our European citizens and for citizens and scholars from other continents. The three priorities of the Bologna process are:

1. Introduction of the three cycle system (bachelor/master/doctorate)2. Quality assurance and recognition of qualifications3. Periods of study

Bologna Declaration, 1999

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QualityQuality

Two main aspects of “quality”:

1. Content perspective, linked to school reputation

2. Didactic and pedagogical perspectives, linked to teaching methods

Difficult topic because challenges teachers’ business!

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1. Content perspective1. Content perspective

Out of the scope of e-LERU. Related to

International policies, such as the Bologna process

Accreditation and quality assurance agencies (at European level and beyond, e.g. UNESCO)

University ranking

Excellence networks (e.g. LERU, COIMBRA, etc.)

Audits, etc.

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2. Didactic and pedagogical perspectives

« Most doctoral graduates who become college professors have not taken a single course in educational methodologies »E.S. Abuelyaman (2008) Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia

« It should become clear that developing the competence of teaching personnel can be seen as one of the decisive, strategic challenges for the institution of higher education as a whole »S. Seufert and D. Euler (2006) University St-Gallen, Switzerland

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--> not further than guidelines about :

Best practices specified through a practical grid

Being compliant with ECTS accreditation (Bologna)

Harvesting student feedback

How copyright can be respected and work shared

How far shouldshould e-LERU impose quality check?

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Intellectual PropertyIntellectual Property

Law varies between countries but IP always applies

Complicated by the fact Internet is not geographically delimited

Books, music, paintings, pictures, ppt presentations, conferences, scheme, database, computer programs, on-line courses, etc. are copyrighted works

Didactic/scientific work is also copyright protected

Exception for educational purposes does not in general applies to virtual campuses

Quotation right applies

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Google Image

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How to manage How to manage copyright?copyright?

Transfer of rights (usually economic rights)

License of rights (grants of certain rights)

Recommended licensing model when creating teaching material: Creative Commons

by

non-commercial

no derivative work

share alike

http://creativecommons.org

Example: OpenLearn of OU U.K.

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TechnologyTechnology

No common LMS

No common authentication system

Solutions:

A Portal for e-modules

A common streaming server for top-science talks

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Portal

e-module

selection

List of partners for the selected

e-module

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Top-science talks

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CultureCulture

Stronger synchronous interactions on Southern Countries

Supervision methods vary according to the universities

Distance promotes a common learning culture

Language barrier (can be an advantage to students whishing to learn new languages)

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Dealing with culture Dealing with culture differencesdifferences

The Bologna process aims to smooth out differences:

Courses should be readable and understandable by instructors and students from all over Europe

Wider use of English

European training and education network promoting cultural management

… but culture differences is also a richness to value

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Sustainability model model

Advantages for the participating universities: Increase their training offer with modules from other LERU universities Encourage teaching collaborations Attract international students Bring in new technologies in the university through a mutual exchange of best practices Show their research and educative strengths through the Top Science program

Local team contribution in each partner university corresponding to 25% FTE

Membership: 8000€ per partner

Currently 7 participating universities for consolidation period :

(coordinator)

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University Board of Partner Universities

e-LERU Executive Board / e-LERU Project Steering Committee

Central Coordinator

Task Force«Products»

Task Force«Technology

»

Organizational structure

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mms://mediaWM01.cines.fr/3517/windows/canalu/colloques/elerufinal04052007.wmv

e-LERU Movie

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e-Module example: e-Module example: SUPPREM SUPPREM

SUPPREM aims at producing a bundle of inter-disciplinary web-based courses, oriented toward sustainability and private or public environmental management (http://supprem.unige.ch)

3 e-modules in Environmental Sciences made of « bricks »

1.5 ECTS for each brick

Collaborations with University of Strasbourg and University of Zurich

Bachelor and master levels

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Synchronous course

« Synchronous teaching »

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Asynchronous course

« Asynchronous teaching »

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Case Study 2:Case Study 2:

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What is theWhat is theSwiss Virtual Campus?Swiss Virtual Campus?

An eight-year Swiss project

Total cost about US$ 160 millions

10 Universities, 2 Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, and several Universities of Applied Sciences

Targets the setting up of distant education

Website: http://www.virtualcampus.ch

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Swiss Virtual Campus (SVC) : The offer

The SVC aimed at creating new learning environments to improve the quality of teaching and learning, while benefiting from the Bologna process for virtual mobility. So far:

80 courses online covering a wide variety of fields

Establishment of skills, service and production centers (CCSPs) in all Swiss universities

Specific mandates focusing on technology, IP issues, (quality) evaluation, pedagogical support, and management

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2004 7/2008« Setting up of

the virtual campus »

« Consolidation period »

« Exploitation period »

1996-1999

Realization of the first 50 online courses-

Setting up of eLearning Competence Centers in each UniversityFinishing up 62 new online coursesAbout 20 projects have been transferred into sustainable teaching structures

Increase the rate of project integration into teaching structures

Swiss e-HUB ?

July 2008 : End of the Swiss funding

CVS MilestonesCVS Milestones

« Setting up

National policies in ICT »

2000

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New lesson learnt (with New lesson learnt (with respect to e-LERU)respect to e-LERU)

National policies

Integration of online courses

Sustainability

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National policies

National single sign-on system based on Shibboleth (http://shibboleth.internet2.edu/) Selection of projects based on common criteria:

• Minimum 3 partner (Swiss) institutions• Matching funds• Pedagogic objectives• Number of target students• Multilanguage• Use of the European credit transfer system

(ECTS as defined by Bologna declaration)

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Integration of online courses

Adapted from S. Seufert & D. Euler (2006)

Use of eLearning

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Adapted from S. Seufert & D. Euler (2006)

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SustainabilitySo far, of the online courses (from S. Seufert & D. Euler):

20% could be transferred into sustainable structures 20% still demonstrate a certain chanced for being sustained over 50% exhibit major hindering factors for their sustainability (integration, financial, technology, learning culture) 10% are anticipated not to survive

Online course costs between US$ 330 K and over 3’000 K

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Skills, service and production centers at the University of Geneva

CCSP

Steering committee

Vice-Rector in charge of teachingE-learning Rector’s delegateHead of Pedagogical unitHead of ICT unit

PedagogyUnit

Teachers

Teach

ing

com

mis

sion

ICT c

om

mis

sion

TEC

FA(t

ech

o-p

edagogic

al

rese

arc

h u

nit

)

ICTUnit

Online courses

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Simulation

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Glopp

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Glopp

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Future of CVS ?Initially, targeted pure e-learning.

Today CVS is used for blended learning, which corresponds more to teachers’ and students’ demands. This fact can be seen as a failure (e.g. UK e-University), but it is the way things are!

Swiss Campus 2008-2011: has been canceled

Swiss e-HUB ?

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PerspectivesPerspectives

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Image “

Inflati

on

ary

Mult

ivers

e”

from

Andre

i Li

nde

Multiverse paradigm

Parameters

CVS

e-LERUScottish

IU

V.C.

UK e-U

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Stretching the mould No revolutionary changes are expected from ICT in higher education (lack of online culture) Lack of educational concept (e.g. social constructivism); education is still thought of in terms of face2face New technologies, yes, but no clear relation to problems in the teaching/learning processes in campus universities Necessity to become more focused and strategic in policies regarding the use of ICT

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Success factors of V.C.E-learning is confused with distance education. Yet, only in the latter (OU) the industrial model applies. economic resources must be providedCollaboration in production phase, yet little sharing of courses between universities in the delivery phase organizational teaching structure must be revised, ways of thinking must be challenged Consortia type venture is relatively easy to set up, yet a pro-active institutional role in getting teachers involved is harder improve internal marketing of ICT

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Bottom-up approachPervasive computing: teachers use ICT without thinking about it. Example:

Lecture capture Whiteboards LMS Learning object repositories (mutualization) Simulation tools, 3D visualization, etc.

“Blackboards need water in auditoriums, not so for electronic whiteboards”

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Mutualization of learning resources in Switzerland

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Final thoughts

Challenges start at the meso (institutional) level Institutes’ e-learning maturity varies within V.C. There are synergies between V.C. Not terribly wrong to say V.C. are out of control OU and V.C. are two disparate models Human resource management will have a crucial role to play in relation to the new teacher generation Pervasive computing and resource sharing (LOR) are, right now, our next hope!

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Abuelyaman, E. S. (2008). "Making a smart campus in Saudi Arabia." EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 31(2): 10-12.

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References

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Thank you !

http://www.unige.ch/dinf/ntice