Resources for E learning

Lennart Ståhle, KTH and the Swedish Authority for Higher Education

What is E-learning?

• Several concepts or ideas• The use of electronic media and ICT i educationfrom traditional distance learning to MOC

• Google gives 1, 060 billion hits for e-learning• Higher Education Institutions are a minority

• US forecasts that e-learning in HE will exceed the corporate market• European universities focus e-learning on markets i developing economies

foremost Asia and South America.

Why e-learning?

• You would like to reach ”non- traditional” students

• To build competences for the labour market (LL)

• National / International cooperation

Human resources

Support from the highest level at the universityAwareness of the teaching staff about •Pedagogical issues

- Course design- Communication with and feedbeck to the students and- Ways of assessment

•Technology (High level of laptop / computer competence)Technical support staff•Well educated / trained in handling the hardware as well as the software

Human resources

The students:• Laptop / computer competence.• Willingness to accept a new leraning environment that requiers more

indenpendent work.• Undertsanding how interact in the ”virtual classroom”.

Structure/ virtual enviroment

• Different systems = e-learning platforms both as open source and closed.• Fast development• The virtual environment should be based on pedagogical

considerations and technical competence of the institution • Totally the virtual learning environment consists of a large number of

tools, from search engines, Internet voice communication, instant messaging, chat groups, blogs, networking programs online web/videoconferencing, e-portifolio programs

Evaluation of e-learning platforms

There is a vast number on articles:•Comparing and Evaluationg Open Source E-Learning Platforms by Fakhreldeen Abbas Saeed in International Journal of Soft Computing and Engineering Vol. 3, 2013.

•Evaluation of E – Learning Platforms, by Irina Drewitz, eWork, 2009.

Evaluation

Some important factors:•Fitted to an academienvironment•Low technical complexity = userfriendly with clear interface•Course dilivery tools•Communication tools and multimedia content•Multilingual

Policy issues

Guidelines for Open Educational Resources (OER) in Higher Education (UNESCO, http://oerworkshop.weebly.com/guidelines-for-oer-in-higher-education.html ):•support the use of OER through the revision of policy regulating higher education, •b. contribute to raising awareness of key OER issues, •c. review national ICT/connectivity strategies for higher education, •d. consider adapting open licensing frameworks, •e. consider adopting open format standards,

• f . support institutional investments in curriculum design, • g. support the sustainable production and sharing of learning

materials, • h. collaborate to find effective ways to harness OER. (Stacey, 2013)

National developments

• United Kingdom:Joint Informations Systems Committee (JISC: www.jisc.ac.uk)• Canada: BCcampus Online Development Fund (www.bccampus.ca)• US Departemt of Labor and Trade: Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants

Program. (http://www.doleta.gov/grants/pdf/SGA-DFA-PY-10-03.pdf )• Sweden:

National developments

• Sweden:The ”Net – University”. Now closed. Decentralised development with

Learning Labs at the universities. No direct financial support. Public print available at the web.• New Zealand:The Government’s Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL)

focuses on the vast quantities of copyright works, research reports, statistics, photographic images, educational resources, and archive film produced through State Services agencies.

E – Library / Digital Library

Planning Tool for Developing a Digital Library (UNAIDS, WHO, World Bank): http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/document/2010/3_%205_MERG_Planning_Tool_Digital_Library_ME.pdf

But is it an E – Library that you need or a strong learning platform with possiblities to store digital material?

E – Library / Digital Library

• Target audience• Collaboration• Quality / Usability• Quality of the holdings• Maintenance• Rights to Distribution• Access and Security• Cost implications

Target audience

• Limited or open to all?• Is there a clear need for a Digital Library• Who is the target audince and does it chnge as the library

grows?

Collaboration

• Necessary?• Collaboration with whom?• Political and other restrictions.

Quality / Usability of the Digital Library.• Interface, operating system, effectiveness and satisfaction from users.• Usable interface. How does this affect to costs?• How should the library be indexed and organized?• Is there a need for multilingual services?

Quality of the Holdings

• Review model to ensure the quality of the holdings. Financial implications.• Criteria for quality• Selection of reviewers.

Maintenace

• Processes for acquisition and permission to display the content.• Software tools for the DL. Open or commercial? Technical support.

Upgrades?

Rights to Distrbution

• Intellectual property rights.• Ethical questions. Credit to the authors.

Access and security

• What oprating system shold the library work on?• Does the average user have enough bandwidth?• Public or restricted via intranet? Registered users only.• Computer security. Hackers?• Backup possiblities

Cost implications

• The initial purchase price and recurring cost of software licensing.• The cost of upgrading to new versions of the software.• The cost of the hardware to develop and configure the library.• The cost of the hardware to host the library (i.e., needed space,

bandwidth, etc) for internet access• The recurring cost of hosting the library.• The cost of human resources (and needed space) to develop and

configure the library• The cost of human resources to maintain the library conten

Thank you!