THE CREATION OF A SOFTWARE PROTOTYPE FOR

ONLINE EDUCATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, THE

SUPPORT OF THE DISSEMINATION OF THE

APPLIED RESEARCH RESULTS

funded by:the European Fund for Regional

Development andthe State Budget of the Slovak Republic

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Project Goal

o support of applied research in the area of Public Administration and Public Policy online education and transfer of the research results into praxis using new technologies

GENERAL BACKGROUND

Specific Project Goals

Support of applied research in the area of online education for the development of software prototype based on user’s request

Applied research results dissemination in the area of software solutions for Public Administration

INTRODUCTION OF PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS

The presented project is implemented by:

o the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences that belongs to the Comenius University in Bratislava;

o the Faculty for Chemistry and Food Technology of the Slovak University of Technology (STU) in Bratislava

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY IN BRATISLAVA

One of the most prestigious and respected education institutions in the Central Europe

13 faculties

1826 teachers

more than one hundred thousand students

FACULTY OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SCIENCES

Instituts

Institute of Public Policy and Economics

Institute of European Studies and International Relations

Institute of Applied Psychology

Institute of Social Antopology

SLOVAK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

One of the largest Universities of Technology

complex and modern university offering about 77 study fields

co-operation with relevant industry sectors

wide experience with a specific e-learning tool – Moodle.

THE FACULTY OF CHEMICAL AND FOOD TECHNOLOGY

Key departments in the chemistry industry, chemistry technologies, food industry and in the related consumer industry

An active partner on using and upgrading Moodle

THE MOST IMPORTANT GOALS OF THE PROJECT

1. Support of applied research in the area of online education for the development of software prototype based on user’s request

2. Dissemination of applied research results in the area of software solutions for Public Administration

ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE PROJECT

Need analysis in the area of software solutions for education of Public Administration

The development of a software prototype based on Moodle platform and related technical documentation and the prototype pilot testing

Support of the utilization of the software prototype within public and private education field

ACTIVITIES DONE

Target groups needs research (PA employees, students, teachers)

Survey of existing software solutions

Identification of recommendations for the development of software prototype built on Moodle platform

Ongoing development of software prototype

ACTIVITIES TO BE EXECUTED IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS

Using the eye tracker we will identify which features are the most eye-catching, which features cause confusion and which ones are ignored by user altogether

Based on data obtained by eye tracker to complete the recommendations for the software prototype creation

Development of a software prototype Since 9/2011 software prototype pilot run Another project dissemination 9/2011-2/2012

ANALYSIS AND THEIR STRUCTURE

Research of specific needs and requests of online education software users on the basis of regional, cultural, legislative and other specifics of the target group

Current state of online education

Survey of existing software solutions, their attributes, limitations, effectiveness and possibilities of utilization within the project

Recommendations

RESULTS OF SPECIFIC NEEDS RESEARCH AND REQUESTS OF ONLINE

EDUCATION SOFTWARE USERS

Target groupso Students working with existing e-learning

portalo Teachers using e-learning in higher educationo Staff working in public administration and

local governmento Human Resource Executiveso Existing e-learning portals administrators

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

May/2010 – August/2010

Electronic Questionnaire:o Respondent identificationo Respondent participation in e-learningo E-learning pros and cons

1. WHAT IS THE MOST POPULAR LEARNING METHOD?

The most popular learning method is a combination of full-time (learning) and e-learning (learning)

2. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH E-LEARNING FOR

TEACHERS?

Better communicatio

n with students

Possibility to work

simultaneously with more

students

Improve students results

Increase student interest

in studying

Increase the number of students

E-learning is generally seen as a promising method of learning, but identified educational, personal and technical weaknesses must be removed

3. WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH E-LEARNING FOR STUDENTS?

The biggest advantage of e-learning, indicated by all student target groups is the availability of study materials

4. WHAT KIND OF ISSUES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF E-LEARNING WERE

RAISED BY TEACHERS?

Knowledge and skills on how to use the e-learning properly is quite an issue for teachers

5. WHAT WERE E-LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES FOR

STUDENTS?

The biggest disadvantage for student target groups was impersonal approach to the person, therefore, the future e-learning should focus on the information campaign and use of communi- cation tools

6. HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN PART IN THE TRAINING, WHICH USED THE METHOD OF E-

LEARNING?

INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION DO NOT USE E-LEARNING FOR TRAINING OF THEIR EMPLOYEES AND IF SO, THAN ONLY RARELY

RESULTS OF EXISTING SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS SURVEY

Moodle is the most used software platform in Slovakia

Moodle as one of the few e-learning software supports Slovak language

One of the most eminent advantages of Moodle is that it can run on different operating systems

Moodle provides effective tools and simple procedure for creating educational content

Moodle is open source Moodle has the largest user base

Product Developer Web

ATutor University of Toronto www.atutor.ca

Blackboard Blackboard www.blackboard.com

Claroline University of Louvain www.claroline.net

Class Server Microsoft www.microsoft.at

Clix Imc G.m.b.H. www.im-c.de

Distance Learning System Ets G.m.b.H. www.ets-online.de

elSitos Bitmedia www.bitmedia.cc

eLearning Suite Hyperwave AG www.hyperwave.com

IBT Server Time4you www.time4you.de

ILIAS University of Cologne www.ilias.de

Learning Space Lotus (IBM) www.lotus.com

Moodle Moodle.com www.moodle.org

Saba Learning Enterprise Saba www.saba.com

Top Class WBT Systems www.wbtsystems.com

WebCT WebCT www.webct.com

WeLearn FIM – University of Linz welearn.film.uni-linz.ac.at

TOP RATED E-LEARNING CONTENT MNGMT SYSTEMS

Product Eduplone ILIAS Moodle PHP-Nuke Typo3

Category LCMS LCMS LCMS C3MS CMS, C3MS

Communication Asynchronous. Com.

Synchronous. Com.

Collaboration

Personalization

Didactics

Assessment

Tracking

Coop. Content.

E-Learn. - Standards IMS, LOM SCORM, AICC SCORM

Content Generation

Online

Offline

Asset-Management

UsabilityAbility to Learn

Training

Documentation

Administration and Technic

Installation

Administration

Scaling

Ability

Price and Licence Free, GPL Free, GPL Free, GPL Free, GPL Free, GPL

COMPARISON OF RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE (OPEN SOURCE SYSTEM) (WWW.BILDUNG. AT)

Product ClassServer elSITOS Schooltalk WeLearn

Category LCMS LMS S3MS, LCMS LMS

Communication Asynchronous. Com.

Synchronous. Com.

Collaboration

Personalization

Didactics

Assessment

Tracking

Coop. Content.

E-Learn. - Standards IMS SCORM,AICC

IMS

Content Generation

Online

Offline

Asset-Management

UsabilityAbility to Learn

Training

Documentation

Administration and Technic

Installation

Administration

Scaling

Ability

Price and Licence MS ACH Agreement

conditionalfree

paid conditionalfree

Legend:

to by up to standards

partly to by up to standards

not up to standards

GPL – General Public License

RECOMMENDATIONS

Continue on using the LCMS Moodle platform Develop CRM linked to Moodle for better and

more simple administration of the education Determine the most appropriate modules for

efficient use e-learning in education

Unify a methodology for creating e-courses

Unify a e-courses graphics environment

Strengthen technical support for all end user

groups

STEPS TO BE EXECUTED IN THE COMING MONTHS

Using the eye tracker we will identify which features are the most eye-catching, which features cause confusion and which ones are ignored by users altogether

Based on data obtained (the eye tracker) we will complete the recommendations for the software prototype development

Development of a software prototype Since 9/2011 software prototype pilot run Final phase of project dissemination 9/2011-

2/2012

SOFTWARE PROTOTYPE NEW FEATURES FOR ONLINE EDUCATION OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

Last upgraded version of LCM Moodle

Better administration of courses and communication with students

Module for Random assignments for larger group of students

Module for time tracking of user activities, course ratings Module for technical support and helpdesk functionalities

Separate access to course materials and access to education (community, testing, teachers)

Improved audio / video support Localization

SOFTWARE PROTOTYPE NEW FEATURES FOR ONLINE EDUCATION OF PUBLIC

ADMINISTRATION

New support materials

How to create courses for teachersHow to use e-learning for studentsHow to administer couses better

Experience sharing?

EXPECTATIONS

Increase the interest of both Slovak and Foreign

students studying at our faculty

Possibility of extending cooperation with foreign universities / colleges / faculties

Simplifying the learning process

Make the learning process more effective Digitization of education

PROJECT GAINS

Faculty will be ready to use digital technology as part of its everyday life

o Make learning process more interesting Faculty will be equipped with modern

technologyo Interactive whiteboards, computers with

touch-screen, voting machines, special eye tracking monitor for further research

Teachers will receive methodology and support for the e-learning courses setting and maintaining

Students will receive interactive learning methods and initial experience

Thank you for your attention!

Prof. PhDr. Ľudmila Malíková, PhD.

Head of the Institute of Public Policy and Economics

Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University

Phone: +421 2 206 69 855

E-mail: malikova@fses.uniba.sk

Dissemination: PhDr. Ľuba Vávrová, PhD.

Institute of Public Policy and Economics

Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University

Phone: +421 2 206 69 862

E-mail: crs.lgdc@gmail.com