Identifying innovation in higher education elearning strategies

There are many case studies of individual Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) devising distinctive eLearning strategies, reported by the HEI itself, journalists, or research observatories. An extraordinarily wide range of university-level eLearning programmes are rapidly becoming available from large numbers of HEIs across Europe, and there are strong attempts being made to identify and disseminate case studies of innovative eLearning practices (e.g. MENON, 2006). However, the vital research goal of obtaining more systematic evidence across countries in relation to HEIs' innovations in eLearning strategies represents a particular challenge for collectors of case studies, especially given the diverse processes in different countries for measuring pedagogical value and cost-effectiveness. By contrast, there are typically several reports a year of large-scale attempts to survey HEIs in relation to eLearning, sponsored, for example, by EU programmes or industry groups. Yet the factors that determine educational effectiveness are not, so far, well understood; and consequently it can be difficult to develop reliable quantitative survey items that simultaneously enable valid and insightful comparisons between essentially qualitative eLearning strategies. Moreover, such quantitative evidence is not collected systematically by the typical HEI; when collected, such evidence is commercially sensitive; and it is not easy for researchers to obtain independently of the HEI. So, claims are made, for example, that European universities plan to 'expand their use of eLearning' (BBC News, 2005), but it is not at all clear what measures of expansion are appropriate, and what kinds of strategies are associated with such expansion. The two-year research study described here attempted a mixed-method approach to the problem of identifying examples of innovation in relation to the eLearning strategies developed by HEIs. Where possible the study estimated the impact of the implemented eLearning programmes, but the emphasis was on illuminating a range of innovative eLearning strategy cases, rather than necessarily determining best practice. Two key research questions asked by the study are: 1. How can innovation in Higher Education eLearning strategies be identified? 2. What factors are critical to the success of these strategies? This research did not set out to obtain, directly, insight into why eLearning has not been more widely adopted by HEIs, why various eLearning projects have failed, why some eLearning projects have achieved less success than anticipated, or why some eLearning projects have achieved success more slowly than anticipated. However, by researching innovation, the challenges faced by the innovators, and how strategies needed to change over time, it is anticipated that the findings from this study might indirectly illuminate these crucial questions. It is not possible within the space available here to do more than outline the methodology and highlight a few key findings: fuller reports are available on the project website www.spi.pt/innounilearning

An evaluation of e-learning standards

The aim of this investigation is to perform an independent study of the various emerging elearning standards. This paper presents a summary of these standards in order to make them more accessible and understandable, and provide preliminary evidence as to their utility and adoption by the various UK higher and further education institutions. Recently there have been efforts to define standards for the elearning contents and elearning components like the IEEELOM, UKLOM, IMS, SCORM and OKI. Since it was not possible to cover all the standards in detail within the time available, so our independent study focuses on eight standards Although the results of the preliminary study suggest that the eight standards considered in the study may help interoperability, accessibility and reusability of the elearning content and elearning components, but it is yet to be seen how many of these are actually followed at UK higher education institutions

Strategies for embedding eLearning in traditional universities: drivers and barriers

This paper addresses the question: how can elearning be embedded in traditional universities so that it contributes to the transformation of the university? The paper examines elearning strategies in higher education, locating the institutional context within the broader framework of national and international policy drivers which link elearning with the achievement of strategic goals such as widening access to lifelong learning, and upskilling for the knowledge and information society. The focus will be on traditional universities i.e. universities whose main form of teaching is on-campus and face-to-face, rather than on open and distance teaching universities, which face different strategic issues in implementing elearning. Reports on the adoption of elearning in traditional universities indicate extensive use of elearning to improve the quality of learning for on-campus students, but this has not yet translated into a significant increase in opportunities for lifelong learners in the workforce and those unable to attend on-campus. One vision of the future of universities is that ‘Virtualisation and remote working technologies will enable us to study at any university in the world, from home’. However, this paper will point out that realisation of this vision of ubiquitous and lifelong access to higher education requires that a fully articulated elearning strategy aims to have a ‘transformative’ rather than just a ‘sustaining’ effect on teaching functions carried out in traditional universities. In order words, rather than just facilitating universities to improve their teaching, elearning should transform how universities currently teach. However, to achieve this transformation, universities will have to introduce strategies and policies which implement flexible academic frameworks, innovative pedagogical approaches, new forms of assessments, cross-institutional accreditation and credit transfer agreements, institutional collaboration in development and delivery, and, most crucially, commitment to equivalence of access for students on and off-campus. The insights in this paper are drawn from an action research case study involving both qualitative and quantitative approaches, utilising interviews, surveys and focus groups with stakeholders, in addition to comparative research on international best practice. The paper will review the drivers and rationales at international, national and institutional level which are leading to the development of elearning strategies, before outlining the outcomes of a case study of elearning strategy development in a traditional Irish university. This study examined the drivers and barriers which increase or decrease motivation to engage in elearning, and provides some insights into the challenges of embedding elearning in higher education. While recognising the desirability of reaching out to new students and engaging in innovative pedagogical approaches, many academic staff continue to prefer traditional lectures, and are sceptical about the potential for student learning in online settings. Extrinsic factors in terms of lack of time and support serve to decrease motivation and there are also fears of loss of academic control to central administration. The paper concludes with some observations on how university elearning strategies must address staff concerns through capacity building, awareness raising and the establishment of effective support structures for embedding elearning

The fostering of innovative eLearning strategies in European higher education

Although there are strong attempts being made by various European observatories and European Commission programmes to identify and disseminate innovative eLearning practices (MENON, 2006), the factors that determine educational effectiveness are, as yet, not well understood. In particular, while an extraordinarily wide range of university-level eLearning programmes are rapidly becoming available from large numbers of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Europe, the sharing of good practice requires detailed accounts of successful innovative eLearning strategies. There are many relevant checklists and sets of principles described in EU websites (e.g. elearningeurope.info, 2006) and in the academic literature (e.g. Conole et al, 2004), but it is often only through thoroughly appreciating what others have done that such abstract guidance come alive. However, it can still be difficult for HEIs to learn from others. While there are many media reports of innovation, these typically have to omit the level of detail that would enable optimal understanding by those HEIs wishing to apply such innovations in their own contexts. Meanwhile, case studies presented at conferences and in the academic literature can provide the necessary level of detail, but it can be difficult to collate such case studies into a form that facilitates consistent descriptions across the diversity of European HEIs. By identifying the various eLearning programmes applied by HEIs in a number of EU member states and conducting a detailed assessment of a sample of eLearning strategies found to be effective supporters of higher education requirements, the EC-funded InnoUniLearning project is disseminating a range of eLearning strategy case studies. Where possible this project is estimating the potential impact of the implemented eLearning programmes, but more importantly it will identify and detail the strategies applied by leading institutions and well-known success stories, as well as those institutions that have applied new and innovative eLearning programmes. It is hoped that the dissemination of these case studies will be of assistance to HEIs across Europe in implementing eLearning strategies that meet their own particular curricular and cohort requirements. The study is concentrating on illuminating a range of successful eLearning strategy cases, rather than necessarily determining best practice, which could be argued an impossible task at the moment because of a lack of learner feedback. Nevertheless, most, if not all, organisations that have implemented eLearning have gone through a period of adjustment in order to obtain an eLearning programme that is cost-efficient and effective; so capturing something of the challenges overcome by the HEIs leading this field should assist the wider EU higher education community. This paper describes background and the methodological approach of the two-year study and some preliminary results, which will be elaborated in the conference presentation

Interoperability Between ELearning Systems

Online assessments are an integral part of eLearning systems that enhance both distance and continuous education. Although over two-hundred and fifty eLearning applications exist, most educational institutions are trapped with a particular vendor primarily due to lack of in test-question sharing features. This paper highlights the evolution of eLearning systems whilst detailing the two most prominent objective test question standards, namely, QML and QTI. An analysis conducted amongst software houses which are involved in the development of eLearning systems confirms the fact that most applications make use of proprietary formats and clearly shows a lack of import and export options amongst other features

Fit for eLearning? Trainings for eLearning competencies

In: conference proceedings, edulearn 2010, Barcelona 5.-7.7.2010. In order to design and tutor online and blended learning courses, trainers and teachers need to obtain appropriate qualification. In this paper different competency models for online teaching which developed in Germany 2005 – 2008 will be addressed as well as different settings to qualify teachers and trainers appropriately. Finally the results of an evaluation of two different training settings will be presented in order to compare an in house versus a transorganisational training program

Plotting virtuality : dimensions of eLearning space

The term eLearning enjoys wide currency, but is loosely employed. A lack of clarity as to its nature accompanies a lack of understanding as to its applications and appropriate use. These are important issues, as political, educational and commercial policy-makers need an informed frame of reference from which to make decisions regarding the employment of eLearning alongside or in the place of existing methods of education and training. There is also a need for accurate description of eLearning products for the clients who might use them. This paper seeks to provide contextual and internal analyses of eLearning as an initial stage in the process of creating such a frame of reference. Firstly, eLearning is located within a variety of education and training contexts so as to delineate its boundaries, and an overview is made of ways in which it is employed at higher education level within private, corporate and state-funded systems. Secondly, earlier conceptual models for eLearning are examined and a model is proposed comprising four dimensions of virtual space: course utility, study flexibility, delivery technology and learning paradigm. A graphical representation of the dimensional model is used to profile the different contexts for eLearning explored earlier; this method of visualisation affords ready comparison of the variety of ways in which eLearning is employed. Thirdly, a rationale is advanced for these dimensions, which are then discussed in relation to typical learning activities. Finally, consideration is given to how the dimensional model might be applied in the areas of learner appeal, course marketing, educational systems design and course quality evaluation

Redressing disadvantage and ensuring social cohesion: the role of distance education and elearning policies in the European Union 1957-2007

This paper analyses the development and implementation of the European Union's policies in distance higher education and elearning since the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Distance education emerged in the 1960s and 70s as an instrument at national level to redress disadvantage, and to provide flexible, high-quality and cost-effective access to higher education to adults who were unable, for geographical, employment or personal reasons, to attend on-campus. Analysis of EU policy documents and interviews with key individuals indicates that the support of influential policy entrepreneurs and networks brought distance education to the centre stage in EU education and training policy for a brief period in the early 1990s, culminating in the Maastricht Treaty on European Union (1992), which committed the EU to ‘encouraging the development of distance education’. Since then, distance learning has been superceded by elearning, and is linked in EU rhetoric to social cohesion in the context of making Europe the most competitive economy in the world. Yet, despite the great potential of elearning, this paper outlines the challenges to its wider adoption. These include the persistence of the digital divide in Europe; student resistance to elearning approaches; and the problem of achieving cost-effectiveness in elearning. Much remains to be done to ensure the flexibility in terms of time, place, pace, and indeed accessibility, which would enable adult students to participate in lifelong learning on a truly democratic basis