Introduction of eLectures at the Medical University of Graz – Results and Experiences from a Pilot Trial

In autumn 2011 we developed a concept for a new service to be offered for our teachers in connection with virtual lessons: eLectures. eLectures in general are defined as recorded lectures. We offer two kinds of services: InfoSnippets and InfoCasts. InfoSnippets represent short videos visualizing practical skills to be learned by medical students such as measuring the blood pressure or how to make a surgical suture. InfoCasts are recordings of entire lectures including interactive elements. Basic InfoCasts consist of voice recording in combination with synchronized slides. Video is offered only in form of short sections where e.g. practical skills or experiments are shown. With begin of summer semester 2012 we started with four pilot projects of lessons which were fully virtualized. In this paper we present the concept for our eLectures, the selection process of the production software, the realization of the four pilot projects and the evaluation results of the students

Towards a Digital Capability Maturity Framework for Tertiary Institutions

Background: The Digital Capability (DC) of an Institution is the extent to which the institution's culture, policies, and infrastructure enable and support digital practices (Killen et al., 2017), and maturity is the continuous improvement of those capabilities. As technology continues to evolve, it is likely to give rise to constant changes in teaching and learning, potentially disrupting Tertiary Education Institutions (TEIs) and making existing organisational models less effective. An institution’s ability to adapt to continuously changing technology depends on the change in culture and leadership decisions within the individual institutions. Change without structure leads to inefficiencies, evident across the Nigerian TEI landscape. These inefficiencies can be attributed mainly to a lack of clarity and agreement on a development structure. Objectives: This research aims to design a structure with a pathway to maturity, to support the continuous improvement of DC in TEIs in Nigeria and consequently improve the success of digital education programmes. Methods: I started by conducting a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) investigating the body of knowledge on DC, its composition, the relationship between its elements and their respective impact on the Maturity of TEIs. Findings from the review led me to investigate further the key roles instrumental in developing Digital Capability Maturity in Tertiary Institutions (DCMiTI). The results of these investigations formed the initial ideas and constructs upon which the proposed structure was built. I then explored a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to substantiate the initial constructs and gain a deeper understanding of the relationships between elements/sub-elements. Next, I used triangulation as a vehicle to expand the validity of the findings by replicating the methods in a case study of TEIs in Nigeria. Finally, after using the validated constructs and knowledge base to propose a structure based on CMMI concepts, I conducted an expert panel workshop to test the model’s validity. Results: I consolidated the body of knowledge from the SLR into a universal classification of 10 elements, each comprising sub-elements. I also went on to propose a classification for DCMiTI. The elements/sub-elements in the classification indicate the success factors for digital maturity, which were also found to positively impact the ability to design, deploy and sustain digital education. These findings were confirmed in a UK University and triangulated in a case study of Northwest Nigeria. The case study confirmed the literature findings on the status of DCMiTI in Nigeria and provided sufficient evidence to suggest that a maturity structure would be a well-suited solution to supporting DCM in the region. I thus scoped, designed, and populated a domain-specific framework for DCMiTI, configured to support the educational landscape in Northwest Nigeria. Conclusion: The proposed DCMiTI framework enables TEIs to assess their maturity level across the various capability elements and reports on DCM as a whole. It provides guidance on the criteria that must be satisfied to achieve higher levels of digital maturity. The framework received expert validation, as domain experts agreed that the proposed Framework was well applicable to developing DCMiTI and would be a valuable tool to support TEIs in delivering successful digital education. Recommendations were made to engage in further iterations of testing by deploying the proposed framework for use in TEI to confirm the extent of its generalisability and acceptability

Report of the Secretary of the Interior; being part of the message and documents communicated to the two Houses of Congress at the beginning of the second session of the Fifty-second Congress : Report of the Commissioner of Education, 1892.

Annual Message to Congress with Documents; Pres. Harrison. 6 Dec. HED 1, 52-2, v1-22 , 16378p. [3076-3097] Cession of the Cherokee Strip and other Indian lands to the U.S.; policy of allotment and education ; Choctaw and Chickasaw title to lands occupied by other tribes; annual report of the Sec. of War (Serials 3077-3084); annual report of the Sec. of Interior (Serials 3087-3094); annual report of the Gen. Land Office (Serial 3087) ; annual report of the CIA (Serial 3088); etc