Performance Factors of a Full Distance Learning : The Case of Undergraduate Students in Academic Exchange

Various e-learning systems have been developed and implemented in educational contexts. However, few studies try to go beyond the experimental level of identifying numerous factors that influence this technology and apply them to a real academic class of students. This article based on an in-depth analysis of a business school case--Montpellier Business School (France)--and survey data from 405 students assessed on their use of the e-learning platform, helps illuminate the patterns involved in e-learning performance. A literature review on e-learning performance factors is realized and a theoretical model focusing on three dimensions of e-learning performance--the learner side, the institutional environment and the e-learning system per se--is presented and tested empirically. The key findings of this paper identify motivation and self-discipline of students as main drivers of e-learning outcomes. Other results show that the integration of e-learning in a pedagogical program requires the analysis of its performance not only from learners and instructors point of view, but also from the underlying strategic perspective of the institution

Fear of the unknown: a pre-departure qualitative study of Turkish international students

This paper presents findings from eleven in-depth interviews with Turkish undergraduate students, who were, by the time of data collection, about to spend a semester at a European university under the Erasmus exchange scheme. The students all agreed to be interviewed about their feelings about studying in a foreign culture, and were found to be anxious prior to departure about the quality of accommodation in the new destination, their language ability and the opportunity to form friendships. Fears were expressed about possible misconceptions over Turkey as a Muslim and a developing country. Suggestions are made for HEI interventions to allay student travellers’ concerns

Distance Education In European Higher Education - The Potential: UK Case Study

[About the project] Study 3 focuses on prospective distance education students – who are they, what do they look for, what are the barriers? For this purpose, the browsing and search behaviour on the Distance Learning Portal is analysed and five experts are asked to conduct a meta-analysis of existing research for five country cases. The term ‘better’ is used in the central research question (‘How can the distance education offer of European higher education institutions be better matched to the needs of adult learners? ’) to indicate that the project will look at both the demand and the offer side of distance education. The three studies, which are published as single online reports, are brought together in a final publication by the end of the year 2014

Marketing higher education in Africa : challenges and opportunities

This chapter examines the global marketing environment of today’s higher education institutions (HEIs). (Semi) Autonomous HEIs and business schools are increasingly behaving like for-profit organisations as they seek new opportunities and resources to prioritise revenue creation. Therefore, they are diversifying the portfolio of their student populations by recruiting domestic and international students. In this light, this contribution deliberates on contemporary integrated marketing communications that are intended to support HEIs to promote their quality, student-centred education as well as their high-impact and meaningful research in global markets. Moreover, it reports on how HEIs’ marketing endeavours will be able to forge fruitful and collaborative relationships with industry stakeholders; foster student mobility and engagement in exchange programmes, as they can create partnership agreements with other institutions, among other strategic avenues. These issues imply that tomorrow’s educational institutions will have to keep investing in adequate resources, competences and capabilities to leverage themselves amid intensifying competition in challenging socio-economic environments.peer-reviewe

The Vienna Diplomatic Program: Goals and Outcomes in a Non-Traditional Study Abroad Program

The University of Illinois??? Vienna Diplomatic Program provides a nontraditional, semester-long study abroad opportunity for students interested in international organizations. It is grounded in a philosophy of experiential learning that combines study abroad and learning-by- doing in a capstone research project. The VDP is one of several programs using the administrative auspices of the University???s Austria-Illinois Exchange Program for its infrastructure. Students in the VDP may take English-language courses on international relations at our Vienna partner universities, or take German-language courses if their skills are sufficiently advanced. While in Vienna, each student writes a major research paper on one of the international organizations in Vienna. The Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and the European Union have been the most popular subjects for research. Students report very high levels of satisfaction with the program. Students tend to come from political science, economics, and history, and appreciate having a study abroad program with a social-science and public policy focus. Student satisfaction is evident in the important role of word-of-mouth in publicizing the program. Graduates have gone on to both research-oriented and policy-oriented positions. Another group seems to have benefited from immersion into the transnational community of the expatriate, leading them to careers based on cross-cultural exchange and globalized society. Because the program is less than ten years old, we do not yet know its effect on the long-term career paths of its alumni.published or submitted for publicationnot peer reviewe

An investigation into international business collaboration in higher education organisations: a case study of international partnerships in four UK leading universities

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a comparative analysis of the main objectives of international institutional partnerships in four UK leading universities. Based on the presented case studies, the paper outlines a model for objectives and implementation of international partnership. Design/methodology/approach - Using a multiple case study approach, the paper employs three sources of data: templates of international partnerships, actual agreements of international partnerships and interviews with senior and very senior managers concerned with internationalisation at the four universities. The analysis includes inter-university comparative analysis and templates-agreements-interviews comparative analysis for each of the four universities separately. Findings - It is found that, for the four universities, the objectives of international partnerships are related to both students and staff with relative importance given to the student dimension. While the student dimension refers to any overseas partnerships where the core topic of the partnership is the student whether it is related to student exchange, collaborative programs, student recruitment, etc.; the staff dimension refers to any overseas partnerships that are more related to the staff topic, such as joint research, collaborative teaching, staff exchange, etc

Innovative learning in action (ILIA) issue five: Learning technologies in the curriculum

Consideration of the papers and snapshots in this edition of Innovative Learning in Action, focused on learning technology, will provide the reader with insights into a range of excellent and innovative approaches to the application of learning technologies to enhance learning both in the classroom and at a distance. It also provides us with examples of how learning technologies can both stimulate and support partnership with staff and students and collaborative learning and working. This edition is particularly timely given the aim of the University’s 2005-2008 Learning Technologies Implementation Plan (LTIP), which is to enhance the quality of, and access to, learning, teaching and assessment by supporting and developing the curriculum through the appropriate and effective use of learning technologies. The LTIP is designed to help us to reach a situation where the effective use of appropriate learning technologies becomes part of our normal teaching, research and enterprise activities, and enhances access to our programmes by all our students whether they are learning on campus, at a distance, or in the workplace. The emphasis at the University of Salford has consistently been on the identification and creative application of the appropriate blends of ICT and traditional methods, shaped by pedagogical, rather than technological drivers, and acknowledging and reflecting different academic contexts and professional and vocational requirements. We have some excellent examples of how this has been achieved here, ILIA once again providing us with an opportunity to reflect on practice and student learning, to share experience and hopefully to identify future areas for collaboration in a key area of curriculum development

Impact of College Rankings on Institutional Decision Making: Four Country Case Studies

Examines how global or national rankings influence colleges' strategic positioning and planning, staffing and organization, quality assurance, resource allocation and fundraising, and admissions and financial aid in Australia, Canada, Germany, and Japan

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience