The global campus project: using e-learning to extend access to new polpulations of students.

The Global Campus (GC) project started in May 1999 between the School of Computing Science (SCS) of Middlesex University (MU) and the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC) in Cairo[1]. RITSEC were keen to further develop their collaboration with Middlesex University and it was decided to launch a complete MSc programme in Distance Learning (DL) mode. This was in line with the University strategy to expand its provision overseas to meet the vast demand for British higher education abroad by offering e-learning supported programmes to provide access to students who would otherwise be unable to benefit due to the prohibitive costs of studying in the UK. At the time there was a worldwide demand for IT/Computing academic qualifications offering good employment opportunities. Professor Mark Woodman, who joined the School from Open University, played a key role in specifying the pedagogy, determining the structure of the Web-based material and choosing the technology for delivering and implementing the e-learning programmes. During the course of the project, GC programmes were delivered to students at seven collaborative partner institutions located in five countries: China, Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong and Singapore. These programmes were part of the portfolio of the Business Information Systems (BIS) Academic group of the SCS and the same programmes were also delivered to students at our London campus. All programmes employed the same course management, assessment and quality control procedures so that all students had an equivalent learning experience. These procedures complied with the standards laid down by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) of the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE). The paper is an attempt to analyse our experience once the project came to an end with the start of the Academic year 2007/8

Using e-Learning to extend access to new populations of students and reduce cost of programme delivery

This paper evaluates the Global Campus e-learning programmes offered by the School of Computing. The programmes are delivered to students at seven collaborative partner institutions located in China, Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong and Singapore. The same programmes are also delivered to students at our London campus. All programmes employ the same course management assessment and quality-control procedures so that all students ahave an equivalent learning experience. These procedures comply with the standards laid down by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) of the Higher Education Funding Council of of England (HEFCE). Recently a sustainability analysis was completed correlating programme income with staff salary costs for all programmes offered by the University. Using these figures we have been able to estimate the benefits of delivering the programmes with Global Campus e-learning materials in terms both of learning enhancement and cost reduction

E-learning in developing countries: suggesting a methodology for enabling computer-aided assessment

Traditional education has shifted towards new methods of teaching and learning through the proliferation of information and communication technologies (ICT). The continuous advances in technology enable the realisation of a more distributed structure of knowledge transfer. This becomes critically important for developing countries that lack the resources and infrastructure for implementing cutting-edge education practices. The two main themes of technology in education for developing countries focus either on aspects of technological support for traditional methods and localised processes, or on the investigation of how such technologies may assist distance learning. Commonly such efforts are threefold, relating to content delivery, assessment and provision of feedback. This paper focuses on issues regarding the implementation of e-learning in developing countries and particularly those aspects of computer-aided assessment (CAA) that could be tailored to satisfy the needs of a limited educational infrastructure. The primary contribution of this paper is a proposed methodology for supporting both formative and summative CAA

Global Campus: learning to walk with webbed feet

Universities wishing to expand their provision beyond their local catchment areas need to consider whether to bring the students to the tuition or take the tuition to the students. Current-day educational and information technologies make the latter option a much more achievable prospect than it has been in the past. Nevertheless, careful consideration needs to be given to the nature of the distance-learning students' learning experiences and the extent to which these may be comparable with those of the local students. These matters are considered in this paper against the background of the Global Campus project whereby Middlesex University's School of Computing Science sought to take its initial steps in distance-learning provision

Postgraduate preferences: a study of factors contributing to programme satisfaction amongst masters students.

Background: Universities have a vested interest in attracting and encouraging enrolment of as many high calibre students as possible. With greater frequency, universities are using marketing techniques to do so. Aims: The study reviewed current student opinions of a programme within a UK university to discover its shortcomings and strengths. Topics investigated were why the programme was selected by the participant pool, programme worth, impressions of modules, lecturers, and materials, how to increase the appeal of the programme to potential applicants, whether the current students regretted enrolment, and whether the student would recommend the course to a prospective student. Sample: Eighty-one participants took part in the study. They are Computing Science MSc students who were given a questionnaire during their classroom sessions. Method: An 11-item questionnaire was used to determine student demographic information, opinions of marketing and usefulness of the MSc in Computing Science programme. Questions regarding why the programme was selected, whether it was worthwhile, impressions of specific aspects of modules taken to date, how to increase the appeal, regret of enrolment, and whether the student would recommend the course to a prospective student were asked. Questionnaires were distributed to all students in the spring of 2005. Results: Analyses indicate that greater flexibility of studies and increasing ease of manoeuvring through administrative matters would enhance programme value. Conclusions: Universities should consider modifying some aspects of programmes to best appeal to student needs, e.g., increasing flexibility. Students should be provided with information to better understand the potential career paths of those who graduate with a particular degree. Involving alumni in recruiting new students might be a worthwhile endeavour. Recommendations to alter the programme and marketing strategy to highlight how the programme meets the needs of students were developed