1. Asia eBIT @ UCSC: Implementing the paradigm shift from Teaching to Learning through e-learning framework G.N. Wikramanayake, K.P. Hewagamage, G.I. Gamage, A.R. WeerasingheUniversity of Colombo School of Computing {gnw, kph, gig, arw}@ucsc.cmb.ac.lkColombo. Established in the year 1870, as the ABSTRACTCeylon Medical College, the University of To address the shortage of opportunities to takeColombo could claim to have been associated computing as a career, University of Colombowith higher education for over 100 years. Students introduced the BIT External Degree programmeshould feel very privileged to belong to the in 2000. However due to the high dropout rates at University of Colombo with its long tradition of the initial stage of the programme, only smallexcellence in teaching, learning, research and number of students has been successful in contribution to the community. completing their studies. Therefore, it was a The University of Colombo started its computing strong requirement to improve the quality and activities in 1967 and today it is the most relevance of the delivery mechanism of BIT as the advanced higher educational institution, in the university was not involved in face to face forefront of human resource development in teaching. Information and Communication Technologies Asia eBIT is a project to address these issues and(ICT) in Sri Lanka. to expand BIT into an International degree in Asia. In September 2002, University of Colombo Through the paradigm shift from teaching to School of Computing (UCSC) was established by learning, the relevance of the programme as an external degree has been achieved. Beside merging The Institute of Computer Technology changes to the curriculum is gradually addressing and The Department of Computer Science both of the dropout issue as well as has provided the the University of Colombo, as the first centre of students an opportunity to first acquire end-user higher learning of computing in Sri Lanka. IT skills and then move on into development skills in ICT. 1.2 Career Opportunities in ICT Asia eBIT e-learning framework is built on top of a Learning Management System and provides a According to the recent work force survey [11] wide rage of learning resources. It is a virtualthe current demand for computer graduates is learningenvironment thatpromotes5,755. Such an increasing demand was predicted constructivism in collaborative learning. Itat Colombo way back in late 1990s. includes interactive learning material, student Undergraduate education in Sri Lanka is provided manuals, learning activities and assessments. This free of charge for a limited number. Providing paper introduces the Asia eBIT e-learning framework, curriculum changes that have takeeducational resources along with opportunities for placed and the various learning resources thatscholarships / bursaries and hostel facilities cannot had helped the student to learn and test theirbe sustained for large number of students without skills. Paper also shows how the studenta steady income. Apparently the government of performance of participated students hadSri Lanka is spending over 1,000,000 per student increased due to this learning environment. per year to provide undergraduate education. Thus state university setup does not allow 1.0 INTRODUCTIONexpansion at the required scale. A typical increase 1.1 University of Colombo in the intake for a state section university programme is around 50 students. In late 1990s The history of higher education in Sri Lanka is the largest undergraduate output in ICT from a closely linked to that of the University of Proceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 68

2. state university was 50. Thus increasing by are constantly updated to meet the industry numbers in 50s will not assist in meeting the local requirements. Major syllabi revision takes place and global needs. every 3 years. In addition to the syllabi, model question papers, a 1.3 BIT @ UCSClist of recommended textbooks are provided to the Taking into consideration the expansion students. Main source of interaction with the limitations of the state sector universities and thestudents is through the Web. All announcements job opportunities that exist for ICT graduates in and most correspondence are done through this Sri Lanka & overseas, the UCSC (formerlymedium. Institute of Computer Technology) took theStudents meet university authorities only at initiative to launch the External Degree (BIT)registration, examination and awards ceremony. programme leading to the award of Degree of Thus the learning takes place remotely similar to Bachelor of Information Technology (External) Open University Distance Education model. BIT way back in 2000 [1]. It is the first-ever UCSC also gives further support to BIT students External Degree in IT in Sri Lanka and the by the regular TV programme telecast over University of Colombo awards the degree. TVLanka which is broadcasted in the Middle East University system provides higher education as well. Recommended text books (most Low cost opportunities to less than 15% of the successfulIndian editions) have been made available in students at the GCE A/L examination. BIT is openmany public libraries throughout the country in for all students who are successful at GCE A/Lresponse to student requests. and also for others who have obtained alternate Rest of the paper is organised as follows. Section educational qualifications irrespective of them 2 presents the changes that had taken placed in the being registered for any other educationallearning and delivery mechanisms along with an programme. Thus BIT is designed to produceidentification of existing Learning Management qualified ICT professionals in addition to theSystems (LMS). Section 3 introduces the traditional University output. More importantly initiatives taken by UCSC to introduce the BIT has enabled those who could not enter the paradigm shift through the BIT degree programme. university to read for a degree in ICT due to Section 4 introduces the Asia eBIT project and severe competition to enrol for state universityelaborates on the e-learning framework used to degrees. Finally BIT gives an opportunity to thoseachieve the paradigm shift. Section 5 briefly non-graduates already working in ICT to obtain ahighlights some of the society changes and barriers in Sri Lankan context in succeeding in the formal qualification in ICT. paradigm shift. Finally, the conclusion emphasises BIT is a three year academic programme that on the impact is taking place in education as a awards a Diploma in IT on successful completion result of the paradigm shift from Teaching to of course examinations of the first year; a HigherLearning. Diploma in IT on successful completion of course examinations of the second year and finally the 2.0 CHANGES TAKEN PLACE degree. This process has allowed students to Availability of vast amount of information on the commence employment after completion of one web has provided access to all types of learning year academic work. Such students would proceed material. The teachers lecture notes are no longer with their studies while at the industry or move on the primary focus of a learning process, and the to other disciplines. teachers role and the students learning process is changing [14]. As BIT is an external degree the students will not attend the institution for the learning process. Thus, UCSC provides a well-defined detailed 2.1 Paradigm Shift syllabus that would help to lay a solid foundationParadigm shifts in todays world have identified on which, a student can build his career in ICT.the Machine / Industrial era being replaced by Due to rapid advances in ICT all UCSC syllabi Technology / Information era. SimilarlyProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka69 3. production process has moved from Products toprocess than on copying note as in a traditional Knowledge, Workplace has moved from Physical class. to Virtual and its focus has changed from WorkerTeachers should ensure that knowledge and skills to Customer [10].are presented to students in a way that they could In terms of education we should create learn through participation. Teachers need to Knowledge that is accessible virtually with theconsider how these learning experiences could be focus on the student. Virtual access is achieved encouraging to students who are performing such through Internet / Intranets. Techniques such as e-mental exercises. mail, web notices, discussion forums and videoThus students, who used to learn facts and skills conferencing allow a student to accessby absorbing the content presented by teachers information without visiting the physical locationand media resources, could move towards creating of delivery. A typical interactive e-learningpersonal knowledge by acting on content provided system will have these characteristics and thusby teachers, media resources, and personal facilitating the paradigm shift.experiences. The focus should be on acquiringhigher order skills like problem solving and 2.2 Classroom Levelcritical thinking. Use of technology at classroom level was not 2.5 Curriculum Characteristics possible until the teachers delivery mechanismsIn order to change the teachers and students role were aided with technology. Some universities,the curriculum also needs to be revised. institutes and even schools now have installedTraditional curriculum would focus on computers and multi-media projectors in some orfragmented knowledge and disciplinary separation. all of their class rooms so that teachers couldHowevernow weshould focus on deliver the content with the aid of technology. Formultidisciplinary themes as future generation will instance lecturers of University of Colomboneed the ability to move through several different School of Computing can to carry their USB drivejobs. Thus establishment of basic literacy and to deliver their lecture as multi-media facility isfocusing heavily on job specific skills is pointless, available in each classroom or login to the e-as one has to change jobs or manage many jobs by learning system. However an education centrethemselves. Therefore it is important to emphasise with restricted facilities would have to be satisfiedon thinking skills, knowledge integration and with a specific location like a meeting room to useapplication. Depth of understanding will be their multi-media material. It is similar to howrequired than breath of knowledge [4]. laboratory classes are conducted. Thus in such centres not all teachers and students will be able 2.6 Assessments to benefit from technology. However this is theWith changes to the learning process the first step towards using technology for teaching.assessment methods should also change. Insteadof measuring a student on factual knowledge and 2.3 Teachers Role discrete skills, assessments should focus onapplication of knowledge. This will allow testing In the modern global learning environmentof problem solving skills of a student. Students teachers role shifts from "dispenser ofshould also be given tasks to demonstrate information" to "facilitator of learning" as he hasunderstanding and creativity. only to guide the active students who are involved in using the e-learning material. Some of the earlyCurrent LMS are focusing on automated changes that were taking place in teaching and assessment methodologies.Thus most learning were discussed in [14]. assessments are Multiple Choice Questions(MCQ) or key word filling. Thus mostassessments are knowledge assessments than 2.4 Students Role problem solving. However some courses like Some classrooms are equipped with computer Mathematics finds it easy to incorporate problem access to all students. In such cases students solving in their assessments. interactively participate in the learning process. The student can focus totally on the learning2.7 E-LEARNINGProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka70 4. Hosting of a website to provide easy access to also the learning content. This content was in course related information over the Internet can beelectronic format (PowerPoint and Word) where seen as the origin of the current e-learning others were able to directly use them through the systems. It evolved through content that was web site http://www.bit.lk. Thus teachers of provided on the web in the form of lecture notes external institutes were able to deliver the content and other learning material such as lab exercises. to the expected levels of UCSC. Also students This reduced the need for long classroom sessionswho were motivated to learn on their own were to deliver knowledge and also offered the students able to do so by following this material. the flexibility to learn at their own pace. Now weSurprisingly the success rate of students following could see several learning methods being used asboth approaches was the same. However, high part of online teaching over the Internet [9].drop of rates of the external degree programme In e-learning systems students are able to was a major concern for UCSC as we would see communicate with their teachers through emaillater in this section. and discussion groups. In this situation students do not get immediate response from their teachers and some times may also not get what they want3.1 e-Learning @ UCSC within the required time. However some systems In the year 2003, e-learning was introduced to the offer online discussions among students, teachersYear one BIT students through a Learning andother participantsvia chats,Management System(LMS)called videoconferencing and groupware. Here students Theducation. This was possible through are able to get immediate response to theirassistance given by Sida (Swedish International questions despite not being physically present.Development Agency). LMS assists the studentsin learning through self-evaluating quizzes, Online assessment is a key component of an e- learning system and it is used to evaluate students collaborative learning using group assignmentsetc. learning progress. Quizzes in the form of MCQ are part of this and it has the capability not only to UCSC did not stop at this point. We went towards give feed back for the student responses but alsoimproving the syllabi by identifying overall to monitor students learning progress and objective(s) and detail objectives and then relating achievement levels.them to brief and detailed topics along with theexpected time to be spent. For self learners as Various information in the form of coursewell as for those teachers who delivered the overview, contents, objectives, notes, slides,courses the recommended text books with page exercises, workbooks, references, workednumbers for each topic was provided. Even the examples, model and past papers with solutions, links to external resources, student preparedbooks were classified as main and supplementaryso that the students could decide on what to refer. material and their solutions are provided to the learners through these websites. Special As a learning tool for each subject students are interactive sessions with multimedia are also part provided with past papers and model answers. In of these systems.addition to that, the students are given the Commercial systems such as WebCT [13] andopportunity assess their learning skills byanswering MCQ questions and short answers, Blackboard [2] dominated the early days of e-which are automatically marked by the LMS. learning. However with the emergence of severalStudents are also given an opportunity to answer open source solutions e-learning user communitytake home assignments and submit their solutions have increased rapidly. Moodle [7], OLAT [8],electronically. Once they submit their assignment dotLRN [6], claroline [3] are among the popularthe students are grouped and their solutions are open source LMS.shared allowing them to learner from theircolleagues. 3.0 BIT APPROACHThis approach although is a good for learning When the University of Colombo commenced the approach has not been used effectively by the external degree in IT, the technology enabledstudents as a learning tool. Majority of students UCSC to reach their external students andare not ready to take these quizzes and external institutes teaching them. The UCSCassignments until the time of the semester provided not only the syllabi and guidelines but examination. Thus they are not ready to tryout the Proceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka71 5. learning opportunities provided through the LMS. No link with continuous assessment and final Thus the LMS had not been used as a learning semester examination. Students are not tool. UCSC has made the use of LMS as amotivated when they do not find a good value mandatory component of the course. As use of the from activities in the LMS. LMS is possible even after the examination most students who have done the exam well makes an Negative impression: Not enough support for attempt to fulfil the LMS requirement. students learning process.Submission of assignments and doing the quizzes No alignment with respect to syllabus, are possible without any supervision. Hence alearning resources and assessment: this is a quite a number of students take a short cut of kind of serious issue which was not getting their quizzes and assignments answered byconsidered when e-Learning System was first others. Thus they are not using the LMS as a introduced. learning tool. From student point of view although LMS is useful for learning is not yet practical due3.2 BIT Intake & Output to access limitations, access cost and time to be spent in front of a computer. Most students are notBIT is open to all students who fulfil the entry yet used to learning by sitting in front of acriteria without any intake limitations. Figure 1 computer as such facilities are not available forillustrates the degree path and the milestones that them in general. can be achieved by BIT degree program. Thusduring the six completed years, 15,924 studentshave enrolled for this programme. Among them 3.1.1 Evaluation of Theducation9,892 (62%) have sat all semester 1 examination The following could be seen as positivepapers and 6,208 (39%) have sat all year 1 observations from the introduction of the original examinations. Since the 4th batch to be successful e-learning framework.in year 1 all BIT students have to be successful intheir LMS assessments as well. Including those Positive Observationswho were successful prior to the introduction of Acceptable Framework to promote an LMS in total only 3,538 (22%) from among those external degree program (where there is no who sat all the year 1 examination papers has also face to face contact)attempted the LMS assessments. Thus 78% of 1styear students have dropout of the programme Student satisfaction about details in thewithout making an attempt to take all the relevant syllabus of course modules examination components. However from among Promote the students participation withthose who sat all examinations, 2,237 (63%) have assignment modules been successful at the BIT year 1 programme. Introduction of collaborative learning model3.2.1 BIT Year 2 From a Web Site to LMS where studentsNot all BIT first year students could proceed to found lot of learning resourcesyear 2. They have to pass at least 6 out of the 8 Negative Observation courses offered during the 1st year. Out of the15,924 registered for year 1, only 2,927 (18%) Collaborative model was not successful.were able to proceed to year 2. Among them Students were supposed to discuss their1,752 (60%) have sat all year 2 examinations. individual submissions of assignment withYear 2 also has LMS assessments and only 1,266 their assigned group and identify the best(43%) sat the exams and the LMS. However from answer for the given assignment. Howeveramong those who sat all examinations, 889 (70%) students rarely discuss and collaborationhave been successful after fulfilling the didnt happen.requirements for both year 1 and 2. Poor learning content. Learning content are power points slides of teachers. Students can3.2.2 BIT Year 3 hardly learn these things. There was a module for mathematics learning but it was not inline Again only those who pass at least 6 out of 8 with relevant mathematics for computingcourses offered during the 1st year could proceed course syllabus. to year 3. From the 2,927 second years students Proceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 72 6. 1,299 (44%) have been eligible to proceed to yearmisunderstandings while achieving constructive 3. Final year project has been the main barrier foralignment in the curriculum of BIT programme. the 3rd years. Only 546 (42%) have so far submitted the final project report and 485 (37%) have sat exams as well. However from among4.1 E-Learning Framework those who sat all examinations, 394 (81%) have To retain the large enrolled group of students with obtained the degree after fulfilling the the BIT programme the need to improve the requirements of all three years. It is interesting toquality and relevance of the BIT degree popped note that 38% of those graduates are females asup. Since BIT is an external degree with the opposed to 23% in the internal degree programme. university not offering face to face teaching and The internal degree programme taking directdirect monitoring of the participation of the intake from year 1 have a success rate of 84%learning process a different approach to that used while the previous internal specialised degree for the internal students were required. The need programme commencing whos intake commence for a local controlled e-Learning framework and a in year 3 after filtering students based on first twoproject to fund this initiative came up as a result. years performance had a success rate of 97%. Asia eBIT is a direct result of this initiative andwhile addressing these issues it is also helping toexpand BIT into an International degree in Asia. 4.0 ASIA eBIT PROJECTIn reality, e-learning framework implements the e-BIT is a project to enhance the delivery of BITteaching to learning collaborative learning model. degree program using e-Learning and e-TestingIt consists of several components and services. framework. It has been carried out as anStudent enrolment, authentication, portal, international collaboration between Stockholmcurriculum, interactive multimedia content, course University, Sweden and Delf University in thevalidation, activity management, messaging, Netherland.The SwedishInternationalemail, forum, chat, assessments, marking, organization is the main sponsor of this project. Ingrading, reporting, tracking, quality assurance, this section, we will discuss how we haveuser preferences, archiving, etc. are among them improved the BIT program using e-BIT project.[15]. Our e-learning framework is a virtual learning Based on the experience of e-Learning facilitiesenvironment to promote constructivism in for BIT during the period 2003-2006, wecollaborative learning. It includes interactive understood that it is very important to do alearning material, student manuals, learning curriculum revision of BIT program in order toactivities and assessments. In the VLE make it suitable to deliver using online mode.(http://lms.bit.lk) .each course consists of e- This curriculum revision is required to revise bothlearning lessons which provide interactive the learning content and assessment methodology.learning content, online and offline activities, Hence, overall structure of the program wasonline quizzes for self evaluation and revised considering main output of the BITassignments, and discussion forums. Figure 2 program as well as syllabuses of all courses to beshows the starting interface for the virtual learning delivered/Tested usingonlinee-Leanringenvironment of BIT. Marks for the assignments framework.are automatically calculated by the system and To address a weakness of the original framework, considered for the final results. Discussion forums it was required to develop the curriculum by improve the collaboration among the students, as structuring whole study programme level by level forums allow students to engage in general as well as the structure of each course in the discussions as well as the discussions on programme. A syllabus template was used foronline/offline learning activities Figure 3 shows each course to list learning activities based on the the interface of online/offline discussions based learning outcome and content map in the course.activity forum. Curriculum development and The most interesting observation we came cross inprovision of course page etc should happen first to this project is that e-learning course development support a virtual collaborative learning influences the recursive enhancement in theenvironment. course syllabuses as it helps to identify teachers (SubjectMatterExperts) errors andProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 73 7. 4.2 Curriculum Developmentinitial stage was one of the mistakes corrected in this revision. Prior to producing people who could Curriculum development is the starting point and produce and deliver ICT solutions, it was required is an important component for the success of an e- to produce people who could use and apply ICT. learning system. Although the original BIT For that a career path focusing towards the programme already had a well defined syllabi Computer Driving Licence was required as a with exit points at end of year 1 and 2, as shown starting point for the BIT programme. To achieve in the Figure 1, significant student populations a strong foundation courses offered for Semester 1 dropped out of the programme at the early stage. was redesigned. Beside an incremental three year By analyzing various observations, we identifiedcurriculum review process was put into place. We the curriculum development had not been properlyare planning to give a special certificates for addressed when the e-Learning framework was students who complete all Semester 1 courses. introduced. We made following two conclusions Aligning the syllabus, learning resources and on the effectiveness and they are main cases for assessments was a critical requirement. eBIT Project. Application of constructive alignment was Foundation (Curriculum Development) was adopted to address this requirement. Course not strong and there was a failure in content too was introduced in stages and constructive alignment. assessments too focussed on sections than the course. Emphasis was made to increase the Development of VirtualLearningsimilarity and relationship between formative and Environment to implement collaborativesummative assessments. Thus take home learning model through constructivism and assignments of the previous system was replaced learning activities.with learning activities. Figure 7 shows a sample It was necessary to go beyond a conventionalonline quiz which are given as assignments to syllabuses in a distance learning program. It was students. necessary to provide different learning resources in a structure similar to syllabus of the course. 4.3 Interactive Content This was achieved by developing a course website within the LMS. The course webpage forDuring the 2003 revision interactive material was Information Systems and Technology course isdeveloped for some courses using java applets. shown in the Figure 4. Students were able toHowever, due to heavy use of internet bandwidth download several offline reading materials like by this content this attempt was not successful. Student Manuals for different sections in the Thus the 2006 revision developed the interactive syllabus as well as online interactive e-Learning material using flash objects and found it to be lessons.more effective. In collaborative learning constructivism is Beside interactive content learning activities were achieved through open overall discussions;introduced for each course (figure 7). Students discussions on subject matter with respect to could access their knowledge not only through sections within the course syllabus and publicising practice quizzes but also through interesting individual artefacts for discussions and ratings. learning activities as shown in Figure 8. Figure 5 describes such a real discussion occurred through student interaction in the BIT website. In collaborative learning, learning activities allow to4.4 Learning Material provide online interactive feedback to motivate Uniformity of material was achieved through use students and offline change of attitude in theof templates. Initial learning material was in the learning process. form of PowerPoint slides. These slides were Every three years UCSC review their curricula touseful for some, but most found that they couldnt ensure that their courses meet the current needs. learn using them as information was in point form Hence the recent syllabi gave us the opportunity(figure 4). During the 2006 revision the slides address the above issues and incorporatewere expanded and student manuals were created. interactive material and learning activities. This helped the learner to focus on learning based on the manual thus less dependency on the text Although mathematics is important to learn books. Writing student manuals is very time computing forcing the students to learn it at theProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 74 8. consuming. Thus recording lecturers voice andA public library is a knowledge centre [12]. To streaming is used as an alternative.provide services through technology it should not only allow members to view available books, but should also allow viewing of content pages and 4.5 Collaborative Learningabstracts. In the case of research papers the Virtual Learning Environment to promote facility to download papers, journals and thesis is constructivism in collaborative learning is another provided. User must also have a facility to interact area of focus. Discussions, virtual facilitation, with the librarian, suggest procurements, interact guidance, student feedback and progress are somewith publishers, receive alters on outstanding of the features of this virtual learningbooks, late fees and collection of books reserved. environment. The effectiveness of the implementation of the5.2 Infrastructure Facilities paradigm shift could be seen from the current Educators confront with the issue of equity when Semester 1 LMS results (figure 5). In 2005/06, out they consider introducing technology to learn. To of the 2,833 students 1,928 (68%) sat for all develop a country and provide everybody equal semester 1 LMS assessments and only 623 (32%) facilities is impossible with the existing free of them completed it successfully. However in the education system and the policy implementation current 2006/07 batch, out of the 1,840 students processors. Trying to solve the equity problem 1,059 (58%) sat for all Semester 1 LMS and introduce technology at classroom level will assessments and 998 (94%) had been successful. result in the country going backward compared to This improvement in the success rate is due to the others as well as encourage brain drain as people implementation of the paradigm shift. are always looking for better learning opportunities and living standards. 5.0 SOCIETY CHANGES Every student must have computer access to 5.1 Society successfully implement above ideas. Thus student to computer ration must increase. It is Using computers for public services is graduallyrecommended that all education institutions must wide spreading. Although these benefits are have computers with a minimum ratio of 1:5 with currently enjoyed by a small fraction of thethose teaching computing with a minimum ratio population the availability will encourage others of 1:3. All teachers must be provided with to join and enjoy the benefits of technology. unlimited computer access so that they could For example, some banks have moved towardsprepare their educational material. providing most of their services through the web. Learning computing has now been introduced at This includes managing their accounts, placingschools as well. Having originated targeting at standing orders and settlement of bills. This advanced level students it has now reached the allows the customer to make a virtual visit to hisordinary level students as well. However our bank at anytime he wish and obtain the required school IT curriculum should move towards service. Other services such as withdrawing cash, matching those used in the western countries to depositing cheques etc. can be done through the encourage more to take up IT as a career path. teller machines which are also accessible at anytime.Fortunately through School Net Internet access has reached schools. Also through Nanasalas it is Wireless local area networks allow users to accessreaching the villages as well. Not only that the shared information without looking for a place to service providers too offering Internet facilities to plug in their laptops. This technology is being most cities. made available in some public places and organisations as well as not spreading beyond the major cities. Educational centres such as 5.3 Language Barrier Universities and Libraries should have such Most Sri Lankan learners first language is not facilities, as future generation will be carrying English. Hence some find it difficult grasp the mobile equipment to access facilities. Informationconcepts through reading. Hence there is a need users now carry their laptops, PDA, smart phones, for supplementary material in native languages. CDs, thumb drives with them for fast and preciseThis could be supported through Unicode. access to their day to day material.Proceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 75 9. 1) BIT (2000), Student Handbook. www.bit.lk/information/handbook/handbook- 5.4 Bridging the Gap2000.pdf The education system has been producing 2) Blackboard. www.blackboard.com graduates without any exposure to computers.3) Classroomonline(claroline): When these graduates take teaching assignmentswww.claroline.net they are not equipped to use technology for 4) Grabe, Mark and Grabe, Cindy (2004), education. Technology and educational reforms Integrating Technology for Meaningful has to be done taking these into consideration. Learning, (4th Ed.), Houghton Mifflin Few good moves we have seen include staff Company. training and promotion of end-user ICT skills.5) International Computer Driving Licence www.icdlap.com International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) 6) .LRN: Learn, Research, Network. dotlrn.org [5] is a competency standard for end-user ICT 7) Moodle: moodle.org skills. ICDL attempts to raise the general level of 8) Online Learning And Training (OLAT): competency in IT. This will in turn improve www.olat.org productivity at work and reduce IT support cost, 9) Salter G. and Hansen S. (1999), Modelling enabling employers to invest more efficiently in NewSkills forOnline Teaching, IT. It also ensures that best practice and quality Australasian Society for Computers in issues are understood and implemented, and Learning in Tertiary Education Conference, establishes a tangible benchmark for computer Brisbane. www.ascilite.org.au user skills. Increasing popularity of obtaining 10) Schwandt, David & Marquardt, Michael ICDL qualification is a move towards helping the (2000), Organisational Learning: From citizens of Sri Lanka. The recent BIT degree World-Class Theories to Global Best curriculum revision took appropriate actions to Practices. London: St. Luis Press. bridge the gap that exists between the new intake 11) Sri Lanka ICT Association -SLICTA (2007), and year 1. Thus Semester 1 is design to match an Rising Demand: The increasing demand for advanced version of ICDL. IT workers spells a challenging opportunity for the IT industry. National IT Workforce 6.0 CONCLUSIONS Survey2007. www.icta.lk/Insidepages/downloadDocs/ICT In the modern society paradigm shift in learning WorkforcSurvey2007.pdf and knowledge management is quite apparent. 12) Waydande H.S. (2004), Users Perspective Through the Asia eBIT project the UCSC has Towards Digital Libraries: A practical taken timely measures to adopt these changes at approach of Central Library, IIT Bombay, UCSC. Intl. Conf. on Digital Libraries, Vol. 2, pp. An e-learning framework is essential to 1081-84. implement the paradigm shift. Like learning is a13) WebCT: www.webct.com life long process this paradigm shift and the 14) Wikramanayake G.N. (2003), e-Learning: experiences gathered through the shift is itself aChanges in Teaching and Learning Styles, learning process. We believe that wide variety of Proc. CSSL. Proceedings of 22nd Nat. IT educational services will emerge due to these Conf., Computer Society of Sri Lanka, pp. changes.118-124. 15) Wilson, Scott, Kerry Blinco, and Daniel Rehak (2004), An e-Learning framework: a 7.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS summary: DEST (Australia), JISC-CETIS We acknowledge the support given by the (UK),andIndustryCanada. members of the BIT academic panel and the staff www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/Altilab0 of the e-learning centre of UCSC. Contributions 4-ELF.pdf made by the Asia eBIT counterparts in Sweden and Netherlands are acknowledged. Appendix A 8.0 REFERENCES BIT Course StructurethProceedings of the 25 National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka76 10. Degree Path MSc, MPhil, PhD @ UCSCBITGPA >= 2.0 & Pass Individual Project YSemester 6 Examinations and Assignments E2 Compulsory (GPV >= 1.25) & 2 Optional Courses (GPV >= 1) A RSemester 5 Examinations and Assignments 32 Compulsory (GPV >= 1.25) & 2 Optional Courses (GPV >= 1)GPA >= 1.5 YSemester 4 Examinations and Assignments GPA >= 2.0 Higher E2 Compulsory (GPV >= 1.25) & 2 Optional Courses (GPV >= 1)& DIT Diploma in AInformation RSemester 3 Examinations and Assignments Technology 22 Compulsory (GPV >= 1.25) & 2 Optional Courses (GPV >= 1)(HDIT)Pass AssignmentsGPA >= 1.5 YSemester 2 Examinations and AssignmentsGPA >= 2.0 E4 Compulsory Courses (Min GPV 1.25)Diploma in A RSemester 1 Examinations and Assignments InformationPassTechnology 14 Compulsory Courses (Min GPV 1.25)Assignments(DIT)Commence StudiesBIT Registration Successful Selection Test Equivalent Qualifications (e.g. 6-12Submit Application months course GCE A/Lon IT or any Three Passes other discipline)+ Qualification for O/L Maths - C EntranceFigure 1: BIT Degree PathProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka77 11. Figure 2: The Starting Page of the Virtual Learning EnvironmentFigure 3: Different Discussions in LMSProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 78 12. Figure 4: This is what students see when they enter the course Figure 5: Collaborative student activity in the LMS Proceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 79 13. Figure 6: Online Quiz given in the LMS for each sections in the syllabus Figure 7: Interactive Online Learning LessonProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 80 14. Figure 8: Interactive online learning Activity given within e-Learning lessonsProceedings of the 25th National IT Conference, Colombo, Sri Lanka 81