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Successful use of web 2.0 in professional development

Paul BacsichMatic Media Ltd, Sero Consulting Ltd and Middlesex University

Working on:Re.ViCa (funded under EU LLL Programme)

CAPITAL project (funded by Becta in the UK)Benchmarking e-learning (funded by Higher Education Academy

in the UK)

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Web 2.0 – is it new?

Some history (mainly from UK, EADTU and Frameworks 3 and 4)

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The 1990s UK paradigm for “e-CPD” from universities

“Conservative constructivism” (JANUS, Café Mondial, UKOU, EPSRC IGDS, SHU, Middlesex)

Content delivered by web/VLEInteraction with tutor AND communication

between students carried out in a social spaceAnd later, group working also

Computer conferencing = CMCSystems like FirstClass – later the group tools

within WebCT and Blackboard

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FirstClass features

• Personal pages• Synchronous (Real-time chat , but also quasi-

synchronous (“Who’s online”)• Non-academic interactions – e.g. café

(students only)• Remind you of any modern systems?

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Web 2.0 systems for “business”

• Blogs• Wikis• E-Portfolios = CVs (administration)

• Social networking? – Yes, in the sense of CMC – so not new

• Podcasting???– Evidence against, including from students

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Blogs for business

• A one-many publishing format, with limited ability to comment

• Useful for project management in an “open” tradition

• See for example the UK Higher Education Academy blog systems to manage the Pathfinder Programme - http://elearning.heacademy.ac.uk/weblogs/pathfinder/

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Wikis for business

• Gets one back to how the web used to be – anyone remember Microsoft’s IIS?

• Very useful for multiple authors collaborating when each has a defined focus and overlap is limited

• Examples – Re.ViCa (and there are others) - http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Main_Page

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Axiom (after Ehrmann)

CPD should use worldware – tools for learning which are also tools for business

Supplementary: and ideally tools whose underlying intellectual processes are not new

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But what is “successful”?

A canter through Re.ViCa

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• Re.ViCa = “Reviewing (Traces of) European Virtual Campuses”

• Project supported by the European Union: Lifelong Learning Programme Erasmus/Virtual Campus

• 1 October 2007 – 30 September 2009

Project Description

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Partnership

• EuroPACE ivzw (BE)• Katholieke Universiteit Leuven –

AVNet (BE)• ATiT (BE)• FernUniversität in Hagen (DE)• Helsinki University of Technology -

TKK Dipoli (FI)• Université Louis Pasteur (FR)• University of West Hungary - College

of Geoinformatics (HU)• International Telematic University

UNINETTUNO (IT)• Matic Media Ltd (UK)

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What is a Virtual Campus Nowadays?

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Mobility

VIRTUALCampus

University Semina

r

Course

Class

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Target group

Institutional Budget

Goals

Technology

Our Definition

• Virtual Campus = Large-Scale (managed) e-Learning Initiative

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Re.ViCa makes a review of Virtual Campuses all over Europe. By

comparing European and non-European initiatives, we create lessons learned and critical success factors to enable institutions to set up a Virtual

Campus to maximise their performance

““

Reviewing Virtual Campuses

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Main Outputs

• wiki – the heart of the project – including 29 in-depth country reports and 30 mini-reports– 9 detailed case studies including Universidad

Politécnica de Madrid – Inventory of “interesting” Programmes– Taxonomy– Resources

• Three key meetings with International Advisory Committee

• Virtual Campus Manual with guidelines, best-practice, recommendations – and Critical Success Factors

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Step 1

•Create Country reports, based on Country template : sources OECD, other European Projects, wikipedia, literature, desktop research

Step 2

•Indicate Virtual Campus Initiatives

Step 3

•Internal Evaluation by project partners

•External Evaluation by experts

Results

•21 European Country report and 8 non- European Country reports

•30 mini Country reports

•Lessons Learnt: What are the trends we ‘noticed’ in the 29 Country reports

•Comparison EU – non EU

Country Reports

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Lessons Learned

• Review of 29 country reports, 21 European and 8 Non-European:

• Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom

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Key Lessons Learned

Language is a key issue in development of Virtual Campus initiatives

HE institutions operating on multi campus ‐basis often more likely to adopt VC strategies

No common understanding about the term “Virtual Campus” or even “Virtual University”

Line between “Virtual Campus” and more traditional campus activities is blurred

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Key Lessons Learned

Long term impact and sustainability of ‐national programmes and initiatives now questionable

In Europe, HE sector focus more on inclusion, lifelong learning and adult learning contributes to increase virtual learning opportunities

What lessons can be learned for CPD providers?

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Key Lessons Learned

Not enough to be advanced and experienced – need to check beyond borders for strategic adaptation

Europe HEIs focus on content and service more then on technological facilities and platforms

International competition a driving force for change and innovation

Quality Assurance focus on traditional learning - lack of a QA system focused on virtual initiatives

For-Profit Virtual Campus initiatives opt for areas where there is a ready market for online courses

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Step 1

•Search for interesting eLearning initiatives. Sources Gazetteer, UNESCO, European projects, Country reports, expert evaluations, IAC Meetings

Step 2•wiki

categorisation approach

Results

•158 European Programmes of Interest all categorised

•269 Non-European Programmes of Interest all categorised

•Comparison EU-NonEU

Programmes of Interest

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Re.ViCa Success Factors for Virtual Campuses

A critical success factor is a factor whose presence is necessary for an organisation to fulfill its mission - in other words, if it is not present then its absence will cause organisational and/or mission failure. “ “

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Outputs: CSFs

• Iterative – involvement of IAC and other feedback

• 4 schemes analysed or re‐analysed.

MEGATRENDSStudy on Large‐

scale Virtual Campuses

PBP VC‐Study on Consortia‐

based Virtual Campuses

UNIQUeeLearning Quality/

Accreditation Scheme

E xcellence‐Benchmarking/

Quality Scheme for eLearning

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Results

17 Critical Success Factors • relevant to success of eLearning in all types of

Virtual Campus

14 Key Success Factors • relevant to success of eLearning in one or more

subsets (categories) of Virtual Campus such as ‐private for profit providers, consortia, etc.‐

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Some Critical and Key Success Factors for CPD

• Critical – applies to all types of providers• Leadership: Leaders can make effective decisions with

e-learning implications• Management: Style is appropriate to the mix of

business and educational activities• Relationships: Effective methods of achieving credibility

with government and public agencies• Key – applies particularly to CPD providers?

• Pricing: Prices are competitive yet sustainable• Context: Each proposed offering is analysed in context

of existing providers and stakeholders• Learning: Provider can rapidly learn lessons from

offerings, learners, the market, stakeholders etc

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Immediate future: Wiki...

Re.ViCa wiki: http://www.virtualcampuses.eu

• Launched @ ICDE conference: opening up wiki to public

• Include feedback from IAC in our research

• Expand wiki, with the input of IAC members and e-Learning community in general

• Promotion of wiki through newsletter, publications and events

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and the Handbook.

• Re.ViCa Handbook with best-practices, guidelines and recommendations

• Definition of Virtual Campus• Historical Overview• Categorisation• World Tour• Thematic view• Critical success factors• Further reading

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Future: beyond September

Continuation of wiki.......• Agreement between partners

to maintain, update and edit the wiki for at least one year

• Look for additional funding & projects

• Further partnerships (networks & individual contributors)

• Expand scope: commercial providers, colleges, schools...?

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Thank you for listening

That was“Successful use of web 2.0 in professional development”

By Paul Bacsich – paul@matic-media.co.uk

Web - http://revica.europace.orgWiki - http://www.virtualcampuses.eu

Please check http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/SpainNo Re.ViCa blog – yet?

In memory of Professor Robin Mason, UK OUAmong her many contributions to e-learning was her work at UK OU

on virtual campuses and e-CPD

Died 15 June 2009http://iet-public-wiki.open.ac.uk/index.php/Robin