Flexible Delivery in Higher Education
Global Scan
Case Studies
A report and discussion paper from the Scottish Quality
Enhancement Theme on Flexible Delivery in Higher Education
Steering Committee
November 2004
Contents
Section 1: Introduction
page
5
Introduction
5
Case studies
6
Section 2: The issues
7
Innovative flexibilities are demonstrably possible
7
Innovation can lapse into inertia
7
Things don’t always work out as planned
7
Student needs and the business case
are often closely linked
8
Clear strategic aims: essential
8
One size does not fit all
9
Innovation requires innovative funding
10
e-learning can realise economies of scale
10
e-learning is potentially highly scaleable
10
Collaboration takes effort
11
Balancing tradition and innovation is key
11
Key questions and issues for stakeholders
For all stakeholders
For higher education institutions
For the Scottish Executive, SHEFC and
Other policymakers
For learners
12
12
12
Flexibility – global scan
13
13
3
Section 3: The case studies
page
14
Case Study 1. Ontario Province Canada:
Portals and Pathways
1(a). University of Guelph-Humber
1(b). OntarioLearn.com
14
16
18
Case Study 2. Athabasca University,
Alberta Province, Canada
21
Case Study 3. University of Southern Queensland:
e-university project
24
Case Study 4. University of Maryland
University College
4(a). UMUC Information and
Library Services
27
29
Case Study 5. Finland
Tampere City and Area: e - learning cluster
32
Case Study 6. Oxford Brookes University
36
Annex A: Interviewees and contact information
Annex B: References
Flexibility – global scan
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Section 1: Introduction
Introduction
1.
This report and discussion paper has been prepared by the Steering Committee
for the Scottish Quality Enhancement Theme on Flexible Delivery in higher education.
2.
The project Steering Committee considered a wide range of potential examples
of flexibility drawn from key institutions worldwide, which had established expertise in
innovative methods of delivery. From this global scan it identified six different case
studies, relating to the theme of flexible delivery, which it wished to investigate in more
detail with a view to informing discussions in higher education institutions in Scotland.
3.
A total of 60 hours were allocated to the research work which was undertaken by
Jane W Denholm of Critical Thinking between July and October 2004. The work
comprised desk/internet research supplemented with email and telephone conversations
and iterations with contacts in each of the case studies. A list of interviewees is at
Annex A. A list of the main documents consulted and key URLs is at Annex B.
4.
Four of the case studies are concerned with individual institutional practice. The
other two examine regional, holistic approaches, involving co-operation among groups of
institutions. In practice, as the report demonstrates, these two categories became quite
blurred and, indeed, one of the regional case studies yielded a further two institutional
case studies. One of the institutional case studies also yielded a mini-case study of its
own.
5.
The most common forms of flexible delivery to be encountered and considered
have been forms of e-learning. This is largely a reflection of the enormous potential
which technology has for making the acquisition of learning more flexible. This report is
intended as a working document, to stimulate interest, ideas and further questions about
the different case studies it features Each case study had its own unique features but
many commonalities also emerged, particularly between the six institutional case
studies. As well as being exemplars of provision and approaches in themselves, the
case studies proved to be a rich source of more general themes. There are challenges
and lessons – positive and negative – for government and the funding council, as well as
for higher education institutions. The key themes which seem to have implications for
flexible delivery generally, were distilled by the Steering Committee and have been
summarised in this report at Section 2. A series of focussed questions aimed at the
main stakeholder groups, higher education institutions, policymakers and learners, are
also included.
6.
As a by-product of this work, the secretariat to the Steering Committee were
informed of individuals in institutions and agencies with interesting practice who could be
considered to speak at seminars and workshops being run under the auspices of this
enhancement theme. Finally, as study visits have been suggested as a means of taking
forward the investigation, details of ‘warmed-up’ contacts are given in this report.
Flexibility – global scan
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Case studies
7.
The six case studies are:
1.
Ontario Province Canada: Portals and Pathways
The case study examines the aftermath of the publication of Portals and Pathways which
was the report of the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ Investing in
Students Task Force, published in 2001. During the investigation, two fascinating
institutional case studies – OntarioLearn.com and the University of Guelph-Humber came to light.
2.
Athabasca University, Alberta Province, Canada
The case study considers ‘Canada’s Open University’ which ‘strives to remove the
barriers of time, space, past educational experience, and, to a great degree, level of
income’ for people wishing to further their higher education.
3.
University of Southern Queensland: e-university project
The case study considers the e-university project, a university-wide change programme,
which was conceived in the late 1990s to help co-ordinate the transitions which both
distance learning and campus-based provision at USQ were already making, or needed
to make, in terms of changes to techniques and methods to take full advantage of
modern communications technology.
4.
University of Maryland University College
The case study examines practice in an institution aimed at providing distance learning
and online learning opportunities for adults, including a significant number of military
personnel. The UMUC Information and Library Services department, featuring an
online, 24/7, Information and Library Service offered to learners worldwide, emerged as
a mini-case study in its own right.
5.
Finland Tampere City and Area: e - learning cluster
The case study considers the Tampere eLearning Cluster - a partnership that promotes
e-learning in the Tampere area, Finland and represents a collective, as opposed to an
institutional, approach to e-learning.
6.
Oxford Brookes University
The case study examines practice in a university with a longstanding reputation for
learner-centredness with particular reference to its work in modularity and e-learning.
Flexibility – global scan
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Section 2: The issues
8.
The key themes which seem to have implications for flexible delivery generally,
have been distilled and summarised below. A series of focussed questions aimed at the
main stakeholder groups, higher education institutions, policymakers and learners, are
listed at the end of this part of the document.
Some innovative flexibilities are demonstrably possible
9.
The case studies reveal that institutions employ a range of exciting and
inspirational flexibilities in meeting student needs. These include the ‘continuous
enrolment’ monthly start date for studies at Athabasca; the combined degree/diploma at
the University of Guelph-Humber (UGH), the potential to migrate from face-to-face to
online learning, as studies progress and the learner matures, at the University of
Southern Queensland (USQ); the opportunity to study face-to-face or wholly online at
the University of Maryland University College (UMUC); and the UMUC Information and
Library Service which was designed to meet the particular needs of the university’s
learners offering access to materials to its worldwide student body, 24/7.
Innovation can lapse into inertia
10.
Several interviewees made the point strongly that even once-innovative
institutions can become ‘traditional’ and stuck in their ways. Nonetheless, the USQ
interviewee believed that universities with a significant role in distance education were
particularly well placed to grasp the changes and opportunities required and afforded by
technology and the Internet.
Things don’t always work out as planned
11.
All of the case studies were concerned in one way or another with responding to,
implementing and achieving change, but this change was being driven by different
forces. In the case of the two regional examples – the Ontarian Portals and Pathways
review was driven by an economic imperative and the provincial government’s desire to
save money whilst the Tampere City example was conceived within the context of a
well-articulated national government strategy for Finland to be in the forefront of
technological developments across all spheres of life, including learning and teaching.
In both cases, however, the outcomes have not worked out as planned.
12.
The Portals and Pathways Review found that the Ontarian further and higher
education system was not ‘fat’ as Government had thought and concluded that
significant savings were not possible. Almost all of its recommendations hinged on the
provision of additional funding – a Transformation Incentive Fund amounting to $80m
(Can) per year for five years - and this was not forthcoming. Thus a set of policies which
are widely agreed to be excellent by a wide range of stakeholders, have largely gone
unimplemented. A change of Government in Ontario has led to a further review and
both fatigue and cynicism among institutions were reported - one interviewee
commented that ‘the traditional universities won’t change – they will simply outwait the
Flexibility – global scan
7
Government’. Nonetheless, pockets of change are evident. The establishment of the
University of Guelph-Humber, for example, is possibly flourishing in the wake of the
ideas created by the Portals and Pathways work.
13.
In Tampere, despite a strong and ambitious national Government strategy, which
it might be imagined would create a highly favourable climate, a small bottom-up
network is still finding it a challenge to secure funding to make co-operation work at
grassroots level.
14.
These examples demonstrate the fragile nature of converting policy into practice
and might provide useful exemplars for any models for change which the Scottish
Funding Councils or the Scottish Executive might want to try to implement.
Student needs and the business case are often closely linked
15.
All of the institutional case studies were highly customer focussed and demand
led. The drivers for institutional behaviour were (and are) largely student-related but of
necessity these were also closely tied to economic factors. By enhancing the student
experience, the institution would be able to secure markets and therefore reap business
rewards. USQ and UMUC are both institutions which already had significant distance
learning provision and which have migrated into online learning in response to student
demand and need, and which have plans to expand further. Enhancing the student
experience was also the main driver at Oxford Brookes University (Brookes). Because
the complexities of its early adoption in the 1970s of a modular system required an as
then unprecedented integration of learning and administrative systems, Brookes found
itself, almost by default, well-placed to exploit virtual learning activities as a by-product.
At UGH a key driver is ensuring student employability, although there are also clearly
benefits to the institution in terms of creating and servicing a niche market and to both
Government and the learner in being able to buy ‘six years for the price of four’.
OntarioLearn and Athabasca University, on the other hand, were borne initially from the
needs of extant institutions to respond to external pressures (funding cuts in the case of
OntarioLearn and the need for a niche role for Athabasca) but which have also identified
and moved into new areas in terms of creating and meeting student demand.
Clear strategic aims: essential
16.
Each case study institution had a clear strategic sense of itself and where it was
going. Of the five concerned with distance and online provision, all showed evidence of
evolutionary and strategic use of technology to take advantage of market opportunities.
All have considered the relative mix of flexible elements and media (such as face-toface, on campus, online, distance, electronic) and decided what is the best blend for
them.
17.
For example, USQ had moved into distance education in the late 1970s and
gradually shifted the balance between off campus and on campus learners to a
percentage ratio of 75:25 - a deliberate mix with which it is content. Most courses use a
combination of core CDs, print, online materials and supplemented by tutorials oncampus or by remote access. Because of this, and the dual mode nature of the
institution, there has been a convergence of modes of delivery. Increasing numbers of
Flexibility – global scan
8
learners at USQ are choosing to study in a hybrid mode seeking a combination of online
and on-campus learning and making use of a range of different media to do this. The
UMUC interviewee emphasised the importance of support services and therefore a
holistic institutional approach to making use of technology in learning, stating that ‘the
courses are the simplest part’. Online and e-learning appear to point to a need for a
change in emphasis in institutions: customer service is perhaps of greater importance in
the online environment.
18.
Both USQ and UMUC consider that making full use of new technology requires
new pedagogies and new ways of thinking about how to organise learning and teaching,
including new roles for academic staff – the latter no longer the focus of the course as
the student takes on a more prominent and active role.
19.
The UMUC interviewee predicted growth in hybrid study in the more traditional
universities in future. The USQ interviewee considered that, if they want to adapt
meaningfully to using technology and promote online learning, institutions will have to
change at a fundamental level not the add-on ‘measles model’ of hotspots. There is
perhaps a lesson for institutions and the funding council in that small projects, operating
in isolation in parts of institutions, are unlikely to yield fundamental change.
20.
Providing an alternative example of strategic aims, the UGH collaborative model
is deliberately fully integrated and not a linked or bolted-on model. The whole initiative
was planned jointly and involved bringing staff together from both parent institutions from
the start, so that the student experience is truly seamless. There might be lessons from
this for new forms of articulation in Scotland – possibly facilitating a step-change in
articulation to complement existing ‘2+2 with some adjustment at the margins’.
One size does not fit all
21.
All of the case study institutions concluded that ‘one size does not fit all’. For
example, face-to-face learning is clearly important for some learners and several of the
institutions that the study considered made arrangements in different ways for this to be
available – e.g. through collaboration with external higher education partners at both
Athabasca and UMUC. OntarioLearn and USQ reported high numbers of hybrid
learners undertaking both face-to-face and online courses simultaneously. The USQ
interviewee considered that, as a general rule, younger learners prefer and need oncampus modes of learning although the university took steps to encourage them into
more self-directed learning by their final year of study where they will find they are more
akin to off campus learners. The Brookes interviewees, on the other hand, considered
that the Brookes modular structure breeds independence and that this quality has lent
itself to a positive response to using online learning technology from even the youngest
learners.
22.
Added to this, sometimes ‘flexibility’ itself is not the answer – the University of
Guelph-Humber diploma/degree, whilst highly responsive to student needs, is in some
ways quite inflexible – an ‘all or nothing qualification’ which might beg the question in
Scotland ‘have we come full circle?’.
Flexibility – global scan
9
Innovation requires innovative funding
23.
The case studies showed that traditional funding routes, models and
mechanisms often do not understand or fit well with different and more flexible initiatives
and innovation. Athabasca reported difficulties in convincing the Alberta Government
that it has different needs from other universities and is consequently excluded from
some funding schemes – such as those that provide capital funding. USQ was able to
access funding usually allocated to ‘bricks and mortar’-type activities to underpin its euniversity project. UGH was fortunate in obtaining the university, rather than the college,
rate for courses but it is not impossible to imagine that not being the case in some
situations. OntarioLearn had attempted in vain to obtain government funding in the past
and is now very proud of its bottom-up tradition (and, somewhat ironically, finds itself
being cited by the Ontario Government as an example of innovative good practice).
24.
Different means of providing learning require different ways of funding and
different funding models are arising. OntarioLearn has recently moved from a flat rate
subscription from each member college to a more sophisticated revenue-sharing model
based on top-slicing a small proportion of each registration fee, which might prove an
interesting model for Scottish collaborations to consider. Athabasca is an example of
another funding model which has had to be developed to fit the type of learning offered –
reflecting the different services being used and the different pace at which learners are
studying.
25.
In general terms, almost all of the examples considered as part of this study
exhibited a high degree of private funding and also a trend towards a shift in the balance
of funding from public sources to private sources. This will have implications for those
individuals who cannot afford to pay and potentially wider implications for education
policy in Scotland where the Scottish Executive has effectively closed off a major strand
of the private funding route through abolishing the private tuition fee for full-time
undergraduate students.
e-learning can realise economies of scale
26.
Significant economies of scale were predicted by some of the interviewees, in
moving to online provision. Several of the case study institutions were able to point to
efficiencies which technology had afforded them. OntarioLearn reported a range of
different efficiencies - including being able to provide a central 24/7 technical helpdesk to
learners, which would be very inefficient if not impossible for each of the 22 different
member colleges to offer separately, as well as the ability of all colleges, particularly
small colleges, to offer a wider range of provision than they could develop themselves –
all to the benefit of the quality of the learner experience.
e-learning is potentially highly scaleable
27.
Five of the examples investigated were working on a large scale with distance
education as a significant, and in most cases major, element of their offer. The
interviewee at USQ pointed out that, prior to the advent of online delivery, the variable
costs of distance learning tended to increase or decrease directly with fluctuations in
volume of activity. By contrast, the interviewee considered, ‘fifth generation distance
Flexibility – global scan
10
education has the potential to decrease significantly the costs associated with providing
access to institutional processes and online tuition’. Some interviewees cautioned,
however, that the online environment may require more frequent updating and revising
of courses than earlier forms of distance education. As a response to this, some
institutions are introducing fewer new courses and programmes, or expanding at a
slower pace
28.
All case study institutions were planning to greatly expand their enrolments and
had identified markets which they believed were ready to be exploited. Many of these
were beyond geographical boundaries. All considered that e-learning technology would
enable their existing provision to become highly scaleable. At USQ, the numbers of
online courses were planned to remain relatively static but the numbers of learners are
growing, and have increased 10-fold between 1999 and 2004. The UMUC interviewee
predicted that the market for online learning will grow partly because learners will drive it
and partly because institutions lack physical capacity and will need to find new ways to
expand. Perhaps in Scotland there will be a coming to fruition of Dearing’s prediction of
the need for senior managers to take an ‘imaginative leap’.1
29.
Interviewees also believed that technology can also help institutions to reach new
markets such as the provision of CPD to mature learners in work.
Collaboration takes effort
30.
Many of the case studies provided an interesting contrast to one another in the
way that things were done. UGH manages to be a fully and meaningfully collaborative
institution whilst its ‘parents’ remain separate. OntarioLearn has overcome a range of
issues in making its 22-institution collaboration work, and the interviewee reported ‘a lot
of bumps and bruises’ in reaching agreements about policies, procedures and practices.
Scottish higher education collaborations might be able to learn from a more detailed
examination of this experience. The interviewee believes firmly that collaborations
initiated from the bottom up, such as the OntarioLearn model, are more efficient and less
bureaucratic than top-down models. On the other hand the Tampere collaboration –
celebrated as a ‘pioneer’ and a ‘model of a network based organisation’ may disintegrate
(or transform into something else) if central funding is completely withdrawn, and it is
required to exist on member-subscriptions.
31.
Successful collaboration also depends on taking decisions about when just to go
ahead – for example OntarioLearn was established and operational despite its members
using three different virtual classroom platforms. Although the collaboration partners
have recently agreed to address this issue – such considerations did not halt the original
collaboration.
Balancing tradition and innovation is key
32.
New models and types of learning are viewed with suspicion and cynicism by
other more traditional purveyors which can see it as a threat. The innovators have to
find ways to demonstrate quality and standards to prove that what they are doing has
1
Dearing Report 1997 paragraph 13.18
Flexibility – global scan
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equal worth. The Athabasca interviewee reported that the institution, in responding to
pressure from internal and external sources, has changed over the years in some ways
to resemble more closely a traditional university – commenting ‘the trick is to have
enough about it that makes it look like a university but not so much that it prevents
innovation’. This is borne out by the experience of the institutions in the study with a
large amount of ‘traditional’ provision and established reputations (e.g. on-campus
and/or face-to-face) which appeared to see this as less on an issue.
33.
From the case studies it was clear that quality assurance and accreditation – and
having access to the mechanisms to secure them - could become increasing important
as learning goes global. Innovative and flexible methods of learning – particularly online
education practice - are far ahead of the research and quality assurance systems which
may need to catch up to ensure that they are credible in the eyes of others.
Key questions and issues for stakeholders
34.
This global scan is intended to raise issues, to challenge policy and practice and
to provoke further questions. The Steering Committee has identified the following issues
for debate with and by the appropriate stakeholder groups:
For all stakeholders
Inspired by the examples here, are there any obvious areas where practice could
be copied or adapted to deliver significant learning benefits for Scotland’s
learners?
Are there economies of scale to be realised at sector level through exploiting elearning practices?
How can the Steering Committee best exploit and keep in touch with global
contacts made under this initiative?
What further work should the Steering Committee do to support the sector in
considering these issues?
Should some of the case studies be explored in greater depth?
Are there sufficient and appropriate mechanisms in Scotland to safeguard quality
and standards as practice changes?
For higher education institutions
Are there ‘imaginative leaps’ to be taken?
Can innovation and tradition be balanced and, if so, how?
Which aspects of e-learning need to be rolled out and co-ordinated nationally and
which aspects are best left to individual institutions to decide?
Flexibility – global scan
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Are some institutions better placed than others to take advantage of e-learning?
How can business interests and user interests best be aligned?
Where should ‘flexibility’ end?
For the Scottish Executive, SHEFC and other policymakers
Are there lessons in terms of principles which the Funding Council and Executive
could apply to future initiative funding?
Are there lessons in terms of principles which the Funding Council and Executive
could apply to future calls for collaboration?
For learners
What do learners want?
What are their priorities for flexibility in learning?
How can learners best take advantage of this emphasis on customer focus to
ensure their views are taken into account and their needs are met?
Flexibility – global scan
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Section 3: The case studies
35.
This part of the report describes and considers each of the case studies in depth.
Case Study 1: Ontario Province Canada: Portals and Pathways
36.
This case study examines the aftermath of the publication of Portals and
Pathways which was the report of the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and
Universities’ Investing in Students Task Force, published in 2001. The Steering
Committee was interested in investigating a case study which emanated from
Government and was intended to apply across the higher education sector. Portals and
Pathways is an example of a recent effort to articulate ‘what can Government do?’
regarding meeting the needs of learners, including therefore, inevitably, more flexible
delivery. It applied in potentially fertile circumstances - described by one interviewee:
‘flexibility is not what I’d call a hallmark of the Ontario system’. All Ontarian interviewees
agreed that Portals and Pathways was an excellent and inspirational document – one
commented ‘it is how the world should be’. There was an expectation that Government
would fund reform and change but the Government would not and it has remained
largely unimplemented.
Portals and Pathways
37. The Investing in Students Task Force was a Dearing-style inquiry, initiated by the
Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to examine the entire postsecondary sector (colleges and universities) and make recommendations which would
ensure accessibility, accountability and affordability of the system in future. A key
stated aim was to consider how investments in the sector ‘could best benefit students’.
The driving force behind the review was the forthcoming abolition of Grade 13 in schools
which would in turn lead to a double cohort of entrants to higher education in 2003.
38. Although the context for the Ontario review was in some ways quite different from
the conditions pertaining in the Scottish education sector, in other ways many of the
issues being addressed will be familiar to the Scottish sector. It is of interest both for its
approach and its recommendations. It is also an example of a ‘tertiary’ approach
although, as in Scotland, within the term ‘ post-secondary’, Ontario institutions are
considered in separate sector groupings. Colleges and universities have clearly, and
statutorily, defined roles.
39. Interviewees in Ontario agree that the underlying aim of the review was to find
savings and that it failed to do that because it was forced to conclude that the higher
education sector was efficient and had endured many efficiency gains over the years.
The report therefore argued that although individual institutions had been cost effective
and innovative, ‘future efficiencies must be achieved on a system-wide basis’. It
continued ‘there is a need for system-wide investment in technology, improvement of
student central services and collaborative ways for developing and delivering services’.
Flexibility – global scan
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40. The Task Force made 33 recommendations in a wide range of policy areas, the
most relevant of which for these purposes were concerned with:
‘meeting the needs of students’
including through ensuring credit transfer and simplification of bureaucratic
processes, and creating one-stop shops; and
adding web-enabled learning and electronic service delivery to face-to-face service –
the report called for the government to ‘support strategic investments in the major
infrastructure requirements for e-learning/distributed learning’ and also that
government should ‘support and promote collaboration in the development and
delivery of e-learning’.
‘jump-starting transformations’
in terms of encouraging transformational collaborations ‘the next wave of
collaboration’ and collaborations which ‘have potential system-wide applicability’.
41. The report recommended the creation of a Transformation Incentive Fund of $80M
per year for five years to underpin its recommendations. Interviewees commented that it
was a tactical mistake that the report did not identify where savings could be found
without spending first. In the event, the Ontario Government did not agree to provide
this funding. In addition, as an interviewee pointed out, neither did the Government
introduce any structures or committees to force or even ensure change. Without
incentives or penalties, delivery of the Portals and Pathways recommendations rested
on voluntary co-operation. Thus many of the good ideas in the report did not see the
light of day. The Government decided that the priority was accommodating the
increased cohort of learners as a result of abolishing school Grade 13, and going from a
five to a four-year secondary school programme, and not much more was acted upon.
With the arrival of the ‘double cohort’ of learners looming in September 2003, the
Government promised universities and colleges in May 2001 that it would provide
funding for the increased number of learners at the same per-learner rate as existing
learners. Put simply, if a university enrolled X per cent more learners, its government
grant would increase by X per cent.
42. In Autumn 2003, following an election, a different political party formed the
government. The new Government has inherited the situation and, in response to public
concern, froze further and higher education tuition fees for two years beginning in
September 2004. This, on top of an anticipated Provincial budget deficit of $5 billion
suggests that there is unlikely to be much funding available to realise Portals and
Pathways for the foreseeable future. Finally, the new Government has initiated another
review into postsecondary education, under the chairmanship of former Ontario Premier,
Bob Rae, to examine ‘the design and funding of postsecondary education’ in Ontario.
As one interviewee pointed out – ‘this is about the eighth review in the past 15 years or
so and what can Bob Rae say? There is no more money’.
43.
Despite this pessimistic outturn, Portals and Pathways is a highly regarded
document and there is evidence from interviews that its ethos has found its way into
thinking in higher education in Ontario. Policymakers and the sector continue to refer to
it and discussions with interviewees in Ontario yielded two very interesting initiatives
which are detailed below.
Flexibility – global scan
15
Case Study 1(a): University of Guelph-Humber
44.
The University of Guelph-Humber (UGH) is a fascinating collaboration which may
be attributed to some extent to the spirit of Portals and Pathways. The University of
Guelph (a university) and Humber Institute of Technology (a college) still exist separately
but have collaborated on a new and separate university - the University of GuelphHumber based in Toronto.
Background
45.
Founded in 2002, UGH is a unique institution, offering a unique educational
experience by providing ‘the advanced theoretical education of a university degree
integrated with the applied knowledge of a college diploma’ within the four years of study
it would take to achieve a university degree. The institution therefore offers ‘six years of
study for the price of four’. Eventually the university will have between 2,000 and 3,000
learners.
Dimensions
46.
This is explicitly and deliberately not a 2+2 arrangement - it is a fully-integrated
four year qualification so if the learner leaves before the end they receive neither the
College Diploma , nor the University Degree. There is no compensation. At its inception
a conscious decision was taken not to have an exit point as this would work against
proper integration. Thus what is on offer is not essentially a college programme at one
end and a university programme at the other but a combined and fully integrated
programme. Since all Humber Institute and Guelph University regulations are satisfied
by the end of the course, the graduate receives both a university degree and a college
diploma from UGH.
47.
As indicated earlier, the Ontario postsecondary system of education is quite
separately stratified with universities allowed to offer degrees of four years duration
which in some cases may be quite far removed from the labour market – ‘for four years
some students give no thought to employment – then they stumble around in the labour
force until they find a career’. Colleges on the other hand tend to offer two year diploma
programmes which often leave diplomates ‘well positioned to get an entry level job but
then they find they are unable to move upwards’. As a response to this, the
programmes on offer at UGH aim to combine the academic rigour of a university degree
with the employability skills of a college diploma. The courses on offer have a strong
employment focus and include areas such as Justice Studies, Media Studies, Business
Administration and Family and Community Social Services. All courses are linked to
professional careers with embedded skills, work placements and industry-linked
projects.
48.
One further specific advantage of the integrated approach was suggested – the
institution is small enough to pay close attention to individual learners. Because it
combines university and college expertise the university can understand college
transcripts and so can take a risk with learners who might not be selected by other
universities.
Funding
49.
Guelph University and Humber Institute received a $29 million capital grant from
the Ontario Government to build the UGH building. Recurrent funding is on the same
basis as all other institutions but places are funded at university rates of around $5,500
Flexibility – global scan
16
per learner per annum, rather than at college rates of around $3,500. Similarly, UGH
can charge learners the university rate for tuition which is around $5,000 per annum
rather than the college rate of $2,000.
Demand
50.
The university is new and the first cohort is just currently moving into their third
year of study. There are currently 1,300 enrolled learners so the university is on target
for size. The interviewee commented that parents have been particularly keen to
encourage their children to consider studying at UGH. More than one interviewee
explained that it is quite common for Ontario learners after their four-year degree go on
to college to do more employment-focussed courses. This role was not envisaged as
part of the college sector’s original remit, but is a growing market. The Rae Commission
has commissioned some new research on this which shows that 13 per cent of new
college students in 2000, had previously completed university.2 Masters courses offered
by universities are also strong and probably a more common route and there are
prestige issues about moving from university to college. Nonetheless, some colleges,
including Humber Institute, have a thriving market in one year programmes - e.g.
journalism, radio and TV broadcasting, business programmes – which are seen as ‘a
bridge to employment’.
51.
Now that a third year is starting, UGH is also finding that learners are seeking to
transfer from other years at other institutions into later years of study at UGH with
advanced standing.
Challenges
52.
All courses were created jointly, and from scratch, by teams of staff from both
institutions, to fit with the four-year model. They are in no way simply Humber Institute
and Guelph University courses joined together. Staff teach together and it is not
possible to unpick the college aspects and the university aspects of the programme.
Challenges have included cultural and status issues – these are ongoing and UGH tries
to guard against them. As in Scotland, academic staff in the college and university
sectors are in different trade unions and have different terms and conditions. UGH was
aware of these issues and has attempted, largely successfully, to work around them. It
has ‘very much helped’ that the new university required new work so new jobs were
created, and filled by staff from both sides who were keen to make it work, rather than
having to assign existing staff against their will.
53.
The integrated nature of the programme carries with it an inherent inflexibility, if
learners cannot leave the programme with a college diploma after two years. In
common with most universities and colleges in Canada, a learner leaving UGH early can
order transcripts as required. The transcript lists courses attempted, whether they were
completed, and if so what was the learner's mark. The transcript does not list skills but
these are available in the course descriptors. Because colleges and university routes
have traditionally been viewed as very separate in Ontario, and colleges have only
relatively recently been seen as a stepping stone to university study, credit transfer is not
as well developed in Ontario as it is in Scotland (or in other parts of Canada where 2+2
is more commonplace), although individual agreements between specific institutions
exist. There is streaming in secondary schools and there are ‘u-courses’ and ‘c-courses’
so learners know which ones to take that will get them into university or into college.
2
www.raereview.on.ca
Flexibility – global scan
17
They make these sorts of choices from Grade 10 onwards – ages 14-15. Some mix
courses but learners are usually streamed into their eventual designated future type of
institution.
54. A legacy of Portals and Pathways is that progression is being addressed more
collectively and the new review of postsecondary education is considering what
measures may be necessary to stimulate this.
55.
The UGH interviewee believes that leadership was key to realising this new
institution. The Presidents of the two ‘parent’ institutions were keen to make it work.
Scale was also important – the huge investment of staff time necessary to establish the
university and develop new programmes was ‘worth it for 2,000 learners but not for 200’.
56.
It is all still an experiment and ‘there are no graduates out there yet’.
Nonetheless other Ontario interviewees were glowing in their praise of UGH and
convinced that it will meet a need in the labour market. The UGH interviewee
considered that even the learners are different and more stimulating and that ‘everybody
is getting something out of this’.
Case study 1(b): OntarioLearn.com
57.
OntarioLearn.com is a consortium of 22 (of 24) Ontario colleges who collaborate
to develop and deliver online courses. OntarioLearn.com offers more than 550 courses
and has around 30,000 registrations per annum. As a rule, no courses are duplicated
and the local or home college nearest the learner, awards the qualification.
Background
58.
The initiative - making full-time college programmes available through the
internet - which eventually became OntarioLearn.com, was started by colleges
themselves with no funding from Government. It began in 1994 when there was a 20
per cent budget cut to college funding across the board and institutions were ‘looking for
new ways of doing things’. A small group of colleges met and agreed to some basic
ground rules which were that each college had to develop some courses which the
others could all share and each must recognise each other’s courses for credit. From
seven colleges in 1995, 22 now participate in OntarioLearn.com.
Dimensions
59.
Full college diplomas can be completed in some subjects. In others modules are
offered. Hybrid learning (where learners are studying some subjects on campus and
others online) is common. OntarioLearn.com finds that learners who drop out of fulltime study for various reasons often complete via the OntarioLearn.com route. Colleges
choose which courses they want to offer and can respond swiftly to market demand for
courses, if learners approach via the OntarioLearn.com route. Small colleges can offer
courses they never would have been able to develop themselves. Very few courses are
cancelled as there tend to be enough numbers throughout the Province to make it
worthwhile running a course.
60.
Learners take part in online discussions there are learner chatrooms and a virtual
‘lounge’ where can ask questions and get support from peers. They have direct access
to teachers through phone and internet/email.
Flexibility – global scan
18
61.
There is a Manual for Faculty. It contains standards and procedures for those
developing courses and for those facilitating courses including guidance on
communicating with learners and turnaround times.
62.
There is a central technical service provider, Embanet, which provides a 24/7
helpdesk for use by learners at a rate per learner (covered in the fees).
OntarioLearn.com used to do this themselves but now they stick to pedagogy which has
removed the headaches that constantly solving technical problems caused.
Funding
63.
OntarioLearn.com was established without additional government resources and,
apart from the pro rata publicly funded part-time tuition fee, continues to receive no
additional direct Government support (for example for course development, marketing
etc). Approaches to Government for funding in the past had been resisted. This year for
the first time it may receive a small amount to develop a portal – but ‘we would have
done that anyway, just a little more slowly’. The college will use the funding which would
have been allocated to the portal for marketing purposes and increasing enrolments. An
external interviewee pointed out that, despite the lack of government funding,
OntarioLearn ‘is an example which that Government trots out nonetheless’.
64.
It is a truly virtual college with very minimal infrastructure. There is only one
member of staff, whose job is to liaise with Embanet and the Executive Group which
oversees the strategy. There is a similar arrangement in Alberta Province but it is funded
by Government and therefore, according to the interviewee, very top heavy with staff
and bureaucracy. OntarioLearn.com has hitherto run on a budget of c.$66,000 per
annum - $3,000 from each member college. There is now in place a sophisticated
revenue-sharing model which will ensure the project is self-financing by taking a $3 per
registration for the centre in order to fund developments and ensure the future of the
consortium.
Demand
65.
OntarioLearn.com receives around 30,000 registrations per annum for its 550
courses. Demand is increasing by around 25 per cent per semester and 300 more
courses are currently under development. The college operates within Ontario’s
boundaries but is planning to find partners in other Provinces - especially those offering
specialist provision which can be added to the OntarioLearn.com portfolio.
Challenges
66.
The OntarioLearn.com interviewee reported that there have been ‘a lot of bumps
and bruises’ on the way but things are currently very stable. Quality assurance was
initially an issue but the consortium has dealt with that. The interviewee considered that
‘we probably have more policies and procedures in place than some of the individual
colleges’.
67.
A new portal is being introduced. This will be helpful in that currently courses
can be offered on any one of three platforms (Blackboard, FirstClass and Web CT) since
Colleges developing materials were allowed to choose the one that suited them best.
This can be annoying for those learners doing more than one course, since different
courses might be offered on different platforms and they have to change between these.
The portal will make this seamless for the user, improving the experience for them.
Flexibility – global scan
19
68.
No single college or group of colleges has tried to dominate or be generally
disruptive. OntarioLearn.com considers itself to be ‘a model of collaboration, cooperation and rationalisation of resources’.
Flexibility – global scan
20
Case Study 2: Athabasca University
69.
Athabasca University (AU) in Alberta Canada calls itself ‘Canada’s Open
University’ which ‘strives to remove the barriers of time, space, past educational
experience, and, to a great degree, level of income’ for people wishing to further their
higher education. In literature and in interviews AU’s strong social mandate is
emphasised.
70.
With 32,000 learners per annum learner numbers have trebled in the last 10
years. AU offers some 350 undergraduate courses and some 550 courses in total.
There are 29 undergraduate and six graduate degree programmes. All courses
incorporate electronic communications options: all graduate courses are fully online,
116 undergraduate courses are fully online, a further 58 are distance delivered with
significant online features and the remainder have a minimum of online tutoring and file
transfer options. By September 2005 the top 150 undergraduate courses (accounting
for 80 per cent of undergraduate registration) will be online. Liberal Arts and Science
comprise 69 per cent of the curriculum and professional and applied courses 30 per
cent.
Background
71.
AU was created in 1970 and was originally intended to be a campus-based
university but a change of Government occurred which queried the need for a fourth
university for Alberta. Various different options were considered and it was finally
agreed that a new model, an open university, was appropriate and AU was finally
approved in 1978. Since the 1970s it has transformed from a print and telephone based
distance education model to an increasingly online learning environment.
Dimensions
72.
AU is similar to the UK Open University but considers itself to be ‘more open’.
Like the UKOU , enrolment is open in that learners need have no prior qualifications, but
the UKOU curriculum is rigidly regimented whilst at AU there is a highly flexible
curriculum and an individualised study approach. New learners can join courses on the
first of any month, for example, there is no wait for the annual start date. Tutors have a
block of learners and add new learners on a monthly basis – as their study ends,
learners drop off the block. It is a cost effective model because a course can start with
only a handful of learners but can rapidly have built up to 30. Many learners choose AU
because of this continuous enrolment system which allows them to start their studies
when they want. In addition they can pursue their studies at a pace to suit themselves
and choose when to sit assessments. The fee model is designed around this. The fee
covers a six-month block of study during which the learner can access services and sit
assessments. After six months the learner can purchase up to two extensions in twomonth blocks.
73.
AU has no on-campus learners but there are some collaborative arrangements
with other institutions – usually community colleges - which offer certain programmes onsite and about 20 per cent of learners at any one time are attending some form of oncampus study. These types of courses cannot operate in the individualised way that AU
prefers and have to be managed as ‘group delivery’. All courses offered under this
model are also available through individualised study.
Flexibility – global scan
21
74.
AU has over 1000 staff, half of whom are full-time regular employees. Initially the
university was structured around a model where the academic staff were peripheral
developers and deliverers of course materials. The power lay with the more centralised
curriculum developers. This evolved in the early 1980s as more academic staff were
hired and they began both to develop courses and to teach them. In part, this change
came about because of the need for legitimacy in the eyes of other universities which is
important to AU because 80 per cent of its learners are not formally in AU programmes,
they are taking courses which they will transfer with credit to another university. AU
literature points out that courses offered by Athabasca since the late 1970s are different
from other universities by delivery mode only. Credit values and unit structures are
compatible.
Funding
75.
AU is a public institution funded by Alberta Province. Since AU’s inception the
balance of funding has moved from 70 per cent from Government to 70 per cent from
tuition fees. This trend has affected all universities although the more traditional ones
will find the balance is about 50:50. AU has seen a more acute change because its
numbers have increased so dramatically in the last decade or so. There are advantages
to being able to recruit extra learners as this generates income at marginal cost. On the
other hand, the university finds it difficult to convince Government that it has different
needs from other universities. For example, small budget surpluses are often allocated
for building development and maintenance which is useful to other universities but of
little use to AU which could make use of it for other infrastructural purposes which are
not allowed under the criteria for such schemes.
76.
AU’s plans for the future involve stabilising course numbers whilst increasing
registrations in order to optimise economies of scale. This is partly because the
university considers that an online environment requires ‘much more frequent updating
and revising of courses than did earlier forms of distance education’ and also because of
the need to pay attention to ‘the greater importance of customer service in the online
environment’.
77.
AU considers that it is structured to take advantage of online and distance
learning opportunities in the most financially expedient way possible. Though still cost
effective, ‘group delivery’ is proportionately more expensive to run and, for both financial
and cultural reasons, the institution aims never to offer more than 30 per cent of its
provision by this means.
Demand
78.
AU anticipates that it will have 50,000 learners by 2010 and is actively planning
to increase registrations. Its business plan requires it to grow by at least 10 per cent per
year. Forty per cent of undergraduate learners reside in Alberta and there is a large outof-Province learner cohort – over 55 per cent reside in the rest of Canada and 5 per cent
beyond Canada. A large percentage – 25 per cent of total undergraduate learner
numbers - are from Ontario, leading to competition and resentment and prompting an
Ontarian interviewee to observe that ‘Athabasca University gets up the noses of
Ontario’s Universities’.
79.
At undergraduate level AU agrees it ‘is seldom the complete answer to the
learner’s educational needs but it often represents a key component’. AU graduated 442
Flexibility – global scan
22
learners in 2003 from undergraduate courses and 565 from masters. These numbers
are increasing proportionately year on year.
Challenges
80.
Due to a combination of factors (including its open recruitment, ‘correspondence
school’ roots, the fact that it has proportionately few graduates of its own and the fact
that it does not always act like a traditional university) AU sometimes faces negative
comments from others, particularly the traditional higher education sector. AU is able to
counter such accusations with glowing independent learner satisfaction surveys,
graduation rates, graduate destinations and growing demand, though it acknowledges
such things are said. The interviewee commented that ‘the trick is to have enough about
it that makes it look like a university but not so much that it prevents innovation’.
81.
More substantively, accreditation is a major issue and a potential barrier to AU’s
plans to expand into international markets, particularly in the USA. Three Provinces
have created Government QA Boards but Canada has no national, peer-regulated
accreditation model for institutional approval and review. Thus there is nothing AU can
point to, to provide online learners, both at home and abroad, with the assurance that
they are dealing with an internationally recognised and accredited institution. AU has
been working on this and expects to achieve accreditation from the Commission on
Higher Education in the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools by summer
2005. This will be a rigorous and continuous process. AU considers it vital as online
learning goes global.
82.
Finally, the interviewee warned that non-traditional institutions can start out being
innovative but their practices become normal and traditional to the people who work
there and it can be just as hard to shift attitudes. The move from a traditional distance
learning correspondence model to online was hard for AU.
Flexibility – global scan
23
Case Study 3: University of Southern Queensland: e-university project
83.
The University of Southern Queensland (USQ) is situated 90 miles west of
Brisbane, Australia. It was founded in 1967. It moved into distance education in 1977
and subsequent growth has been in distance education. Thus it is a dual-mode
institution which, for the past five years has had around 75 per cent off-campus and 25
per cent on-campus learners. Growth has been steady – over the past 10 years oncampus enrolments have grown from 4,500 to 6,000, and off-campus enrolments have
grown from 11,500 to 17,500. Currently around 3,000 learners are studying at least one
course purely online.
Background
84.
The e-university project is a university-wide change programme. It was
conceived in the late 1990s to help co-ordinate the transitions which both distance
learning and campus-based provision at USQ were already making, or needed to make,
in terms of changes to techniques and methods to take full advantage of modern
communications technology. Taylor characterises this as evolving towards ‘fifth
generation distance education’. The preceding four generations being correspondence
model (based on print); multi-media model (based on print, audio and video); telelearning model (based on opportunities for synchronous communication); and the
flexible learning model (based on online delivery via the Internet). The fifth generation,
according to Taylor, is an extension of the fourth model by means of further exploiting
the features of the Internet and technology.3
85.
The e-university project has three basic strands: e-information repositories; eapplications and the e-interface. The development of online learning programmes –
USQOnline, has been one major initiative among many others which have been
undertaken under the e-university project banner.
Dimensions
86.
USQ considers the 75:25 mix to be appropriate. It aimed at one point for 50:50
but the campus became full and growth has gradually shifted to off-campus provision.
The university ‘likes having a strong campus too’. Despite recent emphasis on
capitalising on communications technology, it is emphatically not a virtual university and
characterises itself as a ‘clicks and mortar’ university.
87.
A range of delivery mechanisms are employed. Some are purely online but most
courses use a combination of core CDs, print, online materials and supplemented by
tutorials on-campus or by remote access. Because of this, and the dual mode nature of
the institution, there has been a convergence of modes of delivery. Increasing numbers
of learners are choosing to study in a hybrid mode seeking a combination of online and
on-campus learning and making use of a range of different media to do this. The library
is an e-library with increasing numbers of e-books and journals and access to core
materials is available irrespective of the learner’s location.
Funding
88.
USQ is a publicly funded university although the public share of overall funding is
declining. The university receives approximately 40 per cent of its total income from
Government, 30 per cent from tuition fees and 30 per cent from other sources including
3
Taylor 2001 page 2
Flexibility – global scan
24
full-fee courses and international markets. The e-university project was underpinned by
a Government grant of $5 million and most of the ‘fifth generation’ work has been
funded from that source. The Government traditionally earmarks this funding stream for
‘bricks and mortar’ type projects, so this was a flexibility on the part of Government.
89.
USQ believes that prior to the advent of online delivery, the variable costs of
distance learning tended to increase or decrease directly with fluctuations in volume of
activity. By contrast, ‘fifth generation distance education has the potential to decrease
significantly the costs associated with providing access to institutional processes and
online tuition’.4
Demand
89.
Different types of learner have different types of needs and USQ believes it is
well-placed to be able to meet these through the mix of provision it offers. As a general
rule, younger learners, particularly those transferring directly from school, prefer and
need on-campus modes whilst pure online study is best suited to the postgraduate
students. The USQ interviewee observed that younger learners prefer more face-to-face
contact although the University has a policy of ‘gradually weaning them onto selfdirected study by the 4th year’ where they will find they are more akin to off-campus
learners in many ways. In addition, many learners are working part-time and find the
services for off-campus learners are more appropriate to their needs than on-campus
modes. Approximately 10 per cent of on-campus learners are studying through the offcampus mode in years 3 and 4. The implementation of fifth generation distance
education technology ‘is likely not only to transform distance education, but also to
transform the experience of on-campus students’.5
90.
Since 1999, the number of courses and programmes offered fully online has
remained relatively static, but the number of learners undertaking study via this route
has grown from 300 in 1999 to over 3000 in 2004.
91.
USQ aims to become a leading transnational university. International learners
have increased to almost 29 per cent of total numbers and are drawn from over 100
countries. There are around 7,000 international learners – around 1,000 studying oncampus in Toowoomba and 6,000 off-campus.
92.
USQ also sees CPD as a major future market for e-learning – people with
experience have a lot to share and technology will facilitate the coming together of
communities of practice. The challenge will be to develop the pedagogical tactics to use
with them.
Challenges
94.
The USQ interviewee considers that whilst ‘many universities are still struggling
to come to terms with the imminent challenges posed by competition for online students
through the emergence of the global lifelong learning economy’, universities with a
significant role in distance education will be well placed to grasp the changes and
opportunities required and afforded by the Internet Age. Many traditional institutions use
the ‘measles model’ – they have hotspots only.
4
5
Taylor 2001 page 2
Taylor 2001 page 2
Flexibility – global scan
25
95.
Funding is a major challenge and the interviewee reported frustration with the
pace of progress as the university has so many ideas it wishes to develop and
implement with a limited budget. Nonetheless, it has already achieved a lot.
96.
Distance education practice is far ahead of the research and quality assurance
systems.
97.
As the learner body has diversified, so there has been a need for different
combinations of pedagogies and media. In future, cost differentials will come into play.
Pure e-learning has advantages of economies of scale over other types of learning.
How this might affect hybrid learning and learner choices needs to be thought through.
Flexibility – global scan
26
Case Study 4: University of Maryland University College
98.
University of Maryland University College (UMUC) is an example of a
longstanding distance learning institution which uses a dispersed model of delivery and
is also migrating to online delivery learning. With its worldwide headcount UMUC is the
largest university in Maryland. The university has 90,000 unduplicated headcounts and
3,000 faculty members worldwide. Most learners are studying part-time and most are
adults. Eighty per cent of UMUC’s ‘stateside’ undergraduate learners are also working
full-time and the median age of these learners is 32. The university also has over
50,000 active duty military personnel and their families enrolled on overseas
programmes and a further 7,900 military students in local stateside programmes.
Approximately 3,000 learners per semester have put together a full-time equivalent
schedule and could therefore be described as studying full-time, but this tends not to be
a cohort of the same learners rather, it is a pattern of study created by different learners
as they change study mode.
99.
The university offers almost a complete range of higher education degrees and
certificates.
Background
100. Although it is now a separate legal entity and one of 11 universities in the
University System of Maryland, UMUC began as a distance learning wing of the major
state University of Maryland. Following the second world war it began to expand its
activities to meet the needs of demobbed veterans. In the late 1940s it contracted with
the US Defence Department to deliver distance education to US servicepeople
overseas, first in Europe and then in Asia. It now offers on-site classes in 23 different
countries.
Dimensions
101. The model of distance learning used by UMUC is ‘not in the UKOU or Athabasca
tradition of correspondence courses’. It has always been to place and use staff in
distant locations and much of the work they do is classroom based. The contractual
relationship with the US Military obligates the University to convene face-to-face courses
in military bases, to this day. This history has been useful in terms of providing
experience of managing a highly dispersed staff and student complement.
102. The University does not really have a campus (although around 6-7,000 learners
receive face-to-face teaching in facilities at the University of Maryland College Park site
adjacent to the UMUC HQ buildings. It uses the facilities of others largely – military
bases, other universities and learning centres and has a ‘massive online operation’. It
has mobile staff and is a mobile entity ‘it is not our goal to draw student in to a particular
single place’ and the university is ‘not interested’ in locating itself physically in a single
place. Academic collaborations are increasingly common and likely to become more so,
particularly overseas.
Funding
103. The total budget is $250m - a small amount of funding – around $14m - comes
from the State and the rest is from tuition fees and contracts with the military as well as
auxiliary income from a conference centre.
Flexibility – global scan
27
Demand
104. In recent years the university has also migrated a lot of courses to online and
now offers around 50-50 online and face-to-face provision. It has ‘probably the largest
number of online enrolments in the world’ at 127,000 course enrolments in 2003. A total
of 733 distinct courses are available online. Ninety-eight bachelors and masters degree
programmes and certificates are available fully online.
105. Although it is promoted as ‘complete your degree or certificate without setting
foot in a classroom’, the online delivery is actually in the model of what the interviewee
described as a ‘classroom emulative entity’. The university has developed its own
software for these purposes and offers an online classroom - with more individualised
learning possible (in the manner of Athabasca) but a class still begins and ends and is
led by a faculty member, it just happens online. ‘But for the technology, you would
recognise this as a classroom’. The interviewee believes that the ‘classroom emulative’
approach makes the transition from face-to-face learning to online learning easier for
learners. There is a sense of ‘going to class’ online. Many UMUC learners live ‘within
driving distance’ of real classrooms but they prefer to study online.
Challenges
106. The interviewee considered that the complexities of offering online learning well
are often underestimated. ‘If you think that online learning is about putting a few courses
up on the web and students will flock to your door, you will be disappointed’. The
courses ‘are the simplest part’. An institution has to do a lot of work to support learners
in order to offer a proper fully online educational experience. All other services need to
be online. For example, the University virtual library offers services worldwide. Its
information service is available 24/7 and incorporates a book delivery system. The
library was and is complex and expensive to develop and manage and has been
designed with the needs of the University’s learners in mind. UMUC considers that it is
a national leader in this.
107. The interviewee considered that the traditional, synchronous, model of delivering
higher education is very lecturer-focussed and controlled. Lecturers need not do too
much, if they do not want to – they can ask a question, manage a discussion and then
the class is over. To some extent this is quite limiting compared to the possibilities
offered by online learning but this needs to be more carefully thought out with a higher
degree of planning and structuring of where responsibilities lie, how to organise
conversations – synchronous and asynchronous – and student projects and how and
when to draw particular resources into the learning process. ‘There are no ego trips for
lecturers’ in this and, in turn, the learning becomes more student-focussed, which
feedback and evaluations suggest they appreciate.
108. There will be growth in online learning markets. Learners will press for it – they
are used to using technology in other aspects of their lives and will expect it when they
study. Numbers are likely to grow – through demographics or other reasons – and
institutions have less capacity these days to add physical space so need to think about
other ways to do things. UMUC has evolved its practices over time in response to
student needs. It has not had the financial imperatives of others – e.g. to take a nonviable institution and find a way to make it viable. The goal of UMUC is to build a new
kind of institution over the next 50+ years to make learning work for distance learning
learners.
Flexibility – global scan
28
109. Hybrid learners fall into two main categories: those learners taking online and
face-to-face courses simultaneously or those taking face-to-face courses with an online
component. The interviewee predicted growth of both hybrids in traditional universities
in future.
Case study 4(a): UMUC Information and Library Services
110. The Information and Library Services (ILS) department at UMUC considers itself
to be a ‘first class online library’ – this is particularly important given the worldwide
nature of the student body at UMUC.
111.
The ILS considers that it provides three key services:
Getting the materials/resources to the learners (and staff) regardless of where
they are or what time they need them;
Supplying support staff and services to help learners use the library available 365
days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days per week; and
Providing instruction about the library in a systematic way, beyond ‘point of
need’-type interaction.
Getting the materials/resources to the learners regardless of where they are or
what time they need them
112. There is a general aim to make things as simple as possible for the student.
Most learners are looking for articles so this is emphasised in the service.
113. There are a great number of electronic resources – over 100 databases. They
are cross referenced so that if a student comes across an article in database 1 but the
full text is in database 3 there is a link via software called ‘Find It’.
114. If the student identifies an article that is not in the electronic database then they
can request the item by phone or email and library staff will find it, scan the article and
mount it on a web page with a unique URL and email the details to the student. Once
the student has used the site, the site disappears. They can print the copy out. This
service is offered within 8 hours of the request. There are three full-time posts employed
to do this ‘staff hate it-it’s boring, repetitive work – but the students and faculty really
appreciate the service – they get a lot of positive feedback’.
115. Also there is access to all 13 academic libraries in Maryland and learners can get
any book from those libraries mailed to them by UPS. This comes with an SAE to get it
back to the ILS via UPS. ILS does not currently charge extra for this service,
considering costs to be manageable, at least for now. I
116.
ILS is also engaged in delivering its services in the following ways:
through ‘net library’, an electronic database that offers between 5-10,000
electronic books for students to read online.
Flexibility – global scan
29
also a book project where the librarians put required texts and core class
readings onto personal digital devices. Some other US campuses have done
this but ILS is trying to do it for off-campus learners. European and Asian
telecommunications costs are much higher than in the USA so the ILS is trying to
find ways to minimise the time that learners need to spend online.
WebTycho (UMUC’s course management system) - ILS puts materials into the
virtual classroom for the staff member and the materials are maintained by ILS
which obtains the copyright etc. Unlike with hard copies, everyone in the class
can make use of the materials simultaneously. The interviewee considered that
the online delivery of courses has changed the library – it offers more
opportunities for libraries to become engaged more actively in the curriculum and
the delivery of the course.
Copyright issues
117. The UMUC ILS is exempt from many copyright restrictions, as an academic
institution. It is free to make a lot of use of its own collection. ILS also make use of the
right to offer copies on a one-copy-to-one-person basis. There are more complicated
issues when ILS tries to set up electronic resources in the classroom for a larger group
of learners. Sometimes the library buys a licence for each one – to do this it usually
pays a fee per student - but sometimes the copyright holder will not permit the use of
their materials in the online classroom.
Supplying support services to help learners use the library
118. The operating principle of ILS is that ‘help is available 24/7 and offered
worldwide’. The ILS considers itself to be unique in offering this scale and scope.
Assistance is offered face-to-face and/or via e-mail, chat or a toll-free telephone service.
119. The chat software is quite sophisticated – the student and the librarian can look
at the same pages together and the librarian can push pages to the student. and show
them what they are doing, thus helping them to learn how to do things for themselves in
future.
120. A commercial company - tutor.com - provides the ‘out-of-hours’ service
(considered to be 7pm-8am, Friday nights and weekends). The aim is that a student can
have some help when they need it. If the tutor.com operator cannot answer the
question, it is referred on to someone who can – a second level answer will be given as
soon as possible – usually around 8am the next morning when the ILS librarians are
back at work. The library co-ordinator monitors what tutor.com is doing and they hold
regular feedback sessions.
Providing instruction about the library in a systematic way, beyond ‘point of
need’-type interaction
121. Providing more information is considered important because, the interviewee
pointed out, ‘you cannot assume that they will know anything at all about how to use the
library, especially a primarily virtual library, and what opportunities are contained in
there’. The ILS created a course for using the library – this is offered free, as part of the
academic package covered by the general tuition fee (and this is something which
learners appreciate). It is offered wholly online and is now a prerequisite course at
undergraduate and postgraduate level - they must pass and it counts towards the
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student’s grade point average. The ILS interviewee considered this to be a major
advance and that UMUC is probably unique in insisting upon this.
122. The course provides an introduction to ILS and the resources and services
offered as well as an explanation of databases, how to search for information,
plagiarism, academic integrity, how to do citations (including how to cite information from
the web in a standard and coherent manner), doing a thesis statement etc.
123. Academic staff have fed back to the ILS that they have noticed a significant rise
in the quality of student work in terms of this featuring better and more sophisticated
sources and arguments and a better understanding of standard citation practice.
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Case Study 5. Tampere City and Area Finland: eLearning Cluster
124. The Tampere eLearning Cluster is a partnership that promotes e-learning in the
Tampere area, Finland. It was chosen as a case study because the Steering Committee
was interested in investigating a collective, as opposed to an institutional, approach to elearning.
Context
125. The eLearning Cluster was established in the context of Finnish Government policy6:
‘Finland is gradually developing into an information society in which knowledge and
expertise are part of the culture and also one of the key factors in production. Finland must
be in the forefront in terms of technological policy’ and a ‘national content production project’
aimed at ‘creating the prerequisites for Finland to become, in addition to data communication
technology, a leading country in terms of content production’.7 The Finnish Ministry of
Education drew up a National Strategy for Education, Training and Research in the
Information Society in 1995 and updated this for 2000-2004 in 2002. A further Information
Society programme for Education, Training and Research 2004-2006 was issued in 2004.
126.
Relevant highlights of that Education Ministry Strategy include that by 2004:
‘all citizens will have access to information networks, their own e-mail address
and an opportunity to contribute towards the contents of networks’
‘the use of ICT strategies in education will have been integrated into curricula’
‘educational establishments will now have new tools enabling them to meet new
educational challenges’
the increasing amount of open and distance learning will have brought about new
kinds of electronic teaching material and a market for domestic and foreign
educational services’
‘tutoring and counselling services…covering the whole of Finland will have been
created to address the needs of even more extensive open and distance
learning. Ever more flexible ways of studying will thus be possible’
‘teacher education will be focussed in particular on the development of virtual
studies’
‘the evaluation of learning and the development of tutoring methods will have
been crucial issues in development’
‘besides information retrieval, learners will also actively produce and transmit
digital material
6
In addition, although not strictly relevant to this study, in August 2004 all Finnish universities signed a
nationwide Agreement on Flexible Study Rights granting students rights to pursue study opportunities in other
universities.
7
Markkula 2004 page 1
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‘towards the end of the strategy period, media literacy will become a part of good
general education’
the digital publishing of research results and teaching material will be common
practice’ and ‘the publishing of digital teaching material will also be an
established branch of commercial activity’
‘virtual libraries will extensively serve the needs of learners, teachers and
researchers’8
127. The Strategy also considered that networks and collaboration would be an important
means of achieving its aims:
‘the research and education sector will work through networks’
‘network projects will have evolved into virtual universities and schools’
‘pupils and learners will participate widely in networks in different fields and maintain
leisure-time, cultural and art networks together with a range of organisations’ 9
128. Flowing from this policy climate and a range of initiatives being taken in the Tampere
City and Region to promote information society development in the area, the Tampere
eLearning Cluster partnership was established in 2001. It followed a University of
Technology seminar about e-learning which stimulated interest among other universities and
resulted in a meeting of people responsible for e-learning. It is therefore a ‘bottom up’
initiative and this was commented on favourably in an external evaluation of e-Learning
which referred to it as a ‘pioneer’10 and stated that ‘the [Tampere] Cluster may be viewed as
an improved model of a network based organisation’.11 It is generally believed that there is a
tradition in Tampere of working together and collaboration which other, larger, cities often do
not share.
129. The Cluster has admitted new partners over the piece and full members now are
Tampere University of Technology, University of Tampere, City of Tampere, Tampere
Polytechnic, Pirkanmaa Polytechnic, AKONET Adult Education Network and Tampere
Technology Centre. Other educational institutions, organisations and private companies
also actively participate in Cluster activities.
130. The Cluster is funded by and complements the city’s e-Tampere programme
which has six sub programmes, none of which is specifically about learning because the
aim was that this should be embedded in all six areas. Although the interviewee
considered that, in practice, this is only partly true, the Cluster is involved across all six
areas (which include future technology, e-business and services for citizens).
131.
The eLearning Cluster promotes and coordinates:
8
Finnish Ministry of Education 2002 National Strategy 2000-2004 section 1.2.2
Finnish Ministry of Education 2002 National Strategy 2000-2004 section 1.2.2
10
Markkula 2004 page 21
9
11
Markkula 2004 page 22
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collaboration in multidisciplinary research and development
multidisciplinary postgraduate studies in e-learning
collaboration in e-learning projects and teacher training
public-private partnerships
132. The Cluster infrastructure and operating budget are modest. The partners each
contribute €5,000 per annum and the Tampere City pays a further €20,000 (from the eTampere budget) so the total annual budget is in the region of €50,000, covering the coordinator’s salary, travelling and events. This central ‘unit’ of the eLearning Cluster
gathers together participants drawn from education, training, research and e-learning
development and offers information, resources and networking. Its aim is to spread
information, ideas, innovation and best practice among people and organizations.
Between them, members of the Cluster host approximately 10 e-learning research units
and a further 10 support and development units (active e-learning development is also
done in various university and polytechnic departments, individual schools, further
education training centres etc) and the Cluster promotes and co-ordinates their
collaboration in multidisciplinary research in a wide range of areas.
133. As a result of the Cluster’s existence, there have been several local, national and
European research and development projects that involve new kind of local
partnerships. The interviewee estimated that the Cluster has achieved its goal (set by
the e-Tampere programme) to generate competitive project funding from national and
international sources at a rate of about 1:5. The Cluster’s self-professed strengths are a
multidisciplinary approach to e-learning, interaction between practice and theory and the
collaboration of various actors.
134. The Cluster encourages member organizations to become fully committed to the
activities which are being pursued but these are not all planned and implemented by an
overarching steering group alone – rather they are agreed and co-ordinated based upon
each institution’s interests, activities and specialisms. Each participant agency will have had
different and various grounds and interests for joining, such as research collaboration,
further training and post graduate studies, international development projects, or a general
need for knowledge acquisition and keeping up-to-date with developments. The Cluster is
also a practical network for individual learners, teachers, researchers and other staff in the
organizations. One of the main reasons that individual teachers are interested in the Cluster
is that they ‘want to know what is going on in e-learning’. The Cluster filters relevant
information on events, research, funding opportunities etc, for them.
135. Collaboration and co-operation are not always easy and the interviewee
pointedly described the network as ‘a group of people who try to want to do things
together’. Universities will co-operate locally but they also have a national and
international focus which can sometimes militate against local collaborations. The
interviewee commented that ‘cluster’ is an English word and a business word and
therefore may have negative connotations in the Finnish education world: ‘often people
don’t know they are in a cluster – someone else has assigned them to it’. The partner
organisations had wanted it to be more than simply a ‘network’, however, and believe
they have achieved an active partnership with a wider network including appropriate
links to other organisations (such as the Virtual School, Virtual University and Virtual
Polytechnic in Finland) and other cities in Finland.
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136. Since its inception the Cluster reports that partners have learned from and about
each other and that ‘this has created new opportunities for joint projects in education and
research’. The interviewee considered that a great deal of positive experience has been
gained from using the Cluster’s collaboration model, and its further development is in
progress.
Future of the eLearning Cluster
137. Officially the eTampere programme, and thus some of the funding, is ending next
year so partners have been discussing what to do next. By the end of 2004 they will
receive the results of some evaluation research, the work for which has already
generated a lot of discussion about the future. Once the existing members have clarified
their aims and goals, they would like to be able to expand the network into a regional
one, integrating its activities more closely with regional development. This would enable
them to secure funding from Tampere region. There could also be more marketing of
services and products available by partners. Finally, there could be better links with
business and the private sector generally, both as customers and as partners.
138. How to fund development will be key. They could admit more partners or
possibly obtain some European funding. A third option is to end the co-ordination as it is
currently arranged and see if the important activities will now carry on without
coordination. The interviewee was not sure whether individual institutions would simply
retrench and revert back to their previous ways.
139. The interviewee thought that the eLearning Cluster had made a difference but that
there was a lot of work still to do in terms of collaboration. Good practice is disseminated in
seminars and conferences and there are also some very good examples of genuine
collaboration. There are people who almost ‘naturally’ collaborate, invite others to join
projects, share their ideas before securing funding etc and this trust and openness is,
according to the interviewee, gradually spreading in the Cluster.
140. There is also a lot of work to do in terms of e-learning truly penetrating the higher
education system. The interviewee thought there was resistance on both the supply and
demand sides to this. Although good practice is disseminated in seminars and conferences,
‘genuine collaboration is rare’. Within institutions and organizations there tend to be a few
active users of new methods whilst the rest stick to more traditional techniques. The
interviewee commented that perhaps the balance of funding was in favour of development of
materials and courses and not enough in supporting their implementation.
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Case Study 6: Oxford Brookes University
141. Oxford Brookes University (Brookes) is the only UK case study example. It was
chosen because it is known widely for its longstanding commitment to student-centred
approaches and leading-edge practices in modularity and flexible learning. The
university has been modular since the 1970s and, following a major review, is about to
introduce semesters.
142. There are approximately 16,000 learners at Brookes and around 10 per cent are
distance learning learners. It is therefore a face-to-face university with a significant
distance learning component.
Background
143. Brookes was one of the first universities to adopt a modular structure. It did this
in the 1970s, ahead of the big waves of modularisation in the 1980s and 1990s.
Interviewees considered that the impetus for change at Brookes was student-centred
unlike the later, more resource-inspired, changes of the following two decades.
Enhancing the student experience has been the main driver of change at Brookes.
Because the complexities of its early adoption in the 1970s of a modular system required
an as then unprecedented integration of learning and administrative systems, Brookes
found itself, almost by default, well-placed to exploit virtual learning activities as a byproduct.
Dimensions
144. Brookes invested in a WebCT virtual learning environment three years ago. Of
the 16,000 learners at Brookes, over 10,000 are now regularly using the virtual learning
environment which interviewees thought was ‘reasonably successful’ and the university
considers itself to be one of the leading universities in the use of technology in promoting
e-learning. This includes collections of tools to develop and deliver content and promote
discussion. So far the university has not used WebCT for all of the learning content for a
whole course. The interviewees saw it as being about ‘facilitating communication not a
publishing model’ and that ‘e-learning technology is not a single entity but a collection of
different things that can be done and used as appropriate’. Therefore, the ‘blended
model’ of study is most common at Brookes. Technology is used to support learning
being carried out face-to-face, at a distance ‘and all blends in between’.
145. There is a one-size-fits-all model (e.g. used by the University of Warwick) where
the university centrally creates, say, 1,000 empty generic modules which academics fill
in with their own content. By contrast, Brookes established a small central support unit
to assist academics and course teams in devising bespoke WebCT courses. A central
fund is available to support this work and academic staff have to apply to it. The issue
mentioned by some other case studies, that e-learning content needs to be updated
more regularly than traditional materials, has not yet arisen at Brookes as it is only
entering its third year of university-wide implementation of WebCT use. The university’s
Learning Teaching and Assessment Strategy, of which e-learning is a part, includes a
phased expansion and increasing sophistication of WebCT and other e-technology
implementation. This year the university is focussing on content management.
146. With ‘the interests of students very much at heart’, Brookes led on modularisation
of courses in the 1970s and the sophisticated technological tools which exist today were
not available then to assist with this. It had to develop its own course management
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system so the university has a tradition of using technology to support its administrative
aims. Modularisation increased choice and flexibility for learners allowing them (with the
support and advice of the university) to make informed choices about modules and
collections of modules they wished to study.
147. Interviewees considered that modularity breeds independence per se and that
this quality has lent itself to a positive response to using online learning technology from
even the youngest Brookes learners. The Brookes ethos is to assist students to become
independent learners through providing a supportive environment and clear
expectations. Enabling learners to evaluate different sources and types of resources,
thus promoting deeper learning, is an important part of the Brookes experience.
148. On the staff side, learning technology further encourages lecturers to make
explicit and transparent (to themselves and to learners) what has previously been tacit.
They also have to reflect on their practices. For example, the introduction of e-learning
techniques has helped to align learning objectives with assessment. This goes with the
grain of other pedagogic developments such as learning outcomes-related curricula and
a greater emphasis on the need to acquire skills and competencies. The e-dimension
has forced all these issues to be taken more seriously.
149. The interviewees emphasised several times that that technology is more about
process, rather than content. For example, technology has changed the nature of
industrial placements from the ‘see you in a year’ model to enabling a continued
engagement with the university, tutors and other learners. There is now a WebCT
module to facilitate this. Flowing from this, actual workplace learning can now also be
enhanced by technology – the blend is seamless.
150. The university has also found that technology has the capacity to change the way
that ideas are shared and discussed. In more traditional face–to-face modes of learning,
ideas are discussed synchronously then and there and possibly not again. With online
facilities the asynchronous element allows discussions to continue and for learners to
reflect and respond to each other more than once and over time.
Demand
151. The university is currently planning to grow its off-campus provision. This is ‘an
enthusiast-led decision which has become institutionally embedded’ and interviewees
considered that ‘it is a matter of debate how far the university wants to go with this’. As
technology has improved and interfaces become easier, far more staff will use it.
Learners now come with ‘e-confidence’ and expectations that technology will feature in
the delivery of education as it does in other aspects of their lives. Employers also
increasingly expect to interact with the university using technology.
152. In addition, the interviewees could see possibilities for engaging with whole new
groups of learners who currently do not engage with Brookes, or any, university –
particularly people in workplaces who would like to study and update skills or learn new
ones. They considered that it was important that universities changed to adopt practices
which were more appropriate for a wider and more diverse learner population: ‘Access to
higher education used to mean that the learner had to come to the campus but access
can be facilitated by e-technology without this being necessary’.
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Challenges
153. The challenge will be for the institution to support these developments. Although
all Schools have to have e-learning strategies, aspects of learning and teaching culture
are different across different parts of the university and e-learning is embedded in some
places more than in others. The interviewees considered that enthusiasm is important
and that the best and most enduring practices come originally from the bottom up.
There also has to be a commitment at the top of the institution, however. There is a ‘well
worked out consensus’ at Brookes that institutional change should have the support and
commitment of the grass roots and the top of the institution, and this approach has
contributed to its success in a number of areas.
154. The interviewees pointed out that they are already ‘the converted’ and act as
champions for e-learning and related approaches. They would like to see it more widely
exploited within the university. They have been making use of the university’s new ejournal of Learning and Teaching to publish papers and promote successes within the
university thus encouraging those colleagues who are making use of technology and
inspiring those who are not. Brookes has teaching fellowships including several which
are working in e-areas and the university provides a fund for development and
dissemination activities.
155. Echoing earlier case studies, interviewees commented that using technology in
learning is as much of a challenge to ‘traditional’ distance learning institutions and staff
as it is to those who are used to face-to-face (e.g. the UKOU was by no means the first
institution to embrace e-learning).
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Annex A
Interviewees and contact details
Athabasca University
Dr Dominique Abrioux
President
1 University Drive
Athabasca AB T9S 3A3
Canada
Tel: 780 675-6103
e-mail dominiqu@athabascau.ca
www.athabascau.ca
OntarioLearn.com
Dan Holland
(former chair of OntarioLearn)
Dean of Business and Applied Arts
Loyalist College
Tel: 613-969-1919 ext:2328
e-mail: holland@loyalistc.on.ca
www.ontariolearn.com
Ontario
Helmut Zisser
Director, Policy
Postsecondary Review Secretariat
2 Bloor Street West, Suite 700,
Toronto, Ontario M4W 3R1
Tel: 416 323-6899
e-mail: helmut.zisser@raereview.on.ca
www.raereview.on.ca
Elka Walsh, formerly Senior Policy Advisor to the Ontarian Minister of Training, Colleges and
University at the time of the Portals and Pathways Report
Joan Homer
Chief Executive Officer
Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario
655 Bay Street
Suite 1010
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2K4
Tel: 416-596-0744 extension 222
e-mail: homer@acaato.on.ca
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www.acaato.on.ca
Jamie Mackay
Vice-President, Policy and Analysis
Council of Ontario Universities,
180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1100,
Toronto, Ontario M5g 1Z8
Tel: 416 979-2165 ext.209
e-mail: jmackay@cou.on.ca
www.cou.on.ca
University of Guelph-Humber
David Trick
Chief Executive Officer
University of Guelph-Humber
207 Humber College Blvd., Room GH108
Toronto, Canada M9W 5L7
Tel: 416 798 1331 ext. 6046
e-mail: david.trick@guelphhumber.ca
www.guelphhumber.ca
Tampere
Tuuli Kurkipää
Coordinator
Tampere eLearning Cluster
Tampere University of Technology
Korkeakoulunkatu 1
P.O.Box 553
FIN-33101
Tampere
Finland
Tel. ++35 8 3 3115 2436
e-mail: tuuli.kurkipaa@tut.fi
www.eoppiminen.tut.fi/english
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University of Maryland University College
Dr Gerard Heeger
Principal
University of Maryland University College
UMUC Information and Library Service
Kimberley Kelly
Associate Provost Information and Web Services
www.umuc.edu/library
www.umuc.edu/cip
University of Maryland University College
3501 University Blvd. East
Adelphi
Maryland 20783
USA
Tel: 301 985 7949
E-mail: bgross-jackson@umuc.edu
www.umuc.edu
University of Southern Queensland
Professor Jim C Taylor
Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic & Global Learning)
University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba Queensland 4350
Australia
Tel: ++61 7 46312279
e-mail: taylorj@usq.edu.au
www.usq.edu.au
Oxford Brookes University
Clive Robertson
Head of Learning and Teaching Development
Director, Higher Education Academy Subject Network for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
Tel: 01865 483806
e-mail: clive.robertson@brookes.ac.uk
George Roberts
Director of e-Learning and Distance Learning
Oxford Brookes University
Gipsy Lane
Headington
Oxford OX3 OBP
UK
www.brookes.ac.uk
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Annex B
References
Abrioux, D (undated) The Virtual University: Policy, Planning and Management Challenges at
Athabasca University, Canada’s Open University
Abrioux, D 2004 Athabasca University, Canada July 2004 update
Finnish Ministry of Education 2002 National Strategy 2000-2004
http://e.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=7095
Finnish Ministry of Education 2004 Information Society Programme for Education, Training and
Research 2004-06
Markkula, M (pre-publication copy) eLearning in Finland, Enhancing Knowledge Based Society
Development Report of the One-Man-Committee appointed by the Ministry of Education
National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education 1997 (the ‘Dearing Report’)
Portals and Pathways 2001 A Review of Postsecondary Education in Ontario: The Report of the
Investing in Students Task Force
Taylor J, 2004 USQ Case Study Update May 2004
Taylor, J 2001 Fifth Generation Distance Education Higher Education Series Report No. 40
June 2001
University of Southern Queensland 2002 Quality Assurance and Improvement Plan 2003-2005
University Of Southern Queensland 2002 Statement of Affairs 2002 – 2003
University of Southern Queensland Strategic Plan for 2004-2005
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