Appendix E: Suggested Technical Guidelines to Universities on Preparation for the e University
Overview
It is planned that the e-University launches with its first cohort of students in October 2001. This means that from Autumn 2000 your university may be considering which e courses that you have or are planning may be suitable for offering to the e University.
The following note provides some interim guidelines on pedagogy and technologies that are likely to be most appropriate for the initial batch of courses from the e-University.
As the e-University evolves, it is likely that from October 2002 it will have its own specific Managed Learning Environment through which its offerings will have to be made available. This is likely to require some minor redesign of your e-course.
Directions
The pedagogic/systems basis of the e-University will be oriented to a mode of teaching and learning which is based on a core of Internet/Web access for predominantly home-based learners.
The indicative use of the various sub-systems is given below. This does not absolve you from considering the most appropriate use of pedagogy and technology via your Teaching and Learning Committee or other appropriate internal mechanism.
Web use for resource-based learning (with, in some courses, text-books and CD ROMs or DVDs in addition)
Routine use of computer mediated communications (i.e., asynchronous systems of the “bulletin board” type) for the majority of student-tutor and student-student interactions
In general, a smaller amount of mass synchronous sessions (streaming media) and synchronous small-group working (screen-sharing, Internet video-conferencing, etc.) – this percentage is likely to increase over the years as bandwidth improves.
Some points to bear in mind are given below.
You should assume that the target user has a PC which can render Web pages delivered “flat out” over a 56 kbps link and can play CD-ROMs and DVDs (such PCs cost less than £1,000 including VAT in the UK) and an Internet link of at least 28 kbps.
It is likely that some courses will have no face-to-face teaching at all. In most courses, face-to-face teaching will be optional and minimal in amount. Its use is likely to decrease over the years as user acceptance of e-teaching grows and e-teaching systems improve.
Continuous assessment will be by a variety of methods including Computer Marked Assessment and human grading of student work submitted electronically. The appropriate procedures for examinations are under study but are not likely to involve e exams in the first year of running.
The e-learning systems that the e-University will choose will conform as far as is practicable to the emerging set of standards for learning systems that goes under the generic banner of IMS. JISC has set up CETIS (formerly called the UK IMS Centre) to advise universities on these standards, and other JISC agencies and the ILT can advise on broader issues. Discussions are in progress with Ufi and other agencies to harmonise the various operational standards that are relevant to UK universities and associated providers.
You need in general design systems only for PCs at this stage – since the penetration of WebTV, mobile/WAP and other systems is still at the niche level in terms of relevance to e-learning. For specialised markets there may be a need for Macintosh computers but they will operate within the same parameters for systems and learning environments.
One of the features that still distinguishes e-education from e-training is a higher reliance on interaction between individuals and groups. In general you should ensure that aspects of collaborative learning are built in to your offering – the easiest way of doing that is to use one of the well-known e-mail/bulletin board systems that have been in widespread use in distance education for some years – this allows you to benefit from both the technology and the body of literature and pedagogy built up round it.
If your university is currently in discussion with vendors over a Managed Learning Environment, ensure that the vendor has understood the implications of IMS and the need to inter-operate with student records systems and other IMS-compliant MLEs. In some cases, such as where your university intends to be a large provider to the e University or is making a large centralised irrevocable investment in MLEs and associated systems, it may be prudent to delay the final procurement decision until December 2000.
Use the Web wherever possible for resources. Where Internet bandwidth restrictions are relevant (e.g., for video), ensure that when delivered on CD-ROM (or DVD-ROM) they make use of Internet-operable formats and tools.
Things to Avoid
There should be no general dependence on CD-ROM, DVD or other storage media for delivery of e University courses, and especially there should be no use of formats that are not operable in the longer term over the Web.
Large-scale home-based use of video-conferencing is not feasible at this stage over the Internet; thus distance-education courses relying on video-conferencing (over ISDN) between learning centres will need substantial redesign.
In general, real-time chat rooms and MOOs are not fruitful directions for design of co operative learning environments.
This is a tender for option 1 of the Invitation to Tender from HEFCE of 11 April 2000:
A survey of
pedagogic tools (such as computer conferencing or email discussion groups),
approaches to student assessment on-line, and
current and prospective practice in providing face-to-face student support in addition to electronic tuition.
The work will leverage on extensive earlier investigations of these areas carried out by the lead expert and his co-workers for Sheffield Hallam University, the Open University, and other universities, companies and agencies over the last few years (see Bacsich & Mason [1995], Bacsich [1997], Mason & Bacsich [1998], Bacsich, Lefrere et al [1999]), and on ongoing Virtual Campus “observatory” activity at Sheffield Hallam University, thus permitting a very cost-effective tender price [omitted].
