1. eLearning Trends and Challenges John Beaumont, CEO UK eUniversities Worldwide Monday 14 April 2003

2. Agenda eLearning context Generation of eLearning UKeU’s positioning and progress

3. eLearning: it deserves its poor reputation historically Technology Instructional design and content Service support

4. To meet unmet educational needs What is eLearning for?

5. First Generation eLearning Online courses as direct analogues of conventionally-delivered courses Replicating course structure, elements and delivery Incorporate existing support materials Delivery dependent on course originator Not scalable Always inferior to original course “Horseless carriages”

7. Second Generation eLearning Online courses purpose designed for medium Same top-level learning outcomes Educationally derived, precept-driven design methodology Team developed not faculty led Course requires mentoring not teaching when delivered Fully scalable

9. Third Generation eLearning Online education that does not adhere to course conventions Course is an artificial construct born of practicality – old constraints no longer apply Examples Learning pathways through knowledge management systems Personalised curricula Just-in-time education

11. UK eUniversities: Strategic response by Objective Widen access to UK higher education through global delivery of courses online Status Not a university Licenced by UK universities to deliver globally their higher education courses online A company with shareholders UK Government funded UK Government

12. Mission and values Customer focus Quality driven Integrity Shareholder value Innovation To deliver the best of UK university education online across the world

13. Business overview World-class Learning Environment World-class course content Worldwide service provision Effective marketing, sales and distribution globally

14. Why develop a new Learning Environment ? Drivers A new generation of eLearning Learner centric Comprehensive and integrated requirements Design objectives Pedagogically prioritised feature set Connectivity with university administration systems Modular and standards based Scalability 24 x 7 operational availability

15. Portal User Management Collaboration Event Management Database(s) Services architecture: a logical modelLCMSLMSAssessmentAdministration

16. Course development aims Discourage first Generation Encourage second (and third) Generation Support broad spectrum of students Culture Learning preferences Special needs Follow international standards (including IMS, SCORM, WAI) Adopt a fine grain object-oriented approach to course design

17. Adopted eLearning standards IMS Content packaging Metadata Question and test interoperability Learning architecture Watching other standards SCORM 1.2 Assets but not sharable courseware objects Also tracking Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI)

18. Accessibility Working to offer support for Blindness Partial sight Colour blindness Deafness Fine motor skills Dyslexia Following best practice guidelines W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Guidelines Advice from national agency TechDis SENDA (UK equivalent of US Section 508) Planning a UKeU accessibility roadmap

19. Student eLearning strategies Linear (following default sequence) ~ 30% Text-led (printed all texts and used as course framework) ~ 30% Aural (played all audio-graphics before referring to texts) ~ 20% Assignment-orientated (prioritised all course elements based on relevance to assignment) ~ 20%

20. Course structure Program of study Modules Units Sessions Learning objects

21. Our offering Variety of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees Continuing Professional Development courses Subject areas include Business and management Science and technology Health English language Teacher training Environmental studies Law Market led Programme clusters

22. University of Oxford Some existing university partners

23. The course team Academic staff Course specifies Content creators Reviewers Tutors Techno-pedagogic staff Learning technologists Web developers / media specialists Graphic designers Editors Project management Quality Assurance

24. Upfront investment Course development, instructional design and production Ongoing services eLearning platform operation and service support Marketing Varying commercial relationships with universities linked to student fees

25. Research Centre Applied research on eLearning practice Monitoring and evaluation of student experiences Dissemination of findings

26. Janet connectivity Internet connections Data centre services Help desk Janet connectivity Internet connections Data centre services Help desk Operational infrastructure (24 x 7)

27. Student Accreditation for established universities Modular programmes achieving variety of qualifications Robust student support systems Corporate Single access for all corporate eLearning programmes Customisation Continuing Professional Development Course delivery matching customer demand

28. Marketing and Sales: Initial target markets for volume English language competence Some affinity with UK education Inadequate supply by state sector to market demand High status of international qualification Willingness to pay for education Necessary infrastructure the key

29. eLearning integral to campus life Managed service

31. In service!

34. How can we collaborate?

35. JRBeaumont@UKeU.com