Dr Bill HarveyDeputy Director, Learning and

Teachingbharvey@sfc.ac.uk

Transforming tertiary education through ICT: hype or reality?

Scottish Funding Council(s)

SHEFC created 1992 SFEFC created 1999 Merged Council created October

2005 Total annual funding ~ £1.5

billion

Learning and Teaching policies

Quality enhancement Supporting institutions to

ensure that students have a high quality educational experience

Promoting innovation and the spread of good practice

E-learning is ONE area for development

Joint SFEFC/SHEFC E-learning Group

Created 2002 Reported 2003 Advice to both Councils Actions taken forward 2003-06 2005 review of progress

Why study e-learning?

Widespread interest Lots of hype and speculation Lack of strategic analysis Clarify the roles of institutions

and Councils Identify key action points

Pedagogy

Focus on learning, not teaching Promote blended learning, not

wholly ICT Analyse the learning process;

use ICT in a range of different ways

Strategic review of the curriculum and delivery methods

Economics

E-learning is not cheap Sustainable solutions must be

supportable from core institutional funding

Identify the intended return on investment

Economies of scale require large student cohorts or aggregation

Potential Markets

Wide diversity of student markets

Increase reach Increase flexibility and choice Overseas markets Do students want this model?

Supply-side issues

Technical infrastructure Staff development Content Open source v proprietary

solutions Quality and standards Scope for collaborative

solutions

Key messages

It’s about learning, not technology

Economies of scale requires collaborative solutions

Incremental and transformational change

Strategic change requires re-engineering of institutional processes

Next steps

Maintain IT infrastructure Institutional toolkit Staff development and TNA Promote transformational

change

Actions taken

SuperJANET 5 and RNO procurement

Toolkit produced to assist institutional strategic planning

HE Training needs analysis conducted

£6M Transformation programme launched

Transformational change?

Embedded in mainstream processes

Core business, not peripheral Substitutes for existing

practice, not an ‘optional extra’ Step change in functionality Financially sustainable within

institutions’ own budgets

Localised

Co-ordinated

Impact on core practice

Embedding in core practice

Re-engineering core practice

Evolutionary Phase

Transitional Phase

Revolutionary Phase

Potential Benefits to learners

Ch

an

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arn

in

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teach

in

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pra

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ce

Low High

High

Individualised

Low

.

Transformation of practice through e-learning.

Lessons learned so far

Not everyone understands our objectives

Not everyone is ready for transformation

It’s hard to build new collaborations

Initiative focus v institutional change

Sustainability/exit strategy difficult to obtain

Subject communities are not necessarily the answer

Institutional readiness Does the institution want to increase

academic productivity? Are leaders committed to e-learning? Is computing firmly integrated into

the institutional culture? Does the institution have a mature IT

support structure? Does the institution have a real

commitment to learner-centred education?

Pedagogy and Staff culture

Are staff familiar with e-learning concepts and practice?

Is there scope for substitution of capital for labour?

Are staff willing to use learning materials from outside?

Do staff have the requisite skills – or can they be purchased?

Are the students prepared for this?

Challenges and issues (1)

Not invented here Cottage industry models What’s the role of the private

sector? Open source solutions? Is collaboration ‘real’?

Challenges and issues (2)

Diversity of institutions Is this for everyone, or just the

few? How will we measure success? Can the whole sector benefit? Can change be sustained? Can good practice be

transferred? How can ALT help?