virtual habitats: beyond city limits
TRANSCRIPT
Virtual habitats: Beyond city limits János Ollé, PhD. habil.
College Professor and Vice-Rector for Science, Research and International Affairs
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
Virtual Habitats • virtual
• 3D environment (Second Life, virtual worlds, immersive worlds)
• augmented reality
• online environment
• institutional & personal social media, online communication
• networking potential & interactive openness
• eLearning environment (environment ≠ teaching material)
• pedagogical culture & teaching quality
• MOOC
• indicator of internationalisation level of education
• social media
• personal twitter, blog, Tumblr, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube channel, academia.edu
• institutional (official) blog, Facebook, iTunesU, YouTube podcast
• functions
• dissemination, information (third mission)
• part of the HEI’s marketing strategy (student recruitment, sponsoring, enhanced reputation)
• networking (professional & institutional)
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
Social media - network potential and interactive openness
• drawbacks & risks
• rejected by the academic field (‘weightless’)
• “waste of time” (online presence vs. quality publication)
• free access to the HEI’s knowledge base
• vulnerability in HEIs’ competition (exposure of IP)
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
Social media - network potential and interactive openness
• advantages & positive effects:
• active online presence → strength, confidence, stability and quality (positive feedback on achievements)
• positive self-evaluation (institutional & professional-personal)
• global networking through the online presence of the institution’s staff
• IF the online presence is connected to the institution
• global feedback and evaluation
• ONLY from those who are also present in the online environment
• advantages & positive effects:
• constant & up-to-date communication with potential target audience (e.g.: prospective students)
• alumni networking - enhanced effectiveness
• data analysis, data mining → ‘fine tuning’ of internationalisation strategy implementation
• global online presence of academic staff → improved language & intercultural skills
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
eLearning environment - pedagogical culture • eLearning environment: attached to ALL courses (officially or by the students)
• face-to-face vs. online education → integrated learning environment
• indicator of development level of pedagogical culture: activation of students in online environment
• Hungary: eLearning = course material instead of learning community/group
• content-centered approach → less developed ‘stage’
• activity centered learning environment ≠ no content
• content + activity
• communal learning
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
• activity-centered eLearning environment: content & activation (e.g.: learning methodology course based on group work)
• activity-centered eLearning environment vs. primary and secondary education → new objectives:
• active participation & responsibility of students
• development of self-regulation skills → continuous and sustainable learning activity
• level of student activity in eLearning environments → contemporariness of pedagogical culture
eLearning environment - pedagogical culture
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
• massive amount of online (quality) content
• obstacles of individual learning:
• low level of self-regulation (primary & secondary education)
• fragmented content elements (≠ course)
• face-to-face presence is still a must
• more quality content + better self-regulation → why need HEIs?
• added pedagogical values by HEIs
• production & filtering of available quality content
• structured full courses & certification
• interactive, activity-centered learning environments
• study groups, learning communities
eLearning environment - pedagogical culture
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
MOOC - an indicator of internationalisation level
• MOOCs - today: over the peak of the hype cycle
• failed to replace HEIs
• dropout ratio around 90% (low level of self-regulation)
• the vast majority of today’s MOOCs are basically distance learning courses (state-of-the-art technology ≠ up-to-date methodology)
• expected future of MOOCs: stabile productivity (in 2-3 years)
• development & implementation of MOOCs at department/faculty level
• contemporary and interesting content, scientific values
• instructional design - heterogeneous, massive learning communities
• different prior knowledge & learning objectives of students
• multicultural learning communities
• different time zones
• different online competences
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
MOOC - an indicator of internationalisation level • development & implementation of MOOCs at department/faculty level
• international/intercultural competences of teaching staff
• online skills of teaching staff and course developers
• openness to public online presence
• fear of leaving permanent ‘digital footprints’
• fear of the attention of competition (possible course participants)
• willingness to start MOOCs ≈ level of internationalisation
• reasons against MOOCs ≈ next steps of strategic development
ACA Annual Conference 2016 UniverCities
Higher education institutions and their habitat Budapest, 20-22 November
Summary
• Online presence – virtual reflection of HEIs
• openness & communication
• Online presence → global presence
• multidimensional
• multicultural
• international
• eLearning, MOOC: tool ≠ solution
• academic development
• internationalisation
Thank you for your attention!