University%20Strategies%20towards%20the%20Integration%20of%20ICT%20in%20the%20Teaching/Learning%20Practice

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University Strategies towards the Integration
of ICT in the Teaching/Learning Practice

• Joe Cullen, Tavistock Institute
• Mario Barajas, University of Barcelona

MASSIVE Seminar Barcelona, November 2005
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1. Introduction

• Key issues
• Re-structuring of Higher Education Enterprise
• Evolution of Virtual Learning Environments
• Organisational practices and re-engineering

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1. Introduction

• Re-structuring of Higher Education Enterprise
• ICTs secondary to radical re-shaping of HE
  enterprise
• Performativity shift from enlightenment to
  knowledge utilisation
• Shift towards more student-centred teaching and
  learning
• Rise of consumerism learning rich settings

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1. Introduction

• The new pedagogy
• Shift from psychological (black box) learning
  paradigm to constructivist Scaffolding
  reflective practice communities of practice
• Tension between consumerist and societal
  learning agendas

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1. Introduction

• New Service Needs
• Rise in assessment and learning outcomes
  decline in curriculum and content
• Shift to management of knowledge
• Employability agenda
• Managed Learning Environments

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1. Introduction

• Organisational issues
• Key component not covered technical and support
  staff
• New roles imply new competences
• Evolving knowledge how to capture it
• Job and organisational re-engineering
  de-skilling and re-skilling
• Cross-boundary management

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2. List of projects and reports reviewed

• BENVIC Benchmarking of virtual campuses
• IVETTE Implementation of virtual environments in
  training and education
• Other projects from the MINERVA Programme (SETTT
  and NETCAMPUS)
• Report Virtual Models of European universities

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3. Main developments found in the area in the
last few years

• Report Virtual Models of European universities
  carried by the Danish consultancy Ramboll
  Management for the European Commission, DG
  Education and Culture during 2002-2003.
• Aim to analyse the current and potential future
  use of ICT by European universities for
  educational and organisational purposes (Survey
  done in 200 European Universities)
• Four university clusters concerning their
  current use of ICT in the organisational and
  educational setting
• 1. the front-runners universities
• 2. the co-operating universities
• 3. the self-sufficient universities
• 4. the sceptical universities

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4. Main developments found in the area in the
last few years

• An ICT strategy should be developed at the
  management level
• the absence of conspicuous support and priority
  allocated by the university management to ICT
  integration and e-learning is a critical obstacle
  in many EU universities
• In the years to come, ICT integration and
  e-learning will tend to evolve from project-based
  and experimental ventures into integrated
  features of the normal functioning of all
  university activities.
• The study illustrated that experimental and pilot
  projects are a key driver in the developmental
  processbut, it concluded that most universities
  still face a severe challenge in terms of
  incorporating and anchoring the results and
  experiences gained from development projects into
  their overall strategy and activities

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3. Main developments found in the area in the
last few years

• Lack of an overall support structure for
  e-learning
• In 77 of the universities participating in the
  survey, technical support for integrating ICT
  into their teaching is available to all or a
  majority of teachers, not for the students
• Incentives should be developed
• In the years to come, incentives for the
  individual faculties, institutes and teachers to
  push the development of ICT further must be
  developed. The motivation to do so might be based
  on an awareness of the benefits obtainable from
  the integration of ICT, and on the availability
  of extra time for teachers to develop course
  material.
• The use of ICT to redesign education is at the
  very beginning
• most universities are still at the stage where
  the use of ICT consists of treating the computer
  as a sophisticated typewriter and as a means of
  facilitating communication via traditional
  pedagogy and didacticsonly a minority of
  universities have yet reached the stage of using
  ICT as a tool to redesign educational programmes

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3. Main developments found in the area in the
last few years

• Four key obstacles
• Absence of a coherent and comprehensive
  management approach to ICT integration with a
  degree of resistance to change in the university
  culture.
• Most academic staff lack knowledge concerning the
  potential of ICT and new ways to use it.
• Shortage of high-quality ICT-based teaching
  material.
• Regulations concerning intellectual property
  rights and payment systems aimed at increasing
  the sharing and re-use of learning resources.

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4. MASSIVE key aspects to consider for the
peer-review

• Consider the model of universities promoted a
  traditional model, a business model, etc
• Compare strategies for the integration of ICT
  among institutions (benchmarking approach)
• Map out the services currently provided and
  emergent (not consolidated), within the models
  for the integration of ICT and virtual learning.
• Look at the transferable elements of the
  different strategies analysed. The same can be
  said with respect to the sustainability of
  solutions.
• Look for coherent and comprehensive management
  approaches to ICT integration strategic plan,
  business plan (if any), networking strategies,
  scalability, etc.

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4. MASSIVE key aspects to be considered for the
peer-review

• Quality assurance and assessment procedures of
  the virtual components at all levels checklist
  of issues to take into account in developing the
  quality assurance
• University incentives to teachers in the
  development of ICT integration
• Evaluation and examination procedures when using
  virtual learning
• Role of staff training within nthe overall
  strategy
• Organisational and material conditions that are
  supporting virtual learning

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5. Initial hypothesis for a service approach to
ICT strategic integration

• a strategy for the integration of ICT in
  learning,
• a long-term financial commitment to e-learning at
  every level,
• a coherent and comprehensive management approach
  to ICT integration,
• quality assurance and assessment procedures of
  the virtual components at all levels
• university incentives for teachers in the
  development of ICT integration,
• organisational conditions supportive of
  e-learning,

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5. Initial hypothesis for a service approach to
ICT strategic integration

• staff training support programmes and staff
  development
• integration of academic and administrative
  technologies
• on and off-campus delivery
• e-learning platform selection
• a plan for national and international
  partnerships, consortia membership, etc.
• a plan for interoperability and flexibility of
  systems.

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5. Massive proposal for a support service
Institutional Audit

1. the levels of ICT use in teaching and learning,
   including areas of innovation
2. evaluate integrated e-learning platforms
   (top-down) and local platforms (bottom-up) in
   use.
3. how, if at all, the use of ICT is evaluated, and
   how the evaluation results are used to enhance
   teaching and learning
4. the perception of students' of e-learning needs
5. staff development needs and barriers
6. the emphasis on ICT and e-learning in any
   corporate strategies and policies, and the
   institutional barriers to innovation
7. relationship between the use of ICT in T/L and
   related central services and structures (e.g.
   central computing, human resources, library,
   etc.)