Finnish Virtual University

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Finnish Virtual University

• Matti Sinko
• Finnish Virtual University Development Unit
• October 24, 2001

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Presentation outline

• Overview of the FVU initiative
• Some policy issues concerning eLearning materials

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Seeking rationale for going virtual in Finnish HE
(a SWOT presentation)

• Weaknesses
• units small and scattered
• units remote and isolated
• number of students declining
• less attractive than many
• academic hubs
• slow progression of studies
• thin collaborative tradition

• Strengths
• modern hi-tec networked
• campuses
• successful long-term national
• education research policies
• large constituency of motivated
• developers

• Threats
• lessening attractiveness
• lowered competitiveness
• poorer cost-effectiveness
• anachronistic system
• failing to learn networking

• Opportunities
• high profile of Finnish know -how
• capitalising on strengths
• necessity to face complex
• challenges of globalisation

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Various interests and concerns of stakeholders

• Students
• improved access to on-
• line learning environments
• improved flexibility in
• learning and admin
• improved mobility
• modernising teaching
• better access to learning
• materials

• Staff
• increased flexibility
• improved access to
• research results and
• research communities
• more efficient teaching
• protection of IPRs
• protection of staff
• welfare

• Universities
• improved
• competitiveness
• better service to
• students
• appropriate working
• environment for staff
• new PPPs
• autonomy of academia

• RD communities
• many SIGs and agendas
• eLearning lobby being
• one
• global research network
• global research
• databases
• global on-line publishing
• critique

• Public sector
• efficiency and
• effectiveness of HE
• enhancing strategic
• thinking of universities
• enhancing k-economy
• serving other national
• agendas

• Business community
• supply of professionals
• up-dating staff
• competence
• RD services and
• partnership

• Global HE market
• liberating
• harmonising
• globalising
• commercialising
• customer orientation

• Miscellaneous
• Emperors new cloths?
• Equal access?
• Empowerment or
• impoverishment of HE
• provision
• Qualifications of teachers

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The Finnish Vision

• By the year 2004 a high-quality, ethically and
  economically sustainable network-based model of
  organising teaching and research will have been
  consolidated.
• Education, Training and Research in the
  Information Society
• A National Strategy for 2000-2004
• There will be set up a virtual university by 2004
  based on a consortium of several universities,
  business enterprises and research institutes. It
  will produce and offer internationally
  competitive, high-standard educational services.
• Information Strategy for Education and Research
  2000-2004 Implementation Plan

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Our objectives

• to diversify university studies
• to develop university curricula
• to improve the quality of teaching and learning
• to enable networking in teaching, studying and
  research
• to develop a new model of net-based operation
• to make better use of the ICT networks
• to improve the competitiveness of the Finnish
  academia

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We are not aiming at

• establishing a new university
• full virtuality

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From BRICK and mortar to click and mortar!
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To do

• Continuous refining of the aims and the needs
  analysis
• Building-up the capacity to commit, to
  collaborate and to go on-line through a number of
  sub-projects addressing support to and training
  of staff
• Curriculum development and research through a
  substantial number of network projects
• Setting up proper structures, functionalities and
  management
• Sustainable funding pricing policies fees
• Optimising technical solutions, standards,
  learning management systems
• Logistics and support to course design and
  tutoring
• IPRs and other legal and regulatory issues
• Issues of user identification towards stronger
  authentication and federal authorisation
• Student assessment
• Legal status of the consortium
• Quality assurance of products and services
• International collaboration and exchange
• Niche on the global HE market
• Marketing and brand creation
• Roles of companies as members, partners, customers

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Division of responsibilities

• Ministry of Education and its virtual university
  task force
• funding
• strategic follow-up
• Universities
• generating initiatives and projects
• functional specifications
• providing content for the activities
• Consortium, Development unit and Projects
• design, piloting and scaling-up
• coordination and support
• further development and on-going tune-up
• consolidating services

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Funding

• Earmarked for 2001
• MoE total nearly 10 M split between
• individual universities (½)
• inter-university projects (½)
• ESF 0.5 M for the portal
• plus resources and synergy from other national
  initiatives and intra-university projects
• Anticipated MoE and ESF funding for 2002 and 2003
  to stay at least on the same level.
• 2004 yet open

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Organisation of FVU
Univ 1
Univ 2
Univ 3
Univ n
MoE
Consortium assembly
The virtual university task force
Steering committee
Development unit
Virtual polytechnic initiative
services
projects
FinELib
CSC
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Summing up our current policy on eLearning
materials

• acknowledging the growing importance of
  e-materials in e-learning
• producing locally and virtually
• delivering globally but not uncontrolled
• reaching sufficiently coherent procedures and
  practices enabling and empowering net-based
  e-learning through
• standard indexing and metadata systems
  (preferably on source) to enable effective
  searches and data mining
• interoperable/compatible learning platforms and
  LMS, including ease of data transfer and delivery
  of materials over the net
• full acknowledgement and respect of IPRs
• pivotal role of staff development and training in
  concocting all this into an e-success story

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The hidden rationale of any educational ICT
strategy?
If you dont do your chores, Mother said, I
wont let you have a birthday party instead of
being nine, youll be eight for another year
none of your friends will want to play with
someone younger than them..
Hal Sirowitz, Mother Said (1996)
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More

• after the vernissage of the FVU portal phase 1
  on November 8 at
• www.virtualuniversity.fi
• matti.sinko_at_hut.fi

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