The Making of a Virtual University

1
The Making of a Virtual University

• Gunter Schlageter
• Birgit Feldmann
• University of Hagen, Germany
• gunter.schlageter_at_fernuni-hagen.de

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University of Hagen

• Only distance teaching university in German
  speaking countries
• About 55.000 students
• Study centers in German speaking countries,
  eastern countries (Hungary, Latvia...)
• Studies in Economics, Electrical Engineering,
  Computer Science, Law, Social Sciences and others

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Virtual University Project

• Start in 1996 How to build a university which
  offers all services for students through the
  internet
• All services meaning not only content, but
  also
• tutoring, consulting
• communication, collaboration, group work
• exercises
• access to labs (wherever reasonable)
• access to library

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Strategic Goals

• Maximal flexibility for students
• Time and location independence
• access on demand
• At the same time reduce isolation
• Provide group awareness and social connection
• Support group work
• Provide environment for life-long learning
• Overall Focus on student with his/her
  personal needs

5
Consequences of Goals

• Allow as much asynchronicity as possible
• Synchronous events only where really required
• No client software, only standard browser

6
Variety of Research Issues

• Learning scenarios
• Tools, applications
• Support of teacher
• Integration with administration (e-government),
  information and workflows of university

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Learning in the Internet

• Make content internet ready
• Internet-based learning forms
• Seminars
• Practicals/lab work
• e-learning applications
• Communication support
• Tools for group work
• e.g. ER-editor for group use

8
Learning Scenarios

• Some examples for research issues
• How to organize exercises
• How to organize seminars
• How to get collaboration, learning groups started
  
• How to do lab-work, and lab-work with group
  organization
• ...

9
Central Research Issues

• Not multimedia material or learning objects, but
• Creating a Motivating integral environment for
  learning and teaching from a distance
• Content any mix that suits purpose pdf,
  applets, paper, computer based training,
  web-based training, multimedia productions
• Not on our mind transferring traditional
  classroom teaching into the internet !

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Early Large e-learning Application

• Today
• Some 30.000 active users
• 400 teaching events took place
• All faculties (more or less) use Virtual
  University Ongoing development and learning
  process for the institution and the teachers

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Learning has changed ...

• Continuing possibility to discuss, interact in
  groups/forums felt as major improvement
• To take part in learning and working groups, even
  from remote places, is a new quality
• Permanent access to exercise and lab servers
  highly attractive

12
Learning has changed ...

• For learning forms with small student groups
  drop out rate much lower than with traditional
  forms
• Significant improvement of student performance
  and quality of submitted work for virtual
  seminars and practicals (lab work)

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Example Seminars

• Goal small group of students acquires and
  compiles knowledge on a given subject
  area(example Mobile Internet)
• Specific topics within this subject area prepared
  and presented by one student or by a small group
• Traditional organization each student prepares
  presentation as homework, then presents it in
  class, open for discussion

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Virtual Seminar

• From very beginning students act as a community
  discussion of topics, overlaps, questions
• Seminar becomes continuing process, no longer one
  stop event !
• Group acquires common knowledge space
• Overall New quality of learning event with
  amazingly good results

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How does teaching change?

• A good teacher in class is not automatically
  a good teacher in the virtual university !
• Teachers role changes from provider of learning
  content to advisor, supportive partner, learning
  manager.
• New skills didactical, organizational, technical
• How to manage a successful chat session? Where
  to use which technical features? How to get
  discussion going in a group?
• However no need for teacher to become technical
  wizard!

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Current Developments

• Make life easy for teachers
• keep technology and organization from teacher
• By capturing best practice models for various
  teaching events in tools and interfaces
• Make tools easily adaptable to specific situation
  
• Seminars, lab work, exercises
• Integration of Mobile Devices

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Mobile Learning

• Use of mobile devices for learning purposes
• Allow learning on the move
• Spontaneous, short learning phases
• Learning cards
• Exercises
• Participation in discussion groups
• Small learning modules
• Organizational functions

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Scenarios For Mobile Learning

• Peter is preparing himself for the
  examination in data structures. Unforeseen, he
  has to visit an important customer for his
  company. He had no time to select learning
  materials to take with him for the journey.
  Fortunately, his e-learning campus provides the
  possibility to download typical examination
  problems on his Pocket PC.He tests his knowledge
  against a pool of questions about data
  structures.

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Mobile Devices
Group I Smart Phones / Mobile Phones Group
II PDAs / MDAs / Pocket PC Group III Laptop
Computer / Tablet PC
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Diversity of Devices
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Issues

• In detail size of screen, storage, data rate,
  scrolling functions, navigation,...
• Didactical situation, location
• not every type of media or learning scenario
  applicable in all circumstances (audio yes/no)
• Location based learning services

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Developments to Come

• Digital paper (Nokia)
• Wearable computing
• Innovative solutions for keyboards(e.g. the
  infrared projection of a keyboard on a normal
  table)
• Mobile Devices for different settings (indoor,
  outdoor, work, leisure)

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Where are we?

• Still many misunderstandings about e-learning do
  it wisely
• Has proven very valuable
• Bottleneck more often teachers than learners
• Must be carefully integrated in the overall
  organization
• No dogmatism There is no standard approach for
  all situations
• Not technology driven didactical perspective!