Evaluation of the Swiss Virtual Campus - Schweizerische ...
Evaluation of the Swiss Virtual Campus - Schweizerische ...
Evaluation of the Swiss Virtual Campus - Schweizerische ...
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SVC Final <strong>Evaluation</strong>. Background Report Lepori and Probst<br />
8.1.13 E-Learning Services Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz<br />
General description and organisation<br />
Organisational form: a central service unit + network <strong>of</strong> local collaborators in each school <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> FHNW. The CCSP will<br />
be suspended by <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> 2007, since <strong>the</strong> FHNW direction has decided that <strong>the</strong>re will be not any more a central<br />
support structure.<br />
Website http://www.fhnw.ch/elearning<br />
Mission and strategy<br />
‘elearning services <strong>of</strong>fer information and consultancy services, <strong>the</strong>y accompany lecturers in <strong>the</strong> integration <strong>of</strong> elearning<br />
in study courses and modules. They have a good network inside <strong>the</strong> FHNW and represent its elearning concerns.’<br />
There is no overall elearning strategy at <strong>the</strong> FHNW.<br />
Activities<br />
SVC projects: 1 first call (POLE), 2 second call (H-Bridge, FE-Transfer), concluded. 3 third call (eMa<strong>the</strong>matics,<br />
Information- & IT Management online, Tricks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Trade), ongoing. Third call projects are more or less autonomous.<br />
Support and o<strong>the</strong>r activities besides SVC projects:<br />
• case studies, survey on elearning activities at <strong>the</strong> FHNW<br />
• organisation <strong>of</strong> events/courses (‘elearning Forum FHNW’) for lecturers<br />
• individual consultancy (23 in 2006)<br />
• documentation <strong>of</strong> platforms at FHNW: WebCT Vista (15 courses), Plone (80 virtual classrooms), Moodle (90 virtual<br />
classrooms), Webcorp 2 (5000 users), specific tools and s<strong>of</strong>tware<br />
• website, including some best practices (mainly third round SVC projects)<br />
• collaboration and o<strong>the</strong>r contacts at a national level, conference participation<br />
Resources<br />
2006: Central support: 1 head, 2 consultants, 2 ‘coordinators didactics and ICT’ (are also lecturers). 24 collaborators at<br />
<strong>the</strong> departments (elearning responsibles, elearning assistants, IT support, lecturers, etc. – ‘knowledge managers’<br />
providing information flow and support + superusers providing services and support).<br />
Future perspectives<br />
The FHNW direction has decided at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> 2007 to decentralise elearning in <strong>the</strong> Departments because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir quite<br />
different requirements concerning new educational technologies. A forum for <strong>the</strong> exchange <strong>of</strong> information between <strong>the</strong><br />
Departments interested in elearning will be created, while implementation <strong>of</strong> tools will be <strong>the</strong> responsibility <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
informatics services. The existing CCSP will thus be closed.<br />
Among <strong>the</strong> Departments, elearning seems particularly well-developed in economy in Basel, where <strong>the</strong>re is an<br />
established support team.<br />
Remarks and comments<br />
Since <strong>the</strong> CCSP will be suspended, <strong>the</strong> monitoring report for 2007 does not contain much information. The following<br />
comments <strong>the</strong>refore are based on previous information.<br />
So far, in <strong>the</strong> monitoring dossier <strong>the</strong>re is a lot about strategy papers and concepts that are being discussed or<br />
implemented. It seems that <strong>the</strong> CCSP’s strengths are mainly in conceptual development and consultancy.<br />
The CCSP does not seem to be very centralised; <strong>the</strong>y also report that platforms are hosted at different locations. It<br />
seems that it is difficult to get organisational acceptance for a centralised service; <strong>the</strong> performance report states a<br />
missing commitment by <strong>the</strong> board. However, some departments would like to have a common platform with centralised<br />
support. I have <strong>the</strong> impression that this CCSP has made <strong>the</strong> experience <strong>of</strong> heterogeneous development without<br />
strategy, and <strong>the</strong>refore has learned that strategy is a necessary tool; <strong>the</strong>y also underline <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> a common<br />
learning culture.<br />
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