Evaluation of the Swiss Virtual Campus - Schweizerische ...

SVC Final Evaluation. Background Report Lepori and Probst
5.2.2 Project and CCSP support
Compared to the Impulse Programme, there have been few mandates devoted to support
directly SVC projects and CCSPs.
1) The Manual for Projects and Programme Evaluation, awarded to ETHZ, was aimed at
developing an on-line tool for the evaluation of elearning projects and programmes. After a
testing phase a final version of the manual is now available on-line in three languages
(http://www.evalguide.ethz.ch/). It is basically an on-line book providing information on
evaluation, resources and hyperlinks on the subject.
2) The CRITIQUEST mandate, awarded to CCSP RISET of the University of Lausanne, has the
aim of providing resources to CCSPs and project leaders concerning the management of
elearning projects. An online documentation in four languages has been produced and is
available on the SVC website.
3) Two earlier mandates, both terminated in early 2005, concerned respectively the coordination
between support centres in the Romandie (GIRAFE) and the support of the Forum New
Learning, a communication platform between the elearning community especially in UAS.
5.2.3 elearning strategy and SVC development
In the consolidation phase, the SVC has launched a number of mandates devoted to the status
assessment of the programme and to the definition of strategic orientations for the next period.
1) The SVC Status Reports and Project Monitoring was awarded to Prof. Oelkers and the
former SVC coordinator Dr. Rizek of the University of Zurich. It aimed at providing an
assessment of the status of SVC projects at the end of the impulse phase and
recommendations for their maintenance. On the basis of questionnaires and site visits, the
mandate has produced an impressive quantity of information (about 1000 pages of reports),
which has been criticised for its lack of focusing. A summary report has been produced at the
end. A reading of the SVC yearly reports shows that this mandate has been heavily debated
inside the SVC: thus the SVC yearly report criticises the report - ‘nicht selten kann der Eindruck
entstehen, dass die in den Informationen genannten Ergebnisse und gemachten Aussagen auf
Basis der subjektiv von den Mandatarin währen ihrer Zeit als Koordinatorin des
Budesprogramms SVC gemachten Erfahrungen beruhen’ – but states also that with on
reflection these results are a relevant information source for further analyses. However, one
should consider that the results refer essentially to the situation in the year 2004 and thus can
be hardly used for future planning.
2) The mandate on Sustainable implementation of elearning was awarded to Prof. Seufert and
the Swiss Centre for Innovations in Learning SCIL of the University of St. Gallen in close
cooperation with the SVC coordination team. Its main goal was to support the SVC Steering
Committee in its strategic planning and, particularly, in the preparation of the strategies for the
period 2008-2011. Additionally, the mandate has supported the SVC coordination team in the
preparation of the SVC days 2006.
It seems that also this mandate has led to many discussions. According to the SVC coordination
report 2006, the SVC-SC has evaluated the results of the mandate as unsatisfactory, while the
mandate itself complained that too little time was devoted to the strategic discussion on the
overall orientation of the programme.
The mandate has produced a final report which has been internally distributed to the SVC
community (Seufert and Euler 2006).
3) The Guide of Best Practices Mandate was awarded to the SVC-SC vice-president Maia
Wentland Forte. Its aim is to compare elearning strategies and practices in a number of
countries, including USA, France, Germany and UK and to provide recommendations based on
the ‘best-of’ of what is being done both in academic. The final report was delivered at the
beginning of 2008.
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