LEARN

Learning Environments And Research Network

British Council Seminar

1. Introduction
2. Seminar themes
   1. Borderless Education: the challenges, opportunities and responses
   2. Distance learning / Blended learning for workplace skills
   3. Recognition and Quality in distance education
   4. Distance Education and Continuous Professional Development
   5. Supporting remote learners
   6. Participants' presentations
   7. Concluding comments

2. Seminar themes
   
   There were five themes in the programme, plus opportunities for participants to give presentations about distance learning issues in their own countries. Participants had an opportunity to discuss these themes with the presenters both in small groups and during the presentations.
   
   
   1. Borderless Education: the challenges, opportunities and responses
      
      The seminar began with a presentation by Svava Bjarnason Head of Policy Research at the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and Director of the Observatory of Borderless Higher Education entitled Borderless Education: Challenges & Opportunities. Svava outlined the issues facing the development of borderless higher education and the potential impact of liberalising the trade in services (including education) which will follow with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), before examining different scenarios that might follow. These included 'Invaders Triumph', 'Trojan Horse', 'Community Champions' and 'Explorers International'. The audience were invited to consider the implications of these options and their consequences for higher education in their own contexts. Prof. Robin Mason from the UK Open University, responded to this with by examining the impact of borderless education and specifically elearning on the pedagogy of distance learning and the design of high quality international learning resources and tutoring support. She did this within the context of elearning being used to provide a social constructivist model of learning as opposed to a didactic one. Jonathan Darby, Chief Architect of the UK eUniversity, put the development of higher education into the context of meeting people's needs to know new things rather than complete courses, and examined how elearning can be used to achieve this by 'getting serious about elearning'. Being serious involves determining what elearning is for, sorting out the pedagogy, investing sensibly, working in partnership, finding an appropriate platform, paying attention to standards, using learning objects critically and keeping an open mind. At the end of the first day there was a panel discussion with these three presenters. Roy Leitch, CEO of the Interactive University and Deputy Principal of Heriot Watt University explored the partnerships being developed internationally by this Scottish initiative, both with accredited degree programmes, and the SCOLAR programme which produces interactive science based materials at first year degree level. The group were able to visit Heriot Watt University and learn more about the Interactive University through discussions with staff there.
      
      
   2. Distance learning / Blended learning for workplace skills
      
      Two different models were given of distance learning for workplace skills; the first was by Michelle Selinger, education specialist with Cisco and the second by Yvonne Brown, Director of Learning Services of Learndirect Scotland. Michelle outlined the international Cisco Network Academy programme and examined the integration between centrally produced resources and local / regional tutoring. There are Cisco academies in 149 countries with almost 20,000 instructors and 425,000 students. Although resources are produced centrally their mode of use is often determined locally, in response to cultural preferences for different pedagogical styles, which underlies the importance of local tutors in making the resources culturally relevant. Learndirect (http://www.learndirect.co.uk/ and www.learndirectscotland.com) plays a key role in the UK government's Lifelong Learning initiatives, which are seen as vital to a knowledge-driven economy. This is a brokerage model, with Learndirect providing the networking and infrastructure to enable learners to benefit from learning resources from a range of providers, both private trainers and publicly funded colleges, and to access that learning at work, home or in local learning centres. In Scotland the learning can count towards standard Scottish qualifications, which means that the providers are responsible for quality of provision under existing QA provisions. Learndirect does ensure that learning centres in the scheme meet learner support quality requirements.
      
      
   3. Recognition and Quality in distance education
      
      The issue of quality was a recurring theme throughout the presentations and was the specific focus of Norman Sharp, the Director of the Quality Assurance Agency for Scotland. Norman's talk focused on the quality enhancement issues in the design and support of distance learning and the key mechanisms put in place by the QAA to support institutions in their distance learning work. Key aspects of provision that are monitored include: distance learning materials, support by 'travelling' staff of the provider, support from locally employed staff and support by staff of the provider acting remotely. The dimensions of enhancement the QAA are concerned with cover: system design, programme design, approval and review, student development and support, student communication and representation and student assessment. In the question and answer session which followed quality issues were explored in relation to designing systems for new distance learning opportunities and quality enhancement of existing programmes.
      
      
   4. Distance Education and Continuous Professional Development
      
      Three different case studies were presented illustrating the use of distance education for continuous professional development within medical education. These studies examined issues at regional, national and international levels. Regional issues were taken up by Marion Stewart and Fiona Skinner, both working for UHI Millennium Institute, who examined the development of a masters programme in Infection Control in response to the demand for CPD opportunities from a national professional body - the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH). The ensuing M.Sc. Infection Control (in the Health and Social Sciences Faculty) is studied part time by professionals whose role involves some aspect of infection control and provides an interesting example of collaboration across traditional educational boundaries. On a broader UK national level Gifford Batstone, Professor of Graduate Studies examined how the development of a National Health Service University (NHSU) can contribute to the continuous professional development of NHS staff, regardless of role or previous education. He focused on how distance education and elearning can provide access to relevant CPD, can support students, offer a wide range of programmes, which are multi-disciplinary and multi-professional, and provide both equity and high quality learning. The final view in this theme came from Professor Ronald Harden, Director of the new formed International Virtual Medical School, which is a unique collaboration among leading edge medical schools and institutions world-wide committed to achieving maximum benefit from new educational technologies. This presentation examined how the use of elearning can radically improve the quality of learning as well as widen access and enable professionals to take advantage of CPD opportunities, if key issues on the nature of learning and design for learning are addressed.
      
      
   5. Supporting remote learners
      
      The final theme was taken up by Professor Bob Cormack, Principal of UHI Millennium Institute, who explored how distance learning, particularly networked elearning, could be used to support students in remote geographical locations through small local learning centres and through the reuse of resources developed elsewhere. In response to participant's requests this session also considered some of the elearning resources that were developed to support these students.
      
      
   6. Participants' presentations
      
      There were two sessions available for participants to give presentations about their own work or institutions. Eight people took this opportunity, which enabled the group to learn about:
      
      § Distance Education for non qualified teaching assistants in Brazil
      § Some advanced developments in elearning from the National Institute of Multimedia Education in Japan
      § Elearning at the University of Tartu in Estonia
      § Elearning developments in Uzbekistan
      § Institute of Life-long Learning, Slovak University of Technology
      § The Virtual University of Syria
      § Open University Distance Education in Ethiopia
      § Global Development Learning Networks
      
      
   7. Concluding comments
      
      The final session of the seminar was led by Professor John Cowan, who wove the themes of the week long programme into an interactive framework for the participants to use in relating the programme to their own work contexts.