Highways and Pathways - Exploring New Zealand’s E-learning Opportunities
   
Hon Steve Maharey
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)

The Report of the E-Learning Advisory Group March 2002

Future Directions: E-Learning and the Education Process

Future Directions: E-Learning and the Education Process

In an earlier chapter, the Advisory Group discussed the possibilities of e-learning in terms of a value chain. The value chain comprises the key activities undertaken by participants in the educational process.

These key activities are:

  • Market analysis
  • Curriculum design
  • Course development
  • Marketing and enrolments
  • Delivery
  • Assessment and Credentialling.
In this chapter, we will look at each of these functions and see how they can be enhanced by the use of new technologies and an e-learning environment. Benefits inherent in this new mode of education extend both to students and academic staff.

If New Zealand is to become a knowledge-based society, it is vital that we achieve greater efficiencies in our educational system and are open to greater collaboration at each phase of the educational process.

Market analysis

Key to success here is work to determine what markets we want to be in. This is important for both international and domestic markets. At an institutional level, this is critical if there is to be sensible investment in infrastructure that will support e-learning for those chosen markets.

Campus-based institutions, for example, may choose to invest in serving students only within the controlled technical environment of the campus. This would require significant investment in staff development to ensure they can teach using web support, but may not require investment in the development of on-line learning resources.

If the choice is to go after international markets, then there are significant ‘supply-side’ investments that must be made if students are to be appropriately supported, such as the need for in-country partners to provide 24 hour, 7 day technical help-desk support and English for Speakers of Other Languages assistance. As has already been noted, there are many alternative strategies that can be chosen. The focus here is on highlighting the critical importance of taking a market perspective first. Which markets do we want to serve?

What is the scale and size of those markets? What are the ‘supply-side’ requirements to service them? Can we develop the capability and capacity to meet those demands? Although Education New Zealand can assist in relation to work on the international opportunities here, it is up to each institution to determine the particular markets they will serve and then to ensure they have the capability and capacity to serve them.

Education providers need to be offering the right courses for students for them to consider enrolling. Research is required into the needs and wants of students, the type of courses required, modes of delivery and key factors that influence student choice. This will assist in identifying appropriate assumptions for developing business models for investment. For example, at this stage most students prefer websupported study rather than fully on-line options. This may change over time and institutional planning will need good market analysis to inform it.

Curriculum design

There are major opportunities for tertiary providers to collaborate in the design of common curricula, as in the suggestion of a Science On-line project where the sector is encouraged to work together to offer a common first-year science programme which can be delivered, or at least strongly supported, by on-line media.

While there are advantages and efficiencies for providers in designing a common curriculum, the greatest advantages are for students. Opportunities for students to cross-credit between providers are greatly enhanced when different institutions are working to a common curriculum. Clearly this needs to be balanced with the need to encourage innovation and to support academic freedom.

Collaboration in the curriculum area is an important step forward in making our tertiary education system more flexible and responsive to the lifelong learning needs of students.

Course development

Increased collaboration between providers has the potential to reduce costs as well as improve the quality of course development. Key to sound work is the importance of instructional design. In most traditional tertiary education, academics are not trained teachers, and in some instances the design of courses is of variable quality. Separating course development out as a specific function allows much greater quality control over content, level of learning and amount of student work expected. Appropriateness of assessment can be quality controlled too. It also allows economies of scale when the same course can be supported for hundreds or thousands of learners. It is not a viable model when class sizes are small.

The creation of digital learning objects has the potential to greatly enhance learning for students, whether they are distance learners or studying on campus. Virtual chemistry laboratories, interactive online language laboratories, virtual field trips for geography, specialist teaching for medicine – all are made possible through well-designed digital learning objects.

This is perhaps one of the most obvious areas where advances in technology can enrich a student’s overall educational experience. Tertiary institutions with limited resources stand to benefit substantially from developing common courses and sharing digital objects.

The costs and expertise associated with the development of these on-line learning objects and packages make it essential that institutions are encouraged to collaborate in their development. The expertise required for development of web-based learning resources for use in industry can be a sound commercial opportunity. This work also feeds back into better options for developing courseware for students and into further developing both the capability of staff and the institution’s links with industry.

Science On-line – a potential case study in collaboration

New Zealand tertiary institutions might consider a project that would see them collaborate to offer the first year of a generic undergraduate science degree by e-learning. This programme would be targeted at offshore students and would enable students to complete their first year of study at home before coming to New Zealand to complete their degree by conventional study. Participating institutions would agree to provide full credit to students enrolling through this programme.

There are three factors which combine to present both a community of interest for this project and a strong market opportunity. Firstly, many New Zealand tertiary institutions have spare capacity in their undergraduate science programmes and are strongly motivated to accept international students in those programmes. Secondly, the Government has identified the importance of science education in developing the knowledge economy. And thirdly, a common first-year science curriculum provides the opportunity for a high level of cooperation across the sector.

Every New Zealand university, and a small number of the larger polytechnics, offer undergraduate degrees in science. These degrees meet common standards which allows a high level of credit transfer across institutions. With some minor exceptions, New Zealand tertiary institutions have a common first-year curriculum for science and applied science degrees.

This common curriculum enables students to undertake the professional ‘intermediate’ year at their local university before moving elsewhere to undertake an applied science degree. This common first-year programme could provide an opportunity for tertiary institutions to collaborate in offering a joint first-year programme to the international student market. Member institutions would offer full credit for this programme and allow students who successfully complete the course to be admitted direct to the second year of their science programmes. Member institutions would collaborate in delivering, supporting and assessing this programme.

A key issue in implementing any such project is to target the particular international markets and ensure that in-country support is available for students as part of their enrolment package. While it is possible to offer courses without such support and clearly this is cheaper, the group is of the view that such an approach should only be taken when there’s been prior assessment to determine that students are capable of completing the study alone.

Course development

Increased collaboration between providers has the potential to reduce costs as well as improve the quality of course development. Key to sound work is the importance of instructional design. In most traditional tertiary education, academics are not trained teachers, and in some instances the design of courses is of variable quality. Separating course development out as a specific function allows much greater quality control over content, level of learning and amount of student work expected. Appropriateness of assessment can be quality controlled too. It also allows economies of scale when the same course can be supported for hundreds or thousands of learners. It is not a viable model when class sizes are small.

The creation of digital learning objects has the potential to greatly enhance learning for students, whether they are distance learners or studying on campus. Virtual chemistry laboratories, interactive online language laboratories, virtual field trips for geography, specialist teaching for medicine – all are made possible through well-designed digital learning objects.

This is perhaps one of the most obvious areas where advances in technology can enrich a student’s overall educational experience. Tertiary institutions with limited resources stand to benefit substantially from developing common courses and sharing digital objects.

The costs and expertise associated with the development of these on-line learning objects and packages make it essential that institutions are encouraged to collaborate in their development. The expertise required for development of web-based learning resources for use in industry can be a sound commercial opportunity. This work also feeds back into better options for developing courseware for students and into further developing both the capability of staff and the institution’s links with industry.

Marketing and enrolments

While institutions will continue to brand and market their own programmes in many ways, there is considerable scope for adopting a collaborative approach to providing information about their programmes, products and services. It is anticipated that shared information would be a key feature of the e-learning portal, which would provide an electronic one-stop-shop for all those seeking information and services from the sector.

The Tertiary Education Advisory Commission has already identified the need for more comprehensive and up-to-date information for students about tertiary education options. The development and marketing of a portal, with a multitude of links to other sites, will give students ready access to the on-line offerings of all New Zealand tertiary institutions. As well as course information, the portal could consolidate information on enrolments, scholarships and student loans. In this way it would complement the career and employment information which is localised in the KiwiCareers website.

Because of its benefits to students, staff, institutions and to Government, this is a significant and important project that needs to be funded as a critical building block in portal development.

Another significant opportunity is the development of central enrolment options. This could be done by groups of institutions who see benefit in this, or it could be done in particular disciplines. Benefits for students include only having to make one application which specifies their ranking of institutions in terms of their preference for acceptance. Benefits for institutions include knowing that they are putting effort into selection processes only for those students who are likely to enrol with them and in getting better market information as the total application data is available to all institutions. Benefits to Government lie in having access to market information and in enrolment patterns in institutions.

A number of jurisdictions have implemented such central systems and are using the advantages of the web to enhance them. In the UK, UCAS provides an example of a ‘clearing house’ approach to enrolments and is a provider of statistical and information services. www.ucas.ac.uk.

   

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