The Report of the E-Learning Advisory Group March 2002

1. That the Government provides proactive leadership in the development of an e-learning strategy for the tertiary sector. This can be demonstrated in the first instance by:
   
   
   • encouraging collaboration between Government agencies, tertiary providers, iwi and other stakeholders including private enterprise
   • ensuring that future policy development is informed by development and evaluation of strategic options for e-learning, through use of tools such as scenario planning
   • commissioning a project to examine the cost structures required to support e-learning and promote business models that will assist institutions to make appropriate investments in e-learning
   • asking TEC to ensure that documentation of an e-learning strategy is a requirement in institutional Charters and Profiles
   • recommending that Education New Zealand create a working group to develop an appropriate strategy for promoting and developing e-learning opportunities for the international market.
   
   
   
2. That the Government recognises its responsibilities under the Treaty of Waitangi to ensure that Maori participate equally at all levels of e-learning and, in particular, encourage:
   
   
   • establishment of a Kaupapa Maori group to work with Kaupapa Maori-based programmes using e-learning
   • development of Internet resources and other digital material for a Maori audience
   • research into key areas of Maori development in the field of e-learning
   • professional development for Maori tertiary practitioners.
   
   
   
3. That Government ensure appropriate scoping and provision of funding for the phased implementation of the following three initiatives:
   • the establishment of an e-learning leadership centre through funding a consortium, made up of tertiary education providers with appropriate expertise, to coordinate the development of e-learning research and capability within the tertiary education sector and manage both the portal and the Collaborative Development Fund as set out below
   • the creation of a central portal capable of being developed in stages to achieve maximum benefits with managed risk, the first stage being an electronic point of entry for people to access information on New Zealand’s tertiary education sector and e-learning opportunities within it
   • the establishment of a Collaborative Development Fund (CDF) as a pool of funding for tertiary providers to access capital in order to develop e-learning capability.
   
   
   
4. That quality assurance for e-learning meet the same standards as those set for conventional education and that New Zealand institutions develop a voluntary code of practice or ‘quality mark’ in elearning that would assist students to know which providers have agreed to that code of practice.
   
   
5. That tertiary funding continue to be provided at the same level regardless of the learning mode.
   
   
6. That infrastructure requirements for access to e-learning initiatives be addressed by:
   • building on bandwidth developments in New Zealand’s school system and encouraging the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Education to achieve closer links between the school and tertiary sectors in e-learning initiatives
   • the further development of learning centres.
   
   
   
7. That the Government ensure that the review of the Copyright Act 1994 meets the needs of students and educational institutions in a digital environment.
   
   
8. That the Government establish processes to ensure that intellectual property issues and particularly the management of intellectual property rights are understood and appropriately addressed within the tertiary sector.