socrates - minerva

Socrates - Minerva

PEDAGOGICAL QUALITY OF ODL:

criteria for assessment

Joergen Bang, Aarhus University, Denmark

BOLDIC Riga Conference J. Bang 2

Presentation

• Quality assurance on the European agenda• Focusing on the relation between quality

and pedagogy• Quality and the BOLDIC pedagogical

model of blended learning


Why focus on quality assurance • A goal in itself to provide good

education• A road to accreditation of courses,

programmes, educations at other institutions and in other countries

• A basis for collaboration among institutions/universities


Bologna 1999• mobility;• course and curriculum co-operation;• international competitiveness and attractiveness;• broad access to higher education and competence development

in a context of lifelong learning. • diversity of courses and programmes, responsive to the diversity

of needs• transparency, readable degrees and certificates, ECTS• quality assurance• international accreditation


Bergen 2005

Ministers call upon ENQA through its members, in co-operation with EUA, EURASHE and ESIB:

– to develop an agreed set of standards, procedures and guidelines on quality assurance,

– to explore ways of ensuring an adequate peer review system for quality assurance and/or accreditation agencies or bodies,

– to report to Ministers of education in Bergen 2005.


National quality assurance

• A definition of the responsibilities of the bodies and institutions involved

• Evaluation of programmes and institutions, including internal assessment, external review, participation of students and the publication of results

• A system of accreditation, certification and comparable procedures

• Guidelines for international participation, co-operation and networking


EUA principles and goals

PRINCIPLES:• Mutual trust among the main

stakeholders• Respect of diversity of national

contexts, subject areas and other factors• Transparency: clear architecture and

clear procedures


EUA principles and goals

GOALS: • To strengthen universities’ capacity to

monitor their quality internally• To promote institutional audits and good

practice in programme evaluations• To develop a European perspective, i.e. to

create transparency for mutual recognition


Pedagogical focus"Technology alone does not deliver educational success. It only becomes valuable in education if learners and teachers can do something useful with it. (…)… just having the pipes in place with little or no educational software available generates disappointment and puts many teachers and learners off the online experiences altogether. (…)What is appropriate and works in one culture does not necessarily translate to another. (…) (…) educational content and e-learning services (…) need to be tailored to local needs and cultures.”(E-Learning. The Partnership Challenge (2001),24-25).


VET-report Nov. 2004“e-Learning clearly has the potential to stimulate learning networks and new forms of training organisation. The basic principle of good pedagogy remains that the design of the whole learning process (possible supported by e-learning) is the decisive factor for the learner’s success. Therefore, European countries’ e-learning related measures should not be limited to questions of hard- and software, but rather focus on the pedagogy and e-learning in work processes.” Achieving the Lisbon goal: The contribution of vocational education and training (VET), Executive Summary, November 4, 2004 (p. 17)


From technology to pedagogy

Most people (…) think that the Internet, itself, is the key factor in the success of e-learning. However, a vast amount of research provides evidence for the proposition that it is not the medium (Internet), itself, which is accountable for the accomplishment of these promises, but the pedagogical design used in conjunction with the features of the medium.

(Rob Koper: Modeling units of study from az pedagogical perspektive. The pedagogical meta-model behind EML,

2001, p.3)


From learning objects to events

(…) a lot of learning does not come from knowledge resources at all, but stems from the activities of learners solving problems, interacting with real devices, interacting in their social and work situation. A lot of research about learning processes provides evidence for this stance that learning doesn't come from the provision of knowledge solely, but that it is the activities of the learners into the learning environment which are accountable for the learning. (…) the smallest unit providing learning events for learners, satisfying one or more interrelated learning objectives. This means that a unit of study can not be broken down to its component parts without loosing its semantic and pragmatic meaning and its effectiveness towards the attainment of learning objectives. (Koper, 2001, p. 3)


BOLDIC pedagogical tradition

The five central concepts: – student-centred approach– communication – group or teamwork– active participation – face-to-face. – a blended approach


Learning as construction

DECODING (reception)

KNOWLEDGE (reciever)


Knowledge vs. know-how

DECODING (reception)

KNOWLEDGE (reciever)

KNOW HOW


Bloom’s Taxonomy

1) knowledge2) understanding 3) application INSTRUCTIVISM

4) analysis 5) synthesis6) evaluation CONSTRUCTIVISM


Dialogue and Learning

• Dialogue offers an opportunity for the learner to go beyond the boundaries of the learning material though discussions with fellow learners and with teachers/tutors.

• Dialogue enhances the learning process by stimulating the 'negotiation' with the learning material through the formulation of ideas and view points


Open discussion fora

• Discussion fora: – respect the close integration of education in

everyday life – take advantages of these differences in

local/national cultures– make the differences the starting point for

exchange of ideas and discussion of viewpoints.


Acquiring knowledge through dialogue

• open dialogue is a challenge to chauvinism and narrowness

• the best of the old qualities from universitas litterarum is carried into the digital age.

• new technologies reanimate the old university tradition in which dialogue is the proper way to acquire knowledge.


Virtual learning environments

• the challenge is pedagogical rather than technological (economical)

• the potentials of ICT are especially their ability to support co-operation and collaborative learning via the Internet


Deployment of technology

• the closer ODL methodologies and new technology can mesh with standard mainstream teaching provision the greater their chance of success

• if new technologies are seen as a means of challenging rather than supporting existing arrangements then resistance will be the order of the day


Trans-national collaboration

• Communication among students and tutors via electronic technologies is an appropriate teaching/ learning strategy to deploy in trans-national exchange (Virtual mobility)

• Open discussion fora (CMC) enable students – to expose their knowledge and beliefs to those

in other national/cultural groups, and to challenge one another,

– to transform their understanding of the subject.


Qualities of virtual seminars

• The virtual seminar model is based on joint collaboration on equal terms among European academics and institutions, – rather than on export of already produced

courses or course units. • The autonomy of the institutions and the

characteristics of national curricula are respected, – but also challenged in academic discussions


Qualities for the learnerThe real beneficiaries of the ODL integration in conventional teaching institutions are the learners.

• they will obtain a flexibility in the learning process, not previously known to them;

• they will get access to courses and educational materials outside their own institution, not previously within their reach;

• they will be presented for cross-cultural viewpoints and given possibilities to discuss these viewpoints with fellow learners from other countries.

• In short, they become part of a European learning environment.


Joergen BangHead of Department

Department of Information and Media StudiesAarhus University

Denmark

Tel. 0045 8942 9228E-mail: [email protected]

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