1

Moving Upstream in Developing an

e-Education Strategy

Prof. Doug Vogel

Dr. David Mole

City University of Hong Kong

2

City University of Hong Kong

20 year old (former Polytechnic) One of eight universities in Hong Kong Research and teaching emphasis City central location 20,000 student headcount

– 12,000 full-time undergraduate– 8000 evening part-time postgraduate

1000 regular staff Science/Engineering, Business focus

3

New Challenges in a New World

Larger number of students Decreased government funding Competitive market Globalization means education alternatives Students are giving their social life priority at

the expense of studying (SCMP, 4/9/04)

Students continue to learn but increasingly less from us

4

Educational Paradigm Shift

Campus centeredInstructor centricDirected learning

Network centeredStudent centricExperiential learning

5

Current Situation

CIO in place “commitment” from senior management Solid technical infrastructure Banner Home grown systems Scattered human resources Faculty and department systems WebCT and Blackboard 5

6

CityU IS Strategic Plan (2005-2010)

4 Cornerstones: Infra-structure Integration Immersion Innovation

7

Objective

Helping CityU meet the future needs of education for professional careers, where new technologies are rapidly transforming the workplace, and to create a quality life for faculty and staff in a student-centered learning environment supported by technology.

8

Moving Towards a Contract

Request for Proposal Vendor presentations Stakeholder engagement Headquarter visits

Result:– Blackboard Academic Suite– ASP support

9

Learning Synergy

Technology

What does it take to make learning management

systems work?Staff

DevelopmentInstitutional

Support

10

Business Intelligence Business Intelligence (Statistical Info, AI, Performance Metrics, forecasting)(Statistical Info, AI, Performance Metrics, forecasting)

Back OfficeBack Office

ResourceSystems (ie Library)

Human Resource Management

ContentManagement

Course ContentDevelopment

DeliveryDelivery

Learning Mgmt Syst- Content

- Test/Assessment- Sequencing

-Tracking- Learner Profiles

PC / Browser

PDA / Tablet

Mobile/Cell

CCIITTYYUU

PPOORRTTAALL

The architecture of e-LearningThe architecture of e-Learning- the extended enterprise -- the extended enterprise -

LearnerInteractivity- Conferencing

- Online interaction- Collaboration

33rdrd Party providers Party providers (other Uni’s, Publishers, Web services)(other Uni’s, Publishers, Web services)

Student InformationSystems

Multimedia- Video- Audio

- Simulation

Sta

nd

ard

s (S

CO

RM

, IM

S, X

ML)

IINNTTEEGGRRAATTIIOONN

11

Broad Issues for Implementation

The purpose of the exercise is to enhance students’ learning

But we must take into account– The technical and administrative challenge– Limited resources– Time constraints– The burden imposed on staff

12

Key Design Issues I(Basic set-up)

Carry over of “live” teaching patterns to Bb courses

Maximizing the educational value of the Content Management System

Set up of student (and staff) portfolios Conversion of existing on-line courses

to Bb

13

Design Issues II(Setting up courses in the LMS) Establishing “good practice” for:

– Basic organization of course templates – what menu, names for menu items, tools

– Template variation across different learning situations

– Organization of basic course content– Set up of forums and other communications tools– Assessment tools and options for feedback to

students

14

Overarching Issues

Set up of basic training– hands-on– on-line help– manuals, etc.

Set up of support for LMS development– teaching teams – pro-active individuals

15

Three Phases for Implementation

November and DecemberShared “development” projects

January, February and March Pilot courses for proof of concept

March, April, MayConsolidation of design and support

 July 2005

Broad availability

16

Questions we are Asking Ourselves

(and now asking you….) Have we identified the problem correctly? Have we identified the right design issues? Can we prevent the technical/administrative problems from

overwhelming us? Would longer time lines help to keep the focus on

education? Are we expecting too much -- should we “get the system

up” and then worry about pedagogy? Are we expecting too much from Bb?