1 the real costs of e-learning what are they? how can we find out? professor paul bacsich uk...
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The Real Costs of e-Learning
What are they?
How can we find out?
Professor Paul BacsichUK eUniversities Worldwide Limited
Presentation to Venezualan Delegation,16 March 2004
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Contents Key issues in a borderless world
UK Transparency Review
Activity Based Costing [CNL2]
Activities for Networked Learning [CNL1]
Application to e-learning
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Key issues -and a challenge
There is now increasing agreement on the methodologies of costing e-learning
So why is there a dilemma where education see “No Significant Difference” whereas training sees “Return on Investment”?
The challenge is to find a uniform evaluation methodology, including costs, which copes with a world without borders…
Borders are not only geographic
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UK Transparency Review
HEFCE Initiative - and other Funding Councils
Focus on costs of research and teaching
Compulsory
Reports on 5 main activities: T2R2O
Uses “Activity Based Costing” terminology
Uses Activity Time Sheets
Phased implementation, mainly led by
research-intensive universities
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Transparency - conclusions It has been a useful if painful exercise for
universities and funding agencies Pressure is increasing on research funding
agencies to raise the overheads they allow as real costs become clear
BUT, in reference to the “eternal dilemma” It does not seem to have led to operational
conclusions Because it is not detailed enough?
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Scope of CNL2 project Sarah Heginbotham (SHU then UKeU then
Canada) Funded by JISC (Joint Info Systems Cttee) From CNL1: Recommendation that activity-
based costing be trialled in a university Chose the School of Computing and
Management Sciences at Sheffield Hallam University, UK
6 months project , started summer 2000 Transparency Review was going on also
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Cooper and Kaplan - ABC Developed in 1988 as an alternative costing
methodology at Harvard Business School They argued that traditional costing distorted
product costs “peanut butter spread” approach
There is a cost to all activities carried out within an organisation
e.g. transport of peanuts Activity costs should be distributed to products
in relation to their use of resources
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Advantages of ABC Gives more than just financial information
“Fairer” system of overhead allocation
Accountability of central services e.g. IT
Highlights cross-subsidisation
Recognises the changing cost behaviour of different activities as they grow and mature
Can provide data for other initiatives e.g. Transparency Review and Quality
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Disadvantages of ABC
Data collection can be costly and time consuming
Initially it can be challenging to collect the data you want
Need to determine appropriate and acceptable cost drivers
ABC is a more complex system than traditional management accounting
and relies on that being done well !
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CNL2 Conclusions ABC does work in HE and will be increasingly
used in institutions, especially “ABC-lite/ABM”
It works on different levels within the institution
Suitable software and professional support is essential, in the early days at least
Academic scepticism can be overcome
Costings data needs to be placed in context
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Networked Learning - CNL1
Paul Bacsich and Charlotte Ash (now in public sector “Best
Value” programme) Sheffield Hallam University, UK 6 month study (in 1999-2000) Funded by JISC Aim - to produce a planning document and
financial schema that together accurately record the Hidden Costs of Networked Learning
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Examples of Hidden Costs Increased telephone call and printing bills for
students due to Internet usage Entertainment expenses “necessarily” incurred
by academic staff at conferences but not reimbursed by the Institution
Administrator time answering student queries Support costs of a new Learning Environment Costs of content - “created in one’s spare time” Costs of institutional collaboration Costs of conformance to standards
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Mega-activities for teaching:Lifecycle model
Cost items recorded from literature All current educational and training costing
models analysed (Rumble, Bates, etc) Traditional financial accounting analysed Consultation with academic staff Various cyclic models proposed, leading to...
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Course Lifecycle Model
Planning and Development
Production and Delivery
Maintenance and Evaluation
Three-phase model of course development
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Breakdown of three-phase model (activities)
Planning andDevelopment
collecting materials storyboarding writing user guides or course
publicity
Production andDelivery
curriculum delivery duplication of materials tutorial guidance
Evaluation andMaintenance
quality assurance exercises replacement and updating of
materials evaluation against course aims
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Financial Schema - “Stakeholders”
Stakeholder dimensionExpendituredimension Institution Student Staff
Total
Staff costs
Depreciation
Expenses
Overhead
Total
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Conclusions from CNL1
In order to accurately record the Costs of Networked Learning you must have a
sectorally-accepted method of what costs to record and how,
in place from the start, which takes into account all stakeholders
and uses Activity Based Costing within a framework of phases
of the course development life cycle
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What are the True Costs?
Q: What is the rate per study hour? Different kinds of study hours:
Active engagement with specifically created “teaching” material (expensive)
Thinking, conversation Doing assessment Studying “resource” e-content (cheaper) Surfing the open web (cheapest, but worst?
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Rough guide - rule of thirds 1: Study of “engaging” multimedia 2: Study of existing or slightly modified learning
resources 3: Working on assignments (maybe in
collaboration)
Costs (US, UK and Germany) average $12000 per m/m hour, but v. large 10% of this for simple material could one aim for $1000 per hour?
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Content development 1 Determine the level of demand Produce an outline plan of the courseware Conceptualise the subject knowledge Structure and design the learning experience to
be provided by the courseware materials Decide interactivity with the learner,
the level and ways of building tutorial support into the material itself and the links with other materials.
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Content development 2 Decide the formative assessment exercises
and the ways of providing feedback to the learner (and to the tutor if appropriate)
Decide the summative assessment associated with each module
Establish a range for the possible levels of on-line tutor support for each module.
Consider the interface between the learning programme and its sub-parts and the administrative support software tools
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Consortia - Critical Success Factors
High “binding energy” may come from top-down or funding-driven but more likely from friendship or shared vision does not depend much on legal aspects
Organisational homogeneity or managed diversity
Linguistic and cultural similarity Stratification “Safely far away”
[Source: TL-NCE, UNESCO report]
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Other topical questions
Will research advances reduce costs?
Will Open Source reduce costs?
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Research This may be too much of a personal view I have been conference organiser, evaluator,
reviewer,... Look at impact from EU research work Look at impact of work elsewhere
UK TL-NCE (Canada) US Australia, New Zealand, Singapore
Hong Kong….
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Research conclusions
European research: FP3 set the scene; FP4 added little, FP5 more promising
Canadian work credible and integrated, but lacks evidence of scalable approaches
Too much gap between computing theorists and industrial-strength pedagogic practice
few theorists in universities are seriously active in e-learning services
US is very synchronous and transmissive, paradigms that do not fit a time-poor world
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What research might reduce costs?
Focus on co-operative learning Start with basic asynchronous “BBS” model Allow new models to be supported, especially those
with business potential Develop scalable approaches
more focus on automated assessment? Support multiple media and devices using same
content Develop more effective learning esp time-effective
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Can e-learning save time?
travel time reduce “time on task”
by “better” training (25-40%) by individualised training... by using “time of the 3rd kind”
Time1 : on duty - used to be called “at work” Time2 : off duty (not at work)
by consolidating time fragments
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Open source issues Exemplars:
Linux, MIT, Canadian, Finnish, IMS, UK interest Purpose:
Challenge commercial vendors Facilitate research by providing flexible system
Cheaper? Yes, to buy No, to support (scalability, robustness?) Few successful large e-learning players use
“pure” open source, but several use modified
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Features of a uniform cost-aware evaluation methodology
Costing basis must be clear To gain political buy-in and breadth (multi-
sector, etc), depth will be small Students treated as people not only learners Focus on level of knowledge and skill gained Focus on time issues, not only time on task
time 1, time 2, time 3 - and differential value? More feasible when there is a more uniform
curriculum or exams (as in schools)
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Details about CNL costings projects -
At http://www.shu.ac.uk/cnl/ thanks to support from SHU and JISC
Professor Paul [email protected]