Task Forces

1. Task Force on Virtual Education Centres (VEC)

Chaired by UNED (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia)

The current need within Europe for professional development and educational services outside of the traditional academic face-to-face educational context obviously potentiates the role of distance universities. However, while these universities are recognised for their expertise and experience in LOF (Lifelong Open and Flexible) learning in distance HE, it does not necessarily follow that their educational and service models can be applied directly to new markets in a robust and scalable fashion.

Furthermore, it is not just a question of adapting courses from distance universities for use in a wider academic context, which may or may not be appropriate. There is also a wide gamut of related educational services which need to be considered here.

One way to address this situation is via the establishment of Virtual Education Centres (henceforth, VECs. In general terms, the purpose of this ETF would be to analyse the need for VECs and the role that they might have within modern society, together with the implication of their existence as a motor for change in current educational models within distance universities. In order to undertake this analysis, a series of questions would need to be answered.

In order to undertake this analysis and answer these questions in this proposed ETF, the members of the EADTU are in a unique position to share their experiences in the area of corporate learning and training and the general question of outsourcing educational services implicit in the idea of a VEC.

For the full proposal or further information, please contact the EADTU: secretariat@eadtu.eu.

2. Task Force Virtual Library

Chaired by the UOC (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)

The Executive Committee of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) agreed to set up a library task force to be led by the UOC at its latest meeting held in Barcelona on 19 November. This new project forms part of the process to strengthen the role of virtual libraries in distance university teaching in the European Higher Education Area.

The UOC Library proposed the initiative and is to coordinate a task force involving other European universities, including the UK’s Open University, the University of Tallin and the Aarhus School of Business. The aim of the project is, in the words of the UOC Library’s technical director, Pep Torn, “to conceptualise the role of libraries in the distance university sector”. Once the bases for cooperation and action have been established by all of the network’s libraries, processes can be standardised that make life easier for the whole university community. According to Begoña Gros, UOC Vice President for Research and Innovation, “one of the important aspects of the proposal is to create the European passport, which will aid effective use of EADTU institution libraries by students, faculty and researchers involved in mobility programmes”. In practical terms, Torn explained that the passport would let users make much more open and comprehensive use of the materials and resources held by the libraries of the EADTU network. “The passport should let a visiting professor at any of the network’s universities use the library in virtually the exact same way as they would at their own university; something that was looked at in a previous project involving EADTU libraries: e-move.” Faculty, students and researchers will all benefit.

Improving library effectiveness
Underlying the project, there is also the desire to ensure that libraries form a fundamental part of the learning infrastructure. One of the main concerns at the universities involved is the current lack of use made of libraries with respect to the potential they offer. This is what has led to the need to create more synergies. “Libraries are a vital resource for learning and research, but collaboration networks need to be established to encourage exchange and dissemination of resources”, stated Gros. According to the Vice President, “virtual libraries are key in the e-learning process, providing support and distributing learning resources”. This is why channels for cooperation are needed between the libraries and educational community, which is one of the main aims of this new task force. Another aim is to define the role of libraries within open and flexible e-learning.

Text from: http://www.uoc.edu/portal/english/la_universitat/sala_de_premsa/noticies/2009/noticia_240.html

3. TF USBM ( University Strategies and Business Models)

Chair: Carlos Reis (Universidade Aberta)

Lifelong Learning (LLL) is about developing structures for continuing education that can fit the realities of professional life and help complete the knowledge that people acquire during their careers and renew or develop their existing knowledge. It is about all those phrases we use in speeches like "unlocking the knowledge of universities" and "making university education responsive to the needs of business”.

Although LLL is as a concept broadly supported and strongly recognised by universities, governments and the EU, it is still in the starting phase of actually being implemented. LLL is not yet organised sufficiently at most universities which can easily be explained when looking at their principle task and target groups. In general universities are bound to their conventional business models focussing on research and innovation and educational programming in the BA/MA structure. This is the right strategy for the target group of traditional students. Entering the field of the LLL-student means developing new strategies and business models and consequently entering a partly unknown area. This explains for the bigger part the hesitation of most universities to take the next step in organising LLL.

In the EADTU Task Force USBM we identified this lack of development in the field of LLL. On the other hand we clearly see that there are many European universities that already fulfil conditions for a successful implementation of these new approaches. Also, they have built comprehensive learning environments comprising interactive software and features for guided independent learning. However, they lack the right LLL policy, the right LLL strategies and the right business models for a scalable and sustainable approach. The focus of TF USBM is to share and compare successful strategies and business models in LLL.

4. TF Quality Assurance

Chair: George Ubachs (EADTU)

The quality in e-learning benchmarking tool E-xcellence is launched in 2007. It is an e-learning improvement instrument based on excellence level benchmarks independent of particular institutional or national systems, and with guidance to educational improvement.

The TF QA is the core group of the follow up E-xcellence+ project (www.eadtu.nl/e-xcellenceplus). Main aim is the valorisation of the developed QA tools.
E-xcellence+ promotes the use of E-xcellence European wide and envisages increased performance and innovation in e-learning by promoting e-learning specific benchmarking.
We support processes of improving e-learning performance by self-assessment, on-site assessment and accreditation by integration of the instrument in the institutional and national policy frameworks.

E-xcellence+ brings together the expertise and experience of 13 European countries in lifelong open and flexible learning as well as the expertise of quality assurance and accreditation processes from the ENQA members.

Introduction of QA in e-learning will be organised in a European event on QA in e-learning and through local seminars in 13 countries.

5. TF EPICS (European Portal for International Courses & Services)

Chair: Janerik Lundquist (Swedish Agency for Networks and Cooperation in HE)

Already several initiatives and programmes are running in international course exchange and virtual mobility within Europe. By opening each other’s university programmes we open a world of new and specialised courses for our students and enable them to build highly individualised study programmes.

The expertise and protocols of cooperation in this field is currently developed within several isolated projects. The TF EPICS intends to collect these findings of related projects and translate these in an institutionalised international database on content and services.
EPICS therefore provides a link between universities, students and courses all over Europe. EPICS will not only be a database but also include on-line services to offer high quality guided independent leaning and support organising mainstream offering of VM in a Virtual Erasmus scheme.

This European Portal for international Courses and Services (EPICS) will serve also as the instrument working towards Virtual Erasmus. EPICS therefore will strongly contribute to increasing the number of student mobility throughout Europe and support the realisation of a European Higher Education Area.

6. TF on Research in LifeLong Learning

Chair: Peter Sloep

The EADTU members being universities dedicated to LifeLong Open and Flexible (LOF) learning are the frontrunners in operating LLL. This position is related to the technological and didactical knowledge developed through longstanding experience with students who combine study and participation in the labour market. Relevant experience of LOF learning universities is constantly updated by daily practice and confrontation with students, by technological innovations allowing better guidance, and by applied as well as fundamental research. The interweaving of technological innovation and LLL is offering promising results. Scope and activities of the new EADTU Task Force shall comprise of the writing a position paper describing the contours of a broad and coherent, interdisciplinary R&D programme on LLL, addressing issues, solutions and measures that are relevant for the EU and member state societies and economies, and also the exploration of the possibilities for a European network regarding research in LLL.

7. TF on Sustainable Development

Chair: Jos Rikers

Anticipating the launch of the Decade EfSD the Open EADTU Conference 2004 at Open Universiteit Nederland dedicated a special track to Learning for Sustainable Development. As a result the Heerlen Message produced at this conference includes an issue on SD, stating: In line with the ambition of ‘Europe’ to play a leading role, worldwide, in sustainable development, the EU and its member states as well as the European educational institutions and associations are urged to take on a leading role in the development of all learning, including lifelong learning, for sustainable development. The decade of Education for Sustainable Development provides an excellent opportunity to show this leading role. In order to take this part of the Heerlen Message serious and to bring it into implementation, it is proposed to establish an EADTU Task Force on Sustainable Development.

8. TF Multilingual Open Resources for Indepent Learning

Chair: Fred Mulder

With this Task Force, EADTU is paving the way for the launch of the first wave of Open Educational Resources (OER): to be disseminated freely and online, throughout Europe in a multilingual format. Preparations for the establishment of a consortium of open universities dedicated to Lifelong Open and Flexible (LOF) learning have been finalised. The consortium focuses on two offers online: a non-matriculated study offer for individuals i.e., open tasters, free courses, and a matriculated study offer meant for students i.e., the same courses but now including formal tutoring, assessment and examination. In the first offer, learning is placed within an informal context. In the second offer, learning is placed within a formal context. The first offer enables all European citizens to freely acquire knowledge and skills. The second offer enables them to receive associated certification and labour market recognition. Both offers are seamlessly interconnected and provide the public a new gateway to university education.