Towards the Next Generation e-Learning ‘ From Career Space to GENIUS and beyond’ Professor Vassil Alexandrov University of Reading.

Towards the Next Generation e-Learning

‘From Career Space to GENIUS and beyond’

Professor Vassil Alexandrov

University of Reading

Addressing the ICT Skills Shortage in Europe

Members

Partners

University Partners

NOT ENOUGH STUDENTS NOT THE RIGHT SKILLS ICT INDUSTRY IMAGE WOMEN NOT ATTRACTED

The Causes

SUPPLY / DEMAND IMBALANCE

The Gap 500K open positions in 1998* 1,7million in 2003 * (5 % of demand) (13 % of demand)

60 % of Execs in Global Companies say finding e-commerce skills is top issue **

* Source: IDC "Europe's IT Skills Crisis - Whose Problem is it?", Sept. 99 ** Source: Forrester Report "Skills Market Place Emerge", Oct. 99

*** Source: Datamonitor

The Economic Cost

380 bn Euro/GDP Loss over next 3 years ***

100 bn Euro in wage revenues to be lost over next 3 years ***

Skills Shortage (then)

Set up in 2000 to tackle the Skills Shortage in the ICT industry

to identify and describe the skills requirements of the ICT industry in Europe,

to assist universities and technical institutions in Europe to develop curricula matching industry’s needs, by developing curriculum guidelines,

to promote an attractive image of the ICT industry and profession among people, especially among women, and

to contribute to the political debate about the ICT skills needed for the development of the new economy

Aims

13 Profiles for:TelecommunicationsSoftware and ServicesProducts and Systems

Non technical language

User-friendlyProfiles

Communication

Deliverables:WebsiteBrochure

Conference November 99Government IndustryEducation

New Partnerships

Accessible Information

Activities – Phase I

Skills needed

21st Century Curricula

Communicate

Attract talent

Clarify requirementsBroaden and deepen Skills ProfilesAnalyse Skills forecasts

Establish Partnership with Universities and Technical institutions

Draft New ICT Curricula guidelines

Inform and influence debate

Disseminate results

Contribute to transforming ICT image

Aims – Phase II

More Inclusive

Increased Range

Clarity

Five new role profilesICT ManagementICT Marketing managementICT Sales managementICT Project managementResearch and Technology development

Updated 13 original to cover e.g.e-BusinessKnowledge workingMicroelectronics

Now 18 roles spanning 124 job titles

Added ‘Type of person role would suit’

Activities – Phase II

More Inclusive

Increased Range

Clarity

Deepened profiles e.g Tech Support coversHelp desk operator toTrouble shooter toDisaster Recovery Specialist

Interviews updated / addedAdded to brochure - with 10/18 female

Broader career path optionsCross-discipline rolesCEO career interview

Enhanced Behaviour and Skills Dictionary

Behavioural now first New entries to reflect changes

Profiles

More Inclusive

Increased Range

Clarity

Added Behavioural skillsCommercial AwarenessInnovativeMentor

Added ‘Technical’ skills e.g.Business AwarenessB2BC.M.O.SE-CommerceFirewallsW.A.P

Profiles

Forecasts and survey analyses

Review methodologies

Match with National Statistics

Future forecasts

Checking the numbers

Supply & Demand

End Products

Determining the future demand for

ICT skills in Europe

Curriculum Guidelines Job Profiles

Supply & Demand ReportWebsite 500 Visitors per Day

Recommendations

~30 % ~30 %

~25 %

The Career Space consortium believes that the way in which engineering and computer studies students are educated should change to meet the needs of the ICT industry in the 21st century.

To Universities

Recommendations

~30 % ~30 %

~25 %

A clear message, which emerges from this study, is that there is an inadequacy of official data, both in terms of its range and timeliness, relating to New Economy skills (2000).

The European Commission and the Member States should ensure the adequate provision of timely and comprehensive data on ICT skills.

To the European Commission & Member States

Measuring Supply & Demand

The Situation Today

2000The Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 set the European Union a major strategic goal.The Council recognised the widening skills gap, especially in information technology where increasing numbers of jobs remain unfilled and at the same time acknowledged that “every citizen must be equipped with the skills needed to live and work in this new information society”.

2006The availability of adequate information and communication technology (ICT) skills is an important condition for the competitiveness and the innovation capabilities of enterprises. The development of e-business is increasing the demand for individuals with creativity and higher-level conceptual skills. A number of sources point to significant e-skills shortages. Improving the availability of e-skills involves actions both at European and national level…

The pace & extent of change has been too slow We still have a major ICT Skills problem Its time to deliver results

Move up a Gear

Our ambition is clear. We are aiming for top-class universities, highly trained and educated workforces, strong social security and pensions systems, the most competitive industries and the cleanest environment…. We can and must go the extra mile for growth and jobs.”

“My overall message is clear, it is time to move up a gear”.

National Reform Programmes

GENIUS- Generic E-Learning

Environments and Paradigms for the New European ICT Curricula

Funded by the EC e-Learning InitiativeFunded by the EC e-Learning Initiative

Prepared by the GENIUS consortium

Partners:• University of Reading, UK

• University of York, UK

• Trinity College, Ireland

• University of Thessaloniki, Greece

• University CarlosIII Madrid, Spain

• University of Ulm, Germany

• INSA LYON, France

• University of Linkoping, Sweden

• INESC Porto, Portugal

• Support IT, UK

• IBM, UK & Europe

• Intel, Ireland

• ICEL, Belgium

• e-Skills, UK

• Philips Semiconductors, UK

THE APPROACH:

• New Curricula Development Guidelines (Career Space )

• PanICT – 4 partners – York (Tony Ward).• Trinity College – non-traditional learners since

1967. • University Carlos III-Madrid, multidisciplinary

degrees. • University of Reading, CCF + European MSC (8

partners) since 1998.• IBM, Intel, Support IT and Philips – long

corporate e-learning experience

THE APPROACH:

Pedagogy

Technology Organization

New ICT CurriculaNew ICT Curricula

New ICT CurriculaNew ICT Curricula

Delivery Delivery

New Learning New Learning EnvironmentEnvironment

E-Learning PlatformsE-Learning Platforms

Strand 1Strand 1

FCDFCD

Strand 2Strand 2

SCDSCD

Strand 3Strand 3

MultidisciplMultidiscipl..

Strand 4Strand 4

Non-Non-traditional traditional

Strand 5Strand 5

TrainingTraining

Common CurriculaCommon Curricula

New Collaborative e-Learning platformNew Collaborative e-Learning platform

GeniusGeniusFrameworkFramework

Core ModulesCore Modules

Area Specific Core &Area Specific Core &

Elective modulesElective modules

Elective ModulesElective Modules

Job ProfilesJob Profiles

GENIUS Curricula StructureGENIUS Curricula Structure

Pedagogical approach, Student Centered Collaborative

Learning Experiment

•Emphasis on team workEmphasis on team work

•Dependent on team partners activitiesDependent on team partners activities

•Involves individual activities Involves individual activities combined ,with discussion all along the combined ,with discussion all along the learning processlearning process

•Lecturer states goals and is a Lecturer states goals and is a moderatormoderator

•Discussions are very important and Discussions are very important and take a lot of timetake a lot of time

Learning is built around learning communities

Technologies

CommunitiesKnowledge

Peter Revill, GENIUS pedagogical report, Dublin 18-19 Sept.2003

Pedagogical Approach Translating into Practice

T

CK

Acquiring Skills

ConstructingK + U

New Practices(Ways of deploying

knowledge and skills in specific social contexts)

Learning Processes

T

CK

Utilizing Digital Tools

Using Digital Communicatio

ns Media

Using Digital

Resources

Shared KnowledgeOr skills based activities in

an on-line Community of Practice

e-Learning Processes

Peter Revill, GENIUS pedagogical report, Dublin 18-19 Sept.2003

Mode of delivery:

• Diverse user groups

• Collaborative Preparation and sharing of material

• Collaborative Learning

• Contributing to Communities of Practice

The e-Learning environments:

•Support IT – LearnLinc

•Intel – Intel ® Content Distribution software

•University of Reading – CCF & Coco

•IBM – Learning Spaces

Coco

Achievements:

Synergy of

• Pedagogy

• Technology

• Management of Organizational Change

Achievements:

Added value:

• Common educational goals

•Trans-national team work for the learners

• Efficient teacher – learner interaction between the Universities

•Teachers share best expertise

Sustainability:

•Uptake by the consortia

•Expanding the consortium

•Offer flexible collaborative e-learning environment

Sustainability:

E-LANE project (open source)

E-Tutor project

Consortium expansion

Establishing programs in partner institutions

Implementation Costs:

•Need critical mass to share the costs

•Need to share the effort

•If using proprietary software you are bound to a certain view + cost of the software

•If using open source you have to support the development and deployment but the rest is free

Way Forward:

•Having critical mass (cost + effort)

•Joint development & sharing

•Flexibility + variety

•Virtual Organizations approach

E-LANEE-LANE is constituted by educational institutions from both Europe and Latin America, which together have the following objectives:

• Pedagogical Models for adaptable educational programs.

• High-quality, low-cost distance-learning technology.

• Effective Course, Activity and Evaluation Design Methodologies for efficient learning, long-term retention of knowledge, abilities, competencies and skills.

• Innovative Courseware Design Guides.

Advantages of the use information technology mediated distance learning:

• Reduced costs allowing the results to be replicated and spread.

• Widen the reach of the benefits of high quality education.

• Eliminate space and time barriers.• Improve the efficiency of the learning process.• Promote the information society (e-learning, e-

government, e-health, e-economy, e-science, e-inclusion).

E-LANE METHODOLOGY

Educational Model

Knowledge Domain

(Knowledge Structure

Model)

Subjects(Students and

TeachersModel)

Processes(Course DesignModel)

Contexts(Implementation

Model)

DigitalContent and Technology

Outcomes

Created meta-models for e-learning and innovative teaching methodology (the book will be published next year).

Developed further and customised multilingual version of the open source software environment for e-learning dotLRN.

Implemented various scenarios of e-learning based on the diverse experience of the demonstrators and from the outreach activities.

E-Learning & Curricula Development Vassil Alexandrov, Nia Alexandrov, Eve Marie Larsen

Research Focus

1.Novel Methodology for collaborative e-learning

2.Collaborative tools facilitating collaborative learning

3.Educational experiments to validate the methodology and the software developed

4.Evaluation and dissemination

Knowledge Domain(Knowledge Structure

Model)

Subjects(Students and

TeachersModel)

Processes(Course Design

Model)

Contexts(Implementation

Model)

DigitalContent and Technology

technology

pedagogyorganisation

Educational Model

Methodology Model

Integration of open software e-learning platform; design of an innovative teaching methodology; integration of course content with the goal of providing the society with low cost educational material to reduce the digital divide and enhance life long learning.www.e-lane.org

New  Curricula  content development,  based on the New ICT Curricula guidelines proposed by  the Career Space consortium; investigation of different innovative instruction/content delivery mechanisms; development of pilot European collaborative e-learning environment; evaluation and validation of the approaches and dissemination of  the results.www.genius.rdg.ac.uk

Developed generic skills profiles relevant to key jobs in ICT; Academia and Industry across Europe developed new ICT curricula guidelines to match the skills profiles and meet the needs of Europe’s ICT industry.www.career-space.com

Centre for Advanced Computing and Emerging Technologies

www.acet.reading.ac.uk

MSc in NCC & EMMSC NeBCC

High Performance Computing

E Com

E-learningE-learning

Business Business AppApp

S Eng HCI

visualisati

visualisationon

Cybernetics

simulationsimulationss

Computational Science

Data Communications

Networkin

Networkingg

SciencScience@RGe@RG

GridGrid

ComputinComputingg

Collaborative Collaborative computingcomputing

VOVO