Pass the SoLT

A new open access book has been published by Re Vica on the growth of virtual campuses throughout higher education. The book is entitled Reviewing the Virtual Campus Phenomenon: The Rise of Large-scale e-Learning Initiatives Worldwide and was funded with support from the European Commission. Massey University receives a brief mention in the country section on New Zealand (see p.43).

The book begins with the following comment:

Universities are facing a great deal of change and quite some pressure to review and adapt their services to meet the needs of a changing world. The UNESCO 2009 World Conference on Higher Education expressed the need for universities to widen access to their services and adopt more innovative approaches in general, with forum participants concluding that “At no time in history has it been more important to invest in higher education as a major force in building an inclusive and diverse knowledge society and to advance research, innovation and creativity”.

The authors go on to write:

This handbook aims to provide policymakers in the field of higher education with valid, in-depth information on virtual campuses in different forms. We want to provide all readers with insight into what has been done and what is taking place in the domain of virtual campuses, as well as the opportunities, barriers and critical factors which exist.

After a brief introductory chapter, which describes the background to the work, the text sets out to define and provide a theoretical framework for the concept of a virtual campus. It draws on a number of definitions and perspectives and after describing various initiatives concludes that:

No two countries examined have seen the term used in quite the same way – and thus it is appropriate that in the end, no single definition of a virtual campus is here given precedence over any other.

Although much of the work is descriptive and questions could be asked about the the depth and validity of the country and institutional descriptions, the final chapter synthesizes a list of critical success factors in order for virtual campus initiatives to be both scaleable and sustainable.

From a review of data collected, previous work and existing benchmarks in the area it was decided to split the list of Critical Success Factors into two parts:

1. A list of 17 Critical Success Factors relevant to success of e‐learning in all types of virtual campus.

2. A list of 14 Key Success Factors ‐ these are Critical Success Factors relevant to success of e‐learning in one or more subsets (categories) of virtual campus – such as private for‐profit providers, consortia, etc.

A full description of the Critical Success Factors is provided on pages 66-67 of the report along with some suggestions of how to act on these at an institutional level. The Critical Success Factors do not reveal any major surprises and one still needs to ask whether this is a complete recipe for success in elearning - whatever that means. In addition, to what extent do the Critical Success Factors for virtual campuses different from those for physical campuses?

Overall the ebook provides a useful snapshot of the current state of play and includes some valuable links to key institutions and initiatives in the area. Generally the publication makes a useful contribution to what has been and remains a dynamic and rapidly moving target.

This is a brief follow up to a previous entry on global elearning activity. Last week, I received an email alerting me to the Re.ViCa wiki. This wiki is a European project which aims to provide an inventory and systematic review of virtual campus initiatives by country. First published a few months ago, the wiki claims to be growing daily and in comparison to the recent JISC funded elearning report, it already appears to have a rich depth of locally produced content. From a quick analysis, the Country Reports Section has deeper and more extensive information about Australia and New Zealand than the JISC report.

That said, the entry for Massey University under the list of programmes is factually incorrect and needs updating as Massey has a history of 49 years of distance delivery. Unless someone else takes up the challenge, it looks like I may have to find time to update the wiki. Of course, the ability to update and make relevant changes does highlight the value of a wiki for this type of project.

Arguably, the section that has the greatest potential is the list of critical successful factors necessary for an organisation to fulfil its mission. The following nine critical dimensions are identified:

1. Money factors: positive cash flow, revenue growth, and profit margins.
2. Acquiring new customers and/or distributors - your future.
3. Customer satisfaction - how happy are they?
4. Quality - how good is your product and service?
5. Product or service development - what's new that will increase business with existing customers and attract new ones?
6. Intellectual capital - increasing what you know that's profitable.
7. Strategic relationships - new sources of business, products and outside revenue.
8. Employee attraction and retention - your ability to do extend your reach.
9. Sustainability - your personal ability to keep it all going

A list of critical factors is one thing but, assuming their validity, knowing how to address them on a whole of organisation scale is a very different beast. This is where important contextual factors come in to play. I look forward to returning to the wiki over the next few months to see how this list expands and the country reports grow as a potentially valuable repository of elearning activity.