Do we need more flexibility?

Distance learning in the University of Akureyri

Eygló Björnsdóttir

We started our distance learning in the autumn of 1998 with a programme in Nursing that was offered to Ísafjörður (a little town in the Westfjords) through video-conference equipment. E-mail was also used.

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DISTANCE LEARNING AT THE UA – A FEW MILESTONES:

• 1999: Pre-School education– The distance group and the on site group were seperated and didn‘t attend

lessons at the same time

• 2001: Business studies– Distance groups at 12 locations all over the country. Splitted into 4 groups at the

beginning but at the end of the year they were all connected together.

• 2002: Fisheries Science – Recordings from lessons at campus made available in Blackboard/WebCT. – The Webconference system WebDemo also used

• 2008: Occupational therapy – study independent in place and time; recordings, Blackboard/Moodle,

webconference system (WebEx), Skype

3Eygló Björnsdóttir20.05.12

EDUCATIONAL AND CONTINUING EDUCATION CENTRES

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DISTANCE LEARNING OFFERED AT THE UA TO DAY:

• School of Health Sciences: – Nursing

– Occupational Therapy

• School of Humanities and Social Sciences: – Pre-school Education

– Primary and Lower Secondary School Education

– Social Studies

– Media Studies

– Psychology

– Modern Studies

• School of Business and Science– Natural Resources with

emphasis on

• Biotechnology

• Fisheries Science

• Environmental and Energy Studies

– Business with emphasis on • Finance

• Marketing

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DISTANCE LEARNING AT THE UA – TODAY:

• Video-conferencing is still a very common method• Recordings from „on site“ lessons are widely used and

teachers in most faculties record their lectures and make them available to both „on site“ students as well as distance learning students

• All courses use the online-learning system, Moodle• In most faculties students are required to attend study

sessions „on site“, for one or two weeks, every semester

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTANCE EDUCATION

• In the year 2008 the rector of UA estabished a committee to work on further development of distance education with more emphasis on flexibility. It‘s goal was to:

– „identify practical ways to make the University of Akureyri a leader in the development of distance education in Iceland in cooperation with Educational and continuing education centers all over the country

– find ways to make distance education accessible to as many Icelanders as possible provided they have enough preparation.“

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISTANCE EDUCATION

• In the spring of 2010 the committee handed in a report which recommended the following:– not to distinguish between on site and distance learning

– to offer more flexibility for all students when it comes to time and location of the study

– all schools should organize their study programs with as much flexibility as possible without reducing their quality

– to design and carry out three pilot-courses in the spring of 2011 with this new ideology as a guiding light

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THE PILOT COURSE IN THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION

• The course name is Information Technology in Education• There were just two „traditional“ lessons; one at the

beginning and one in the middle of the course • A facebook group was made for communication• A Wikisite was also made for cooperation between

students and for delivering assignments (e-portfolio)

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THE RESEARCH

• 80% of all students liked to be able to control their study time and not having to attend lessons at a certain location and time

• 80% of distance education students and 60% of „on site“ students had no difficulty in sticking to their studies although their study environment was almost entirely on-line.

• 90% of distance education students and 80% of „on site“ students agreed that they would recommend this arrangement of learning to other students

BUT.......• only 50% of the students said they would like to have this

arrangement in other courses too

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WHERE ARE WE HEADING?

• „The University of Akureyri is a leading institution when it comes to developement in distance education in Iceland. In that sense it has opened doors to higher education all over the country. We try to attend students needs, e.g. by organizing courses that are defined as flexible learning without distinqishing between „on site“ and distance learning“.

• To strengthen The University of Akureyri as a learning community we will:

– organize more courses as blended or flexible learning

– Follow the development of technical resources to improve learning and teaching

– Train and support our teachers in pedagogy and to make study material suitable for flexible and blended learning

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Thank you for being attentive!

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