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04/12/23 Ásrún Matthíasdóttir 2
Outline
• Background information
• Development of distance education in Iceland
• Future outlook
Ásrún Matthíasdóttir• BS in computer science• Diploma in School Counselling• MA in open and distance education• Working on PhD thesis• Lector (Assistant Professor) at Reykjavik University
(RU) since 2001– In School of Health and Education and in School of
Computer Science– Administrating distance education programs
• Teacher in upper secondary schools for a long time04/12/23 Ásrún Matthíasdóttir 3
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Iceland is 103.000 sq. km and has 319.355 inhabitants
Akureyri20.000 people
ReykjavíkCapital 200.000 people
Iceland: Educational
System
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The situation in Iceland
• The number of distance students has grown enormously over the last decade at the university level and the upper secondary level (students from 16-20)
• More and more secondary school students (14, 15 years) are taking distance courses at the secondary level
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University level Distance and campus based education
from 1997-2007
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Distance
Campus based
Nine fold2.730 students
Double14.719 students
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Distance and campus based education at secondary level from 1997- 2007
0200400600800
100012001400160018002000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Distance Campus based
18 fold4.141 students
1.26 fold20.815 students
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Examples of distance programs at RU• Diploma program at the university level for students with
vocational degree, 90 ECTS– carpenters, electricians and machinists
• LMS used for distribution and communication online• Teachers record lectures and other material
– record everything that is on the screen and what they say
• Students submit their projects electronically and receive electronic responses from teachers
• Discussion forum for questions and comments• Campus-based teaching two weekends (3 days) twice
each semester
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Examples of distance programs at RU• This is a very popular program
– 160 applications this year• Students are happy to be able to study without
changing their life– Happy to control their own time– They do not generally miss the teachers but they
miss other students• Teachers were insecure at the beginning
– After they got used to the technology they were quite happy
– They miss the students
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Examples of distance programs at the upper secondary level
• Most upper secondary schools are offering distance courses
• Usually teachers and students do not meet at all in the distance programs
• Learning management systems used for distribution and communication
Examples of distance programs at the upper secondary level
• Each teacher sends material, projects and exercises to students once a week– Mainly Word and PDF files– Online communication, e.g. E-mail, MSN, Skype– Good support for students to have to work on
something at least once a week in each course• More support -> less dropout
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Upper secondary level• There have mainly been 3 groups of distance
students– Students that have no other alternative
• Small schools in rural areas can not offer many courses• Many schools can not offer the same course every semester
– Students that have failed the course before– Older students
• Some are drop-outs that are trying to finish school• Some taking a whole study program• Some are taking 1-2 courses
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Upper secondary level
• New group of distance students• It is a trend now that students in their last
year at compulsory education start taking one or two courses in upper secondary schools– Distance education is often the only alternative
they have
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Upper secondary level• New forms of education have been developing• A variety of blended and distributed learning
programs are running– Mix together campus based methods and online
methods– Each school offers its own version– One school was designed from the beginning based
on this ideology
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Example from the public service• Life Long Learning Centre for the Public Sector
provides programs for different groups of employees– Not a school, uses programs and courses that are
already running or ask for new programs
• Use video conferences and project work– The teachers may be situated outside Reykjavik
area
• Too much technology seems to scare away older people (over 35)
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Private sector• Lack of facts and figures
• Very little research done in adult distance education in the private sector
• They have started distance education but many employees are not ready to be distance students– Employees are not used to independent
study
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Examples from the private sector• Kaupthing Bank (largest commercial bank)• Distance teaching facilities
– Video conferences, recorded lectures, learning management programs…
• Educational division that offers distance programs– e.g. English for banking and finance
• Other banks (Sparisjóðir) also offer distance learning programs
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Examples from the private sector
• Actavis (5th largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world)
• Offers employees distance courses– e.g. E-mail writing course (4 weeks)
• Well equipped with new technology– Video conferences for meetings
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Examples from the private sector
• The Open University Division of RU
• Offers distance courses for everyone– e.g. Business writing English
• Developing blended learning courses– Mix together campus based and distance
teaching
Characteristic of good e-learning course
Good support
Active teachers/tutors
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Who will be our future students?
• I see roughly two groups– The Net Generation– My generation +/- 10 years
• What is the difference?
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The Net Generation• People born after 1980 have grown up in an
environment of computer technology– Also called Digital Generation, Millennial,
Generation Y, The Multitasking Generation...
• Experienced in using online systems such as Blogs, Skypes, MySpace, Facebook, Wikis….– New possibilities turning up every week or day
• They have positive attitudes to the use of technology in learning– Information and communication (ICT) is a part of their life
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• The Net Generation is a challenge to the way we provide teaching and learning
• We need to be aware of their skills and experience– We must make use of these skills and attitudes
• They are a challenge for (many) teachers
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My generation +/- 10 years• We have spent most of our “adult” life
chasing and adjusting to technology and new opportunities– Some are eager some are not
• We have often thought we have seen it all– But been totally wrong
• For how long are we ready to adopt to new technology?
• Different knowledge
• Different attitudes
• Different views
• ....
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Found at http://www.jesslaccetti.co.uk/labels/new%20media.html
How do we teach these two groups together?
• Learning is a lifelong goal for both young and old
• We must offer the Net Generation all the new opportunities that technology offers– They are not so young any more
• However: do not overdo it for the older part
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• The focus has been on technology• Some teachers are always looking for better
tools and are eager to try out new methods• Some never find technology that suites them,
always want to do things little bit differently• Some are resistant to technology in
education
Teachers - technology
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• But the fact is that most teachers, even the distance teachers, are only using a small proportion of what is available– They can do a good job with only part of what is
there
• But they do also need to look around for new possibilities and new methods– Many don’t recognize the possibilities at hand– Distance teachers must be open for the
opportunities that are already there and look for new
• We must offer teachers and tutors good opportunities to update
We still have this
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From http://designsmarter.typepad.com/rob_rodriguez/images/kemesh_interview_1_1.jpg
This is our target group
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• Can we guess how technology will develop?
• .....and what methods we should use to ensure good quality and best practice in education with technology on our side?
The Silent Boom
Percen
tage o
f Ow
nersh
ip
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
01009080706050403020101 110 120
Electricity(1873)
Telephone(1876)
Automobile(1886)
Television(1926)
Radio(1905)
VCR(1952)
Microwave(1953)
Cell Phone(1983)
Reference: Forbes
PC(1975)
Internet(1975)
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Development of bandwidth
Internet Music
Video (low quality)Voice
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VoIPVOD
All material
Internet, TV, phone...
Development of bandwidth
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• Email• Web browsing• Simulations • Podcasting• RSS• MSN/Skype• Wikis• Blogs• Web conferencing• Online workspaces • Social network• File sharing• Serious games• Virtual worlds• ….
• Pool resources • Search• Remix• Create• Review • Publish• Share• Recommend• Connect• Network• Reassess• Chase• ….
• Explore• Investigate• Discuss • Track• Meet• Converse• Follow• Chat• Build• Observe• Plan • Design• Collaborate • Find•...
What is there to use and do?
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Image provided by Stabilo Boss.
Some of the Web 2.0 sites
What should we choose?
• Education desiners /developers have to take notice of:– The teachers – The aim of the courses– The technology– The student group– .....
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We “know” them
We can deside this
We can adjust to this
Who are they??
Challenge for educators
• How are we to prepare for our future students?
• How do we motivate them to take active part in lifelong learning?
• How do we use all these tools to encourage critical thinking and creatively?
• ?????
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