HEFCE has published the responses (Circular 09/2004) to its e-learning strategy consultation of July 2003. The analysis of responses was grounded in the context of a UK eUniversities Worldwide. The rapid demise of UKeU, however, made the experience of reading this document a little surrealistic. The context now is one of Teaching Quality Enhancement and Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning; so perhaps we need to repeat the exercise? Response highlights (my take)
- Emphasize blended learning (e-learning augmented by traditional methods or traditional methods augmented by e-learning?) and curriculum design.
- View e-learning as a process not a product. The process requires the provision of high quality learner support, staff development, and dissemination of good practice.
- Acknowledge the key role of libraries and information services.
- Join up thinking and planning. Map to other national and institutional strategies, e.g. DfES e-learning strategy, institutional strategies (e.g. learning and teaching, human resources).
- Clarify functions of Higher Education Academy and JISC in development of pedagogies of e-learning.
- Support the Higher Education Academy as a focus for the evaluation of practice, and research (practitioner-led and action-based) and dissemination.
- Define where the sector currently stands with e-learning and where it wants to go. Benchmark the current state-of-play. Adjust strategy for the demise of UKeU.
- Consider, and make provision for, the costs of the institutional re-engineering associated with scaling e-learning
- Link any research programme to the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme. Raise status of e-learning research with the Research Councils and within the RAE.
- Strengthen partnerships particularly cross sectoral ones.
- Recognize explicitly the role of representative bodies, e.g. HEA, ALT, WUN
- Support regional consortia
- Consider international perspectives.
As with e-learning itself, the development of HEFCE's strategy is best viewed as a process not a product. We should, therefore, just consider the responses as just another milestone on the way.
But, let's pause for a moment to reflect on the emergent context in which any UK e-learning strategy will have to function.
Browse, through both the publications and circulars section of the HEFCE web site and it becomes quite clear that any e-learning strategy is going to have to emerge from within the chrysalis of the context of decisions already made and which are, in turn, already being influenced by wider government strategies. For example, take a look at HEFCE Publication 2004/18 Teaching Quality Enhancement: additional funding or HEFCE Publication 2004/05 Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Now take a look at the Executive Summary for the White Paper on The Future of Higher Education where we find:
“Reforms include: … Centres of Excellence to reward good teaching and promote best practice”.
Is that not a little bit like the original model proposed, and later rejected, for the 'eUniversity' (an earlier working title for what became UKeU)?
