Developing Institutional Strategic Plan for Open, Distance and eLearning

Kyriaki AnagnostopoulouHead of e-Learning, University of Bath

ICT Leadership in Higher Education24-26 February 2013

University of Bath

• Research intensive• Portfolio: science and engineering, strong management

school, some social sciences• Strong profile of teaching excellence• Consistently in the top 10 nationally• 15,000 students (1/3 international, 16% distance)• 60% students undertake placements• Exceptional graduate destination (over 90% students go

into graduate jobs)• Growing our international research portfolio

Straddling domains

Academic

Technical Administrative

Heads of e-Learning

• Senior staff within universities • Come from a range of disciplines, but all have expertise

in learning and teaching in higher education• Ability to bridge the domains through expertise in

• Each of the three domains• Institutional structures and processes• Change management and project management• Staff development

E-learning teams

• Positioned in various parts of the institution• Centralised, distributed and hub and spokes models• Remit:

• Service provision (troubleshooting, how-to support, helpdesk/helpline, upgrades to technologies, guidance on copyright, etc)

• Staff development and pedagogical advice (instructional design, curriculum development)

• Research into new technologies and new pedagogies

Evolution of institutional strategies

• 1st generation: Buildings and facilities• 2nd generation: Infrastructure• 3rd generation: Learning experience

• Incorporated into other strategies (L&T, IT, HR) or separate?

• Institutional responses to national strategies (HEFCE, DFES, BECTA) and drivers

Aspirational vision plus concrete strategic actions

• The importance of evidence (institutional research, national benchmarking) to enable positioning

• Ownership by all staff• Clear reporting/monitoring procedures• Agility to respond to change (political, technical,

financial)• Financial/administrative issues can constrain vision and

strategy

e-Learning and quality assurance

E-learning initially seen as different – not any more

Governance - academic quality is owned by depts

Multi-disciplinary team work• Project management and instructional/learning design expertise • Content authoring and reviewing• Technical content creation• Setting up of learning technologies• Administrative support (enrolling, accessing, monitoring

progress, etc)• Online facilitation• Academic, subject specific input• Assessment and progression

Any comments?

K.Anagnostopoulou@bath.ac.uk