Net Based Courses in a Virtual Organizational Scheme

1International Conference Nov. 19, 2009 Kaunas, Lithuania

Net Based Courses in a Virtual Organizational Scheme

Göran KarlssonKTH-Mechanics, School of Engineering Sciences

[email protected]

Johan ThorbiörnsonRescource Centre for Net Based Education -

RCN, School of Engineering [email protected]


Disposition•KTH net based bridging courses (preparatory coursed).

•KTH net based course: Digital Competence and Learning - ICT and Pedagogy for the 21st Century.

•Rationalities for the bridging courses.

•Education for all.

•KTH-RCN, KTH Virtual Campus, MATH.SE.

•A new educational paradigm for large cohorts of students.

•Resources: The mashup university.


•Since 2004 KTH offers net based courses for large student cohorts.

•Every year approximately 20% of all higher education freshmen in Sweden study a nationally bridging course in mathematics or other subjects.


Today there are about six such bridging courses and an additional 15 other courses, some of them in English and some offered in cooperation with other universities [http://www.kth.se/rcn]. Most of these are in Swedish but some are in English [http://www.kth.se/rcn?l=en_UK].




LC100N Digital Competence and Learning - ICT and Pedagogy for the

21st Century 8.0 ECTS

Examples of course content

•The students of today – who are they and how do they think?

•What is digital competence och why is ICT important?

•ICT-pedagogical theories & research in the field.

•Web 2.0 ‐ how and to what are the free services on Internet used and to what?


•How do the wervices function and what are the risks?

•Integrety and property rights on Internet.

•How are different LMS’s and VLE’s used?

•Virtual worlds, games and learning.

•Production and use digitla learning objects and open learning resources (OER’s).

•Source critiscism and use of different retrieval services.


Discrepancies between Freshmen Actual Knowledge and Expected Knowledge

•Since 1997 the department of Mathematics at KTH has evaluated the discrepancies between freshmen actual knowledge of mathematics and the KTH faculty expectations.

•The course curriculum in the bridging courses is based on these discrepancies.

•This deficiency in pre-knowledge seems not to be limited to Sweden but seems today to be universal.

•Also the problem to take care of large cohorts of students is related to the concept of bridging courses, since a similar model can be applied.


•Problems in science teaching due to students’ poor understanding and preknowledge in math and physics.

•A too big gap between A-level math, physics and chemistry and initial level at physics courses at universities. Mostly this problem comes in hand with insufficient knowledge in mathematics.

•Much time must thus be used for low level basic teaching in first year courses before university level physics can be taught.


“Solution”A bridging course to raise the students’ know-ledge to a full university introductory level at the beginning of university studies and to increase students’ chances to pass courses at university.


ModelBy using a "flat" non-hierarchical structure and modern social networking tools (wikis, blogs, LCMS, videoclips), we make it possible for thousands of students to share their learning processes, independently of where they are living. This is a big difference compared to the traditional way of organizing courses.


Education for all

• Online courses make it possible for developing countries to deliver high quality courses in rural areas at low costs.

• World wide online courses will also form a standard which can be used as a benchmark for an introductory level and to promote students to be more mobile and to take courses in other places than in their native countries.


Online education

Another serious drawback in a traditional setup is that students at different schools in different cities will not communicate with each other, even if they are struggling with exactly the same mathematical problems and learning processes.


KTH-RCN, KTH Virtual Campus, and MATH.SE

•Resource Centre for Netbased Education (RCN) at KTH [http://www.kth.se/rcn].

•To strengthen national cooperation between universities in Sweden and to obtain a flexible economic and administrative model a virtual cooperation center MATH.SE exist [http://www.math.se/]


MATH.SE• Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm• Stockholm University• Uppsala University• Linköping University• Örebro University• University of Gävle• Mälardalen University• Imperial College, London• Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)• Universität Stuttgart

.


MATH.SEThe same service will now be offered to other countries (full service, low risk and low cost for partner universities)


MATH.SE• MATH.SE takes care of

infrastructure, support, formalities, etc. and organizes activities for students to successfully complete the course on the Internet.

• Call center solution for tutoring – the students can call or email their personal mentor.


MATH.SE• Students belong to different

universities but study together in one virtual classroom.

• Universities get administrative tools and can monitor ”their” students.


A new educational paradigm

• 10 000 students in the same virtual classroom in one single course.

• Students study in the same classroom but are formally enrolled at different universities.

• High quality resource allocation.• Mass-individualization.• Large inter-cultural community.


A new educational paradigm


Services to students• Learners may start at any time and

study at their own pace.• Automatic and peer assessment in

large student groups, based on a detailed and level-partitioned examination process.

• Assessment is integrated with the students learning activities and is utilized as a structure for instructional scaffolding and follow-up.


Services to students• Instant feed-back on assessments

and advanced follow-up by instructors. Students can call a personal mentor in a call-center or send an email if they need support. Online forums support learners’ to discuss and to interact with each other and with their instructors throughout the course.



Study success prediction

An investigation shows that students who completed the summer course on Internet (bridging course) is equally successful in the first year at KTH as students with the highest marks in all courses from school. Pass rate at first year at KTH is 75%.


Present courses: Bridging/Foundation Courses

• Foundation courses in mathematics• Fundamental Notions of Mathematics,

7,5 ECTS• Bridging course in physics 7,5 ECTS• Bridging course in programming and

computer science 3 ECTS• Bridging course in chemistry


Present courses: Standard Courses in Mathematics

• Linear algebra, Single variable calculus

• Multivariable calculus, Differential Equations, etc


Present courses: Other online courses

• Financial mathematics 7,5 ECTS• Information search 3 ECTS• Relativity theory 4,5 ECTS• Modern Physics 9 ECTS• Laser Physics 9 ECTS• Introduction to Environmental Engineering

7,5 ECTS


Present courses: Other online courses

• Courses in philosophy (such as Argumentation theory)

• Communication and project management in virtual environments

• Digital learning and competence


Present courses: Standard Courses in Mathematics

• Linear algebra, Single variable calculus

• Multivariable calculus, Differential Equations, etc


Present courses: Online Lecturing and Lectures on Demand, Online Tutoring

• Lectures on demand and online lecturing from lecturers and scientists; e.g. video clips


Continuous Media Development

• Integration of new media and interactivity, such as interactive net video, pod casting, community building and social software, Open Educational Resources (OER), etc.

• Global course activities


Questions?START!

Documents

Net Based Courses in a Virtual Organizational Scheme