Integrated Universities

Integrated University

Integrated Universities

What is Integrated Universities?

The future of e-learning lies in a more practical concept called blended eLearning. According to most industry experts the delivery method of choice for some engineering and managerial courses that involves soft-skills and IT training is still the classroom. It is worth mentioning that Instructor-led training has been the primary method of training for decades. But what is new is that this approach has been supplemented by such activities as reading books, doing research, using self-paced training material offered on videotapes or CD-ROMs, and direct interaction with tutors for workshops to form an integrated blended eLearning method that enjoys from benefits of all previous worlds.

Determining the right blend of technology-delivered and classroom-based learning is almost like perfecting a recipe, writes Justin Hearn. We, at ITU, think we have perfected a recipe for offering European standard higher education to students in the developing countries. This approach was first introduced by Dr SMA Shahrestani in 1987 and was adopted by UNESCO in the same year. It was then tested partially in TEMPUS programmes for 10 years (1990-2000) and in ICIS courses since 1990. The result was discussed with the General Secretary of FUIW in January 2001 and consequently an agreement under “FUIW Chair Program” was signed in July 2001.

Advantages of blended eLearning

The following figure shows the advantages of an integrated blended learning scheme created by ITU since 1987 and developed further to include advances of Internet to form blended eLearning:

ITU uses the classrooms of the traditional universities, the distance learning methodology
of open universities and latest techniques of virtual universities

Some advantages of bleded eLearning are as follows:

(a) Studying in the comfort of his/her own country, a student can obtain a Master Degree of western quality standard at a fraction of the cost compared to studying abroad.

(b) It offers considerable flexibility and time saving because students can choose where and when to study using the teaching learning materials.

(c) Students have regular interaction with the Module Leaders via E-learning. This enables them to discuss and clarify anything they could not understand from the teaching learning materials.

(d) Direct face to face interaction with Local Teachers who can help students in their own language. Workshops are initially discussed with local teachers before their submission to the Module Leaders.

(a) Students have fast access to the Programme Manager.

Students can choose the title of their dissertation to fit in with their interests and expertise. They can also choose the time of submitting their dissertation after the satisfactory completion of all taught modules.

Further Study:

There is a book titled “Blended eLearning” by Dr. Larry Bielawski and David Metcalf, Ph.D, examines the current “state of the art” and takes a broad look at the latest instructional techniques, tools, and strategies that will help you to more effectively realize the benefits of e-learning.

Moreover, the following are links which you might find useful:

Blended e-Learning, by Dorie Henrie

www.easternlincs.org/newsletter/ winter2002/Blendedelearning.htm

Blended Basics, How to pick from the best of both delivery worlds, by Justin Hearn

http://www.n-email.net/TRIMAX/blended_basics.htm

Blended Learning Models, by Purnima Valiathan

http://www.learningcircuits.com/2002/aug2002/valiathan.html

Blended eLearning software developed by filenet

www.filenet.com/English/Customer_Center/ Global_Learning_Services/eLearning

Impact of the Internet on Learning & Teaching

http://ubmail.ubalt.edu/~harsham/interactive.htm

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