Swiss Virtual Campus

The Swiss Virtual Campus (SVC) is based in Switzerland. It promotes learning over the Internet at the Swiss Institutions of Higher Education (Universities, Universities of Applied Sciences, and Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Students are no longer tied to a programme of lectures with set times and locations; they can acquire knowledge whenever and wherever they choose.

Subject specialists as well as experts on education and didactic methods ensure high course quality outside the framework of conventional lectures. Multilingual modules and cooperation between institutions of higher education take account of the special conditions in Switzerland. Competence Centres are set up to support project development.

At the moment there are 82 courses online, covering a wide spectrum of disciplines. Another 30 from the 4th and last series are in preparation.

The web site is http://www.virtualcampus.ch

The Impulse Programme - initial goals

The Swiss Virtual Campus programme is part of a process aimed at promoting the information society in Switzerland as well as enabling education - in particular higher education - to take advantage of the opportunities now available through new information and communication technology.

In this respect the programme hopes to provide students with virtual mobility that will enable them to play an active role in learning processes and follow high-quality courses on their computer monitors.

The principal concrete aim of the programme is to develop teaching modules that will be used through the Internet in several regular study programs of the Swiss universities.

Consolidation Programme

The Swiss Virtual Campus project is now in the phase of the 2004-2007 Consolidation Programme. This isfinanced by project-linked contributions in accordance with the Universities Promotion Law. The Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and the universities of applied science are participating in the programme using their own funds.

At its meeting of 16 October 2003, the Swiss University Conference (SUC) approved the "2004-2007 Implementation Plan", which lays down the organizational and financial framework of the Consolidation Programme for the new financial period. Basically, the Consolidation Programme reaffirms the aims of the Impulse Program. A certain number of adjustments have been made to take account of the experience gained so far, and to position the Program better within the context of ongoing trends in higher education. They concern project finance and development, as well as program organization. The Consolidation Program involves four main financial aspects:

1. Competence, service and production centres in each university
2. Use and maintenance of projects developed
3. New course development
4. Services for universities and coordination.

Since 2004, operational programme management and the coordination office have been overseen by the Rectors' Conference of the Swiss Universities (CRUS). Competence, service and production centres at each university receive financial support. The SVC Commission was wound up at the end of 2003.

Project Maintenance Support

The Swiss Virtual Campus Consolidation Programme (2004-2007) gives funding for the use and maintenance of courses of recognised quality (see document below “Execution Plan”). The Competence-, Service- and Production Centres (CCSP) will be responsible for the maintenance funds, in close collaboration with the project leader and partners. Maintenance measures must be coordinated and agreed on between the project leader and the CCSP.

Evaluation

Evaluation of SVC was being carried out by Professor Robin Mason of the UK Open University in 2008.

Case Study

For more details see Swiss Virtual Campus - case study.

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