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REVIEWING AND REDEFINING VIRTUAL CAMPUSES: FROM A “FULLY-FLETCHED” VIRTUAL CAMPUS TO A BLENDED MODEL

Helena Bijnens, EuroPACE ivzw, Belgium, Johannes De Gruyter, AVNet – K.U.Leuven, Belgium, Ilse Op de Beeck, EuroPACE ivzw, Belgium, Paul Bacsich, Matic Media Ltd., UK, Sally Reynolds, ATiT, Belgium, Wim Van Petegem, AVNet – K.U.Leuven, Belgium, Theo Bastiaens, Fernuniversität in Hagen, Germany and Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands, Anna-Kaarina Kairamo, Lifelong Learning Institute Dipoli - TKK, Finland

Keywords

Virtual Campus, Virtual Mobility, Virtual University

Introduction

The European Commission has set a goal that by 2012, 3 million students should participate in Erasmus. But what about the remaining 80% of students?

Virtual Campus schemes would offer educational opportunities that are no longer location dependent and allow for collaboration with foreign students and teachers (and thus promote intercultural understanding).

Apart from these cross-cultural and mobility aspects, a Virtual Campus has a huge potential to contribute to increased participation in lifelong learning: Students learn from their homes, after work in the time that is available for them. This in fact responds to the European Commission’s “Detailed Work Programme on the follow-up of the objectives of Education and training systems in Europe”. Key issues that are mentioned to reach the implementation of strategic objective “Facilitating the access of all to education and training systems” are: “Delivering education and training so that adults can effectively participate and combine their participation in learning with other responsibilities and activities” and also “Promoting flexible learning paths for all”.

It is therefore of the utmost importance that decision makers are aware of the possibilities and pitfalls of Virtual Campuses.

Background on Virtual Campus and Virtual Mobility in higher education

Throughout the last decade, numerous initiatives have been set up to experiment with the establishment of Virtual Campuses and Virtual Mobility activities. Virtual Campuses have appeared in various forms and structures and also to varying degrees of success: Finnish Virtual University, Swiss Virtual Campus, FernUniversität in Hagen, Open University of Catalonia, African Virtual University, etc. But what is actually a Virtual Campus or a Virtual University? And what do we mean by Virtual Mobility? And how 'virtual' is this campus or this mobility?

In our search for definitions or background information we start with BENVIC, one of the earliest projects addressing the issue of benchmarking virtual campuses. In this project the Virtual Campus concept is referred to as “a specific format of distance education and on-line learning in which students, teaching staff and even university administrative and technical staff mainly 'meet' or communicate through technical links.” The following classification was proposed:

• Virtual Class: Teaching and learning is happening in a virtual environment for campus based students or/and distance learners. The virtual environment could be an on-line (digital) learning environment as an add-on to the traditional face-to-face knowledge transfer in physical class rooms or as a completely stand-alone e-learning system for off-campus students. It could also be any other technology supported way of knowledge sharing, e.g. using videoconferencing to link local groups of learners with an expert at a distance.

• Virtual Campus: Next to virtual classes this includes also research communication and collaboration as well as scientific services to the society at large, like contract research and consultancy for companies and governmental bodies. This means that the virtual environment is not only meant for learning, but other activities are taking place, e.g. remote use of expensive laboratory equipment for research purposes.

• Virtual University: In this case most, perhaps all of the university working processes are virtualized. Student registration, student and staff administration, eventually examination and creditation, or any other administrative procedure are all taking place and supported in the virtual environment.

Virtual Mobility on the other hand means, in the words of the glossary of the elearningeuropa.info portal: “The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to obtain the same benefits as one would have with physical mobility but without the need to travel”. The Being Mobile project opted for a more elaborate definition: “Virtual Mobility is a form of learning which consists of virtual components through a fully ICT supported learning environment that includes cross-border collaboration with people from different backgrounds and cultures working and studying together, having, as its main purpose, the enhancement of intercultural understanding and the exchange of knowledge”.

Based on this broad definition four main types of virtual mobility activities are identified:

• A virtual course or seminar: Learners in a higher education institute engage in virtual mobility for a single course (as part of a whole study programme) or a seminar (series) and the rest of their learning activities take place face-to-face in a traditional way.

• A whole virtual study programme: Hereby an entire virtual study programme is offered at one higher education institute, giving students from different countries the chance to take this programme without having to go abroad for a whole academic year.

• A virtual student placement: Student placements are organised between a higher education institute and a company (sometimes in a different country). In the virtual equivalent students are using ICT to support their internship, giving them a real-life experience in a corporate setting without the necessity to move from the campus to the company or to relocate to another country for a certain period of time, and providing them with a practical preparation for new ways of working through (international) collaborative team work.

• Virtual support activities to physical exchange: Virtual mobility enables both better preparation and follow-up of students who participate in physical exchange programs. Preparatory activities could include student selection at a distance through video- or webconferencing (for checking social and language skills) and on-line language and cultural integration courses. Follow-up activities will help students to keep in touch with their peers, scattered around the world, to finish their common research work and/or paper work. They could also take on the form of a so-called 'Virtual Alumni' organisation, to foster life-long friendships and networks.

All this virtualization has tremendous benefits, and just to name the most obvious ones:

• Access: Virtual initiatives enable easier, maybe faster access to education for a new, non-traditional, remote group of students or learners.

• Flexibility: Virtual initiatives make learning and teaching happening anytime and anywhere.

• Skills: Through using advanced new (educational) technology students acquire new skills necessary for today’s new work methods and business structures.

• New partnerships: Through (virtual and/or face-to-face) collaboration different institutions embark together into the creation, delivery and support of virtual courses and into new ways of common knowledge transfer and sharing, giving them enlarged visibility in the European Higher Education Area.

However, not all virtual initiatives could be considered as entirely great success stories. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into much detail, but as critical success factors we could mention firm business models, empowerment and attitude of teachers and learners, commitment of university management and other stakeholders, etc. Encouraging is the fact that in numerous eLearning, Minerva and other projects supported by the European Commission in the last decade many institutions and organisations have been working on exploring and refining the concepts of Virtual Campus and Virtual Mobility. Results have been published in for example:

• Peer-Review Handbook (MASSIVE project)

• Manual for a Collaborative European Virtual University (cEVU project)

• Virtual Mobility Manual. How to teach internationally from your own desk (REVE project)

• Creating New Opportunities for Learning – How to organise international virtual seminars (VENUS project)

• European Networking and Learning for the Future. The EuroPACE approach (EuroPACE publication).

Striking to see in all those reports and publications is the gradual shift from stand-alone virtual initiatives towards integration of virtual components into traditional universities. Indeed, through these experiences, we notice a shift of concepts: from the "well-defined" clear, 100% online Virtual Campus to Virtual Mobility, whereby the more traditional universities open their borders, collaborate supra/intra institutionally and often (inter)nationally, and/or involve non-traditional students through e-learning. Actually, there is no strict definition of Virtual Campus or Virtual Mobility anymore. Every campus becomes a Virtual Campus, and every mobility has now some form of Virtual Mobility included - “blended models” gain more and more interest and attention. Therefor, we would like to introduce the following definition for a Virtual Campus: “a large-scale change initiative at a university or consortium of universities delivering a substantially increased amount of technology-enhanced learning with as part of its aim the delivery of courses to groups of learners spending all or a substantial part of their time off the campus.” We are fully aware that this definition does not include the elements of the research environment, even though the integration of the learning and working environments (learning, research, working processes) of the whole community of a university as well as its external partners might be the very likely future scenario. We focus in this paper on learning aspects.

In this context, several kind of models or scenarios could thus be thought of, differing from each other by the level of collaboration between institutions and to what extent virtual components are added:

• Traditional universities open their offer through e-learning for the “distant”, “off-campus” student.

• Virtual Communities of Practice and Virtual Learning communities are integrated into traditional universities.

• Virtual classes and seminars are organised for traditional students.

• Virtual collaboration between universities is stimulated through e.g. joint course development and joint masters degrees.

• The “extended university” reaches citizens through e-learning using mostly non-formal online evening seminars.

• Multiple campuses of one university collaborate in course provision by technology, enabling e.g.e the teacher to teach in one campus for local and distant student groups through the use of videoconferencing.

This list is not exhaustive, but just exemplary in terms of possibilities.

All in all, there seems to be a common feeling a redefinition of the “Virtual Campus” concept is necessary. This will be done in the Re.ViCa project (see below) but without losing sight of the justification in terms of Erasmus aims.

K.U.Leuven: From A Traditional To A Multicampus University.

An example of a redefinition of virtual campus can be found at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) in Belgium. This traditional university progressively organizes its educational support from a multicampus perspective.

In recent decades, the ‘Katholieke Universiteit Leuven’ (K.U.Leuven) in Belgium has become a multicampus university. As a result of the historic expansion of the university its three groups of faculties have become separate entities, geographically spread over Leuven: Human Sciences are housed in the centre of the city, Exact Sciences in the east and Medical Sciences in the north. Since 1965, the university also has an additional campus in Kortrijk, in the west of Belgium. And in 2002, thirteen institutions of higher education in Flanders have joined forces with the K.U.Leuven in the Association K.U.Leuven in order to occupy a position of strength within the new European educational landscape and to work together towards quality improvements in education. This Association has 23 different campuses. In addition the K.U.Leuven profiles itself as an international university. The institution has agreements with various universities worldwide to enable and support a growing number student and staff exchanges between campuses. Lastly, with the introduction of ICT the university is also facing an extended form of multicampus education. Online networks of student groups and/or teaching staff – sometimes linked to but often independent from the institution – are emerging, in learning communities or communities of practice. Each participant in these networks can be considered a small virtual ‘campus’, learning from home, work or through a mobile device.

The current structure of the university thus challenges the K.U.Leuven to organize and support its education with attention for communication and collaboration between the various campuses. Today this is most often realized through physical mobility: staff and/or student move between different locations. This is the case for interdisciplinary courses between Leuven’s three groups of faculties and for staff mobility between Kortrijk and Leuven. It is also the most common form for international exchanges. Yet the university is progressively supporting initiatives that replace or enhance physical with virtual mobility, seeking to integrate aspects of ‘virtual campuses’ into traditional education to stimulate collaboration between the sites of the Association, to support student and/or staff exchanges in Europe or in the world, to enhance communication with developing countries or to sustain virtual learning communities.

At a basic level (virtual/blended) multicampus education in Leuven is revealed in initiatives that create, offer and localize joint course materials. While teaching staff and students remain at their own campus for the entire course, specific course modules learning materials are used that have been developed, at a distance, by an inter-institutional (multicampus) teaching team. These course materials are often offered on a common website, a databank or a virtual learning environment. Recently there are also teachers who (co-)develop or use ‘Open Educational Resources’.

Not only course materials are collaboratively created or shared. Also (laboratory)-infrastructure is shared between locations to avoid a double set up of equipment. In some cases this pooled infrastructure is also virtual. Some (dangerous) laboratory experiments or experiments that require students and staff to be at different locations (students watch a complex surgical operation) can now happen thanks to virtual support to bridge the distance between the actual experiment and the audience. The infrastructure of the experiment itself is in a limited number of cases entirely digital by means of a simulation on a common virtual platform.

Furthermore, multicampus education can be about joint learning activities. For the ‘Student Business Game’ for instance, students from different institutions f the Association K.U.Leuven play a business game on their own campus after which the winning teams compete with each other via videoconferencing before a jury of teaching and company staff. Joint learning activities can also be about e-coaching, about writing an academic paper at a distance or student placements. All activities invite multiple sites to collaborate in the creation, delivery or support of the activity, with the help of technology. At K.U.Leuven joint learning activities are particularly interesting for interdisciplinary modules, courses or programs, such as activities involving both learners studying medicine or nursing, industrial or civil engineering, etc.

Building on joint learning activities, another type of multicampus are joint courses. A joint course can be (a) a course developed by one campus (institution) and offered to students at another campus (institution), (b) a course developed by one institution and used but adapted by another institution or (c) a jointly developed course offered to students of all involved institutions (Haake et al., 2006). One variation of this type are virtual seminars: co-created or co-delivered seminars set up as a single course, or in a series of courses - broadcasted over multiple sites using ICT (videoconferencing, web conferencing, streaming, etc) . The KULeuven has a strong expertise and long tradition in organizing virtual seminars. The ‘Pentalfa’ project for instance is a multidisciplinary, post-graduate distance learning initiative of the Faculty of Medicine, aimed to offer (extra) training broadcasted to various hospitals of the Flemish Hospital Network K.U.Leuven. It is currently in its 8th year and there are plans to enhance the initiative with an international component. The university is also looking into the use of virtual seminars for knowledge exchange and networking between the institutions of the Association and beyond (society in general, companies, alumni, etc.).

Next, multicampus education is also revealed in the offer of a complete, ‘multicampus’ programme, which many institutions can be contributing in. A number of Bachelors and Masters are already set up within the Association K.U.Leuven, involving multiple teaching teams from different institutions. The challenge is to streamline these programs around a common denominator, yet with respect to any local specificities of each campus involved. Virtual initiatives – joint learning materials, joint learning activities, joint courses – all play a vital part in this. Eventually a completely virtual multicampus programme comes close to the traditional form of distance education, as offered by the Open University for instance. From the perspective of more and better flexibility in education, it could be interesting to bring distance and regular education together. Regular programs could put forward a number of distance learning courses (and vice versa), in replacement of or as an enhancement to their offer: they could support or realize the transition between certain bachelors and masters in a flexible way, (work) students could enhance their own study package with a number of distance education courses. In Flanders, the current offers of both the regular universities and the Open University are still entirely separate from each other . Yet under certain conditions the Open University does already allow its students to take courses from other universities in addition to the curriculum of the own education. K.U.Leuven is currently studying the opportunity to present this interpretation of multicampus to its students.

Ultimately, multicampus education is also about a range of virtual support activities with regard to real, physical mobility. A large range of actions can be mentioned here. At the early, preparatory phase of a physical student (or staff) exchange, multicampus support can be given through the set up of community websites for future exchange students where they can meet current students who help them find housing, give them information etc. Within the Association K.U.Leuven such a platform is being created and tested for new foreign students to find a ‘(virtual) buddy’ . There is also the opportunity for teaching staff to meet the interested new students online, for a language ‘pre-selection’ or just a first get-together. This has been tested as a pilot in the REVE project for the Erasmus Mundus Master in Adapted Physical Activity(Rajagopal et. al., 2006; Bijnens H. et. al., 2006). After the exchange, the aforementioned communities can continue to live on as a virtual alumni platform; or students could be examined at a distance through virtual mobility (video communication).

Supporting Lifelong Learning: Open University of the Netherlands

A common understanding of the multiple purposes of higher education is emerging. Rapid and continuing changes of the social and technological context of adults already working have influenced the growing emphasis on lifelong learning. The rationale for lifelong learning is often associated with the demands of a knowledge society that requires individuals to gain new skills and update existing ones. The term lifelong learning (LLL) began making appearances in the educational professional and policy discussion during 1970s. The notion of lifelong learning has evolved e.g. by way of continuing education and Universities of the so-called Third Age which values learning for its own sake and personal fulfilment through learning.

The ways in which universities are opening their campuses to local citizens are manifold and diverse. Many universities have launched initiatives aimed at opening up to the wider community and adapting to the changing needs of their students and citizens at large. In the Trends V report published recently by the European University Association, this point is emphasised; "Institutions need to develop their capacity to respond strategically to the lifelong learning agenda, taking advantage of the opportunities provided by the structural changes and tools that have been developed through the Bologna process."

In the Netherlands an interesting example can be found of a traditional distance teaching university that changed her vision and broadened her tasks towards lifelong learning. Although the Open University of the Netherlands still develops, provides and promotes higher distance education for Dutch speaking countries it addresses more and more the wide-ranging learning needs of people during their course of life, plus the need to achieve a considerable increase of the knowledge level of the community at large. Adding value to the community is an important goal. In their own opinion keywords are flexibility and innovation. They try to provide well-grounded distance education at an academic level. Students are offered new learning tools that they require for self-study. Course offerings become more and more personal and flexible and have to make learning effective and interesting. This ambitions make research & development at their own campus an important activity. Their academic programmes exist of cultural studies, management, physics of the environment, psychology, law, education and computer science. Students who do not want to follow a complete programme can choose from nearly 300 courses. On a commercial basis the university also offers open enrolment programmes and in-company and customized training programmes, often in collaboration with universities of professional education (HBOs). A new offering has started in 2007; Open Educational Resources: short courses that anyone can take via the Internet at no cost. Next to the idealistic idea of providing education for free, these coursers serve also as “teaser’ to attract new students. Interactive CD-ROMs and DVDs, plus the possibilities of the Internet, must enhance the educational process. Many students make use of an electronic learning environment (called Study-net) to organize their personal work location. Course sites, newsgroups, e-mail and conference facilities make distance learning even more appealing. This enables people to combine their study with work and private life and to determine where, when and at what pace to study. Still, even in distance learning it is important to have personal contact. That is where the value of the study and support centre network lies. Support sessions are organized at these centres (12 in major cities in the Netherlands, 6 in Belgium), and they serve as a meeting place for study groups and student societies. The study and support centres fulfil a key role in the educational process at Open Universiteit Nederland. They are an answer to the growing call for blended learning, a mix of distance and contact education. At the Heerlen campus the university also applies LEX, The Learning Experience, in this context, which enables interactive learning events.

Virtual Campus as an opportunity for the internationalization of the Universities and the intercultural dialogue. A concrete experience: the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO

(written by UNINETTUNO - 600 to 1000 words)

==Virtual Campus for supporting lifelong learning== Anna-Kaarina: I suggest to leave this out as it ovelaps with OUNL case, I added some text in the beginning of OUNL case about LLL. (written by TKK)

Virtual Campuses: a precious support for educational institutions in Geographic Information Systems and Science

Definition: what are GIS nowadays?

Before to go into detail it seems useful to define what do we mean by GIS. The term Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the strictest sense refers to any information system capable of integrating, storing, editing, analyzing, sharing, and displaying geographically referenced information. In a more generic sense, GIS is a tool that allows users to create interactive queries, analyze the spatial data, edit data, maps, and present the results of all these operations as spatial information. But GIS has come to mean, variously, an industry, a product, a service, a technology and a science. Usually students in GIS degree and GIS certificate programs are taught about science, spatial thinking, spatial information management, technical issues, algorithms and applications. The list of disciplines in which geographic information technology and science can be used is very wide: scientific investigations, resource management, asset management, environmental impact assessment, urban planning, cartography, criminology, history, sales, marketing, and logistics are some current examples.

Understanding the environment in GIS

The most important point in GIS environment is that even if GIS looks like to be a sharp and narrow oriented discipline, it is going more and more complex and open. The first point concerns the technology itself. Data is becoming more accurate and complex. The geographic information systems follow this move. In consequence students have to be trained on more sophisticated software. A second point concerns the labour market. GIS experts have to face complex problems and transdisciplinary approaches are commonly a must. GIS experts (and the education of GIS experts) can’t only focus on GIS because they have to be prepared to interact and collaborate with experts in other disciplines (engineers, farmers, municipality people, media etc.).

The interest of Virtual Campuses

Consequently, in this environment, the educational system had to adapt and virtual campuses are a strategic means to insure a valuable and transdisciplinary approach. As you can now understand, because of the wide-ranging field of application of GIS it is impossible to develop all the aspects in one curriculum in one location. That is the reason why universities collaborate to develop virtual campuses. A first step was Virtual campus in which the student can follow his studies in different virtual location. The path was fletched. Progressively, with the development of network and virtual learning virtual campuses moved from a fletched approach to a blended approach. Students can choose in a wider network of universities what specialization they want to do and can customize their paths and profiles in function of their field of interest.

Realization, examples of virtual Campuses in GIS field

UNIGIS

UNIGIS is an example of fully blended format. UNIGIS is a worldwide network of universities cooperating in the design and delivery of distance learning in Geographical Information Systems and Science. The UNIGIS program was founded in 1990 and currently includes sites in ten countries. Members of the UNIGIS network offer postgraduate Certificate, Diploma and Masters courses in GIS by open and distance learning. Core course resources are adapted translated and supplemented with additional materials to support the needs of local students. Members of the UNIGIS network also work together in research and curriculum development activities related to GIS education. The courses are in continuous development and are currently offered in English, Czech, German, Hungarian, Portuguese and Spanish. UNIGIS is the largest and best-established e-learning GIS program in the World. Each year it enrolls more than 400 students world-wide. It have over 3.000 UNIGIS alumni in more than 40 countries.

OLLO

OLLO, is an example of virtual campus, fully fletched, lead by one institute. The OLLO project was running from 1995 to 1998 in Hungary. The main objective of the OLLO TEMPUS project was the development of open learning materials and course infrastructure in Land Information Management within Hungary for hungarian land office workers (130 offices) by the Faculty of geo-informatics in Székesfehervar. The materials were developed for professional and postgraduate level. For the staff of Land Offices and Surveying/GIS companies distance learning offers a particularly flexible and effective way of training, eliminating most of the barriers, providing much better accessibility than traditional education.

(written by UWH)

Future trends: Reviewing Virtual Campuses To Enhance Their Future

While numerous Virtual Campus initiatives in the past decade have gained experience and know-how, there is a striking lack of validation and dissemination of this knowledge. There is an urgent need for awareness raising and providing detailed and, more importantly, consolidated information on Virtual Campuses.

The European Commission acknowledges this need and has in the last couple of years attached specific priority to projects which are aiming at

• Systematically reviewing existing Virtual Campus and virtual mobility projects or experiences, including their valorisation in terms of sharing and transfer of know-how, with a view to supporting deployment strategies at the European level.

• Supporting the development and dissemination of replicable solutions and approaches to help establishing and sustaining Virtual Campuses at European level

• Promoting cooperation and exchange of strategic experience between decision–makers in the area of virtual campus developments

Consequently, several projects and initiatives in the field have emerged. One example is the PBP-VC 'Promoting Best Practice in Virtual Campuses’ project, that started early 2007 and is aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the key issues and success factors underlying the implementation of virtual campuses. PBP-VC is working towards developing a practical framework to help guide the process of creating best practice in virtual campuses, as well as raising awareness of issues and approaches to creating sustainable virtual campuses.

In the same year also the Re.ViCa project was set-up and aiming to raise awareness and to redefine the concept of Virtual Campus in order for it to be applicable to the educational needs of today. Re.ViCa stands for “Reviewing (traces of) European Virtual Campuses”. The project brings together nine partners in the field that will use their privileged strategic positions to collect vital information and open it up for the wider community of the European Higher Education Area. Re.ViCa can amongst others build upon the partners’ experience with and involvement in Virtual Mobility/Virtual Campus projects (e.g. cEVU, e-LERU, VENUS, REVE, Victorious, BEING MOBILE, BENVIC…) and initiatives (e.g. Finnish Virtual University, UNINETTUNO, UkeUniversity,Open University of the Netherlands, FernUniversität in Hagen,…).

The Re.ViCa project is making an inventory and a systematic and critical review of cross-institutional Virtual Campus initiatives of the past decade within higher education at European, national and regional levels. The aim is to develop a useable definition of the concept of Virtual Campus and to suggest a categorisation which applies the theory and respects the differences between the initiatives. It will also draw up a historical overview of the evolution of the concept of the Virtual Campus and the societal context with which it is so closely linked. Following from the historical overview is also an inventory of European, national and regional initiatives of the past decade. Currently existing and operational Virtual Campuses, but also the legacy and impact of those Virtual Campus initiatives that have closed down or become dormant, will be looked at. Distinction is made between 'major', 'notable', and 'failed' e-learning initiatives.

Anna-Kaarina: please be careful with this MELI list, current list is organisational not functional, and I am not sure whether the success stories really meet all these aspects! The list does not take into account e.g. the learners view at all. I would merely describe that re.vica is searching for the definisions.... which is there in the article aldeady.

A major e-learning initiative (MELI) is defined as follows:

• It requires at least one per cent of the institutional budget

• It affects or is planned to affect at least 10% of students

• The person responsible (as the majority proportion of his/her job) for leading that initiative has a rank and salary at least equivalent to that of a university full professor at Head of Department level, or equivalent rank of administrative or technical staff (usually an Assistant Director) - and ideally that of Dean or full Director

• There is a specific department to manage and deliver the initiative with a degree of autonomy from mainstream IT, library, pedagogic or quality structures

• Sharing of knowledge and know-how through meetings with experts, policy and decision makers and the organisation of discussion sessions at major e-learning conferences such as the EDEN and the Online Educa Berlin conferences

• Progress of the initiative is overseen by a Steering Group chaired by one of the most senior managers in the institution

• Progress of the initiative is overseen by a Steering Group chaired by one of the most senior managers in the institution

• The initiative is part of the institution's business plan and is not totally dependent on any particular externally funded project

• There are strategy, planning and operational documents defining the initiative (including its costs and benefits) and regularly updated

• The head of the institution (Vice-Chancellor, Rector, President, etc) will from time to time in senior management meetings be notified of progress and problems with the initiative

• The head of the institution is able to discuss the initiative in general terms with equivalent heads of other institutions - in the way that he/she would be able to discuss a new library, laboratory or similar large-scale development.

A notable e-learning initiative (NELI) is defined as one which is interesting in a country (e.g. to other universities, ministries, EU, analysts etc) and satisfies many but not all of the above criteria, or all the criteria but not at the same level.

A FELI is a failed e-learning initiative. Examples are the UKeUniversity and the Interactive University in Scotland.

These three different types of Virtual Campuses will be examined. To this end relevant parameters and success factors for evaluating and comparing are identified. Parameters will include environmental parameters (legislation, financing, educational structures, etc.), pedagogical approach, technology assessment, quality procedures, content production and relation to research activities, business models, organizational embedding, student and teacher support, accreditation procedures, language and culture.

In a second stage of the project in-depth discussions are organised to incorporate the input of different interest groups: including Virtual Campus management bodies, relevant networks, students, policy makers and a range of experts. This International Advisory Committee consists of European and non-European experts in the field of Virtual Campuses and is invited to comment on the findings of the Re.ViCa research during three key meetings where dialogue between all stakeholders is stimulated. This will also allow comparing European cases to selected non-European initiatives. Exchange of information, expert validation and sharing of good-practice from beyond the partnership and the continent itself will be helpful in identifying strengths and weaknesses common to European initiatives and to assess Europe's efforts in the light of experiences in totally different cultural contexts. Finally, a set of action points and guidelines for decision-makers are to be formulated that can be applied to ensure the realisation of successful European Virtual Campus initiatives.

Main results of Re.ViCa will be:

• A global benchmark overview

• Sharing of knowledge and know-how through meetings with experts, policy and decision makers and the organisation of discussion sessions at major e-learning conferences such as the EDEN and the Online Educa Berlin conferences

• A manual with guidelines, best practices, recommendations

All results and information gathered during the project (manual, desktop research results, outcomes of the workshops, etc.) will be collected on the project wiki. It will be a platform where both experts, policy makers, providers, sponsors and key actors can meet and stimulate dialogue.

As such, Re.ViCa’s added value lies not in the creation of a new Virtual Campus but in the foundations it will lay for all future or current initiatives which can learn from past and current initiatives. It will provide trustworthy research results, in which feedback from all stakeholder groups has been incorporated and which can be used as standard literature for all ongoing and future initiatives. It will help to make the most out of the knowledge gained by each initiative, to foresee hidden traps and to find ways of incorporating successful features of the initiative in the university structure itself, should the Virtual Campus in its original form have to be discontinued. Its aim is to avoid a situation whereby every new Virtual Campus proponent has to start from the beginning, and will provide them instead with a validated and comprehensive view of the Virtual Campus landscape in Europe as evidenced in the last decade. Roadmaps for establishing virtual campuses will be promoted. Anna-Kaarina: replicable sounds for me too strong, maybe some of the failures are caused by replicating and not taking into account the local or environmental factors.

Exchange of information, expert validation and sharing of good-practice beyond the partnership about Virtual Campuses is the key objective of this project. Re.ViCa aims to look at the past of Virtual Campus initiatives to enhance their future.

Conclusion

In this paper we have first described the concepts of Virtual Campus and Virtual Mobility and referred to several past and present projects and initiatives in the field. Through these previous experiences, we have noticed a shift of concepts: from the "well-defined" clear, 100% online Virtual Campus to Virtual Mobility, whereby the more traditional universities open their borders and “blended models” gain more and more interest. The K.U.Leuven case clearly demonstrates this evolution. To raise awareness and redefine the concept of Virtual Campus in order for it to be applicable to the educational needs of today, the Re.ViCa project has been set-up. The purpose of this project is to make an inventory and systematic review of cross-institutional Virtual Campus initiatives of the past decade within higher education at European, national and regional levels. Outputs will include a set of action points that can be applied to ensure the realisation of successful European Virtual Campus initiatives.

Acknowledgement

The Re.ViCa project is funded with support from the European Commission under the Lifelong Learning Programme (Erasmus – Virtual Campuses). Project partners are: EuroPACE ivzw (BE), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE), Audiovisual Technologies, Informatics and Telecommunications bvba (ATiT) (BE); FernUniversität in Hagen (DE); Teknillinen korkeakoulu, Koulutuskeskus Dipoli (Helsinki University of Technology, Lifelong Learning Institute Dipoli) (FI); Université Louis Pasteur (FR); Nyugat-Magayarországi Egyetem (University of West Hungary) (HU); Università Telematica Internazionale UNINETTUNO (International Telematic University UNINETTUNO) (IT); Matic Media Ltd (UK).

References

1. BENVIC Benchmarking of Virtual Campuses: http://www.benvic.odl.org

2. BIJNENS, H., BOUSSEMAERE, M., RAJAGOPAL, K., OP DE BEECK, I., VAN PETEGEM, W. (EDS.) (2006) European Cooperation in Education through Virtual Mobility. A Best-Practice Manual. Leuven, November 2006. http://www.being-mobile.net/pdf/BM_handbook_final.pdf

3. BIJNENS, K., MICHIELSENS, C., RAJAGOPAL, K. (EDS.) Virtual Mobility Manual. How to teach internationally from your own desk. Leuven, December 2006. http://reve.europace.org/drupal

4. BOONEN, A., VAN PETEGEM, W. (EDS.) (2007) European Networking and Learning for the Future. The EuroPACE Approach. 2007, Garant, Antwerp-Apeldoorn.

5. CONNOLLY T., STANSFIELD M. (2007) Towards the development of a framework for promoting best practice in virtual campus. Proceedings of the EADTU 2006 Annual conference. Lisbon, November 8-9, 2007.

6. CULLEN, J.D., with contributions from ARENAS M.B., HAYWOOD J., HAYWOOD D. (2008) Peer Review Handbook. http://cevug.ugr.es/massive/outputs.html

7. Elearningeuropa.info glossary http://www.elearningeuropa.info/main/index.php?page=glossary

8. e-LERU A Virtual Campus for European Universities http://www.e-leru.leru.org/

9. EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2001) Detailed work programme on the follow-up of the objectives of education and training systems in Europe. http://www.aic.lv/bolona/Bologna/contrib/EU/workprog.pdf

10. EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2006) Lifelong Learning Programme: Part I - Priorities of the 2007 General Call for proposals (EAC/61/2006) http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/llp/call/part1_en.pdf. p.10.

11. EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2008) Lifelong Learning Programme. General Call for Proposals 2008-2010 Part 1 - Strategic Priorities http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/llp/call08/prior_en.pdf. p.15.

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12. HAAKE, J.M., LUKOSCH, S., RAJAGOPAL, K., VAN PETEGEM, W. (2006) Models for Implementing Virtual Studies Abroad. Proceedings of the EDEN 2006 Annual Conference. Vienna, June 14-17, 2006, p. 273-278.

13. MASSIVE Modelling Advice and Support Services to Integrate the Virtual Component in Higher Education: http://cevug.ugr.es/massive

14. Open University of the Netherlands: http://www.ou.nl/eCache/DEF/36.html

15. RAJAGOPAL, K., VAN PETEGEM, W., VERJANS, S. (2006) A Need for Virtual Mobility in Mainstream Education; Case Study of the Erasmus Mundus Programmes at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Proceedings of the EDEN 2006 Annual Conference. Vienna, June 14-17, 2006, p. 284-289.

16. REVE Real Virtual Erasmus http://reve.europace.org

17. REYNOLDS S., RAJAGOPAL K., SCHREURS B. (2008) Virtual Seminars. Creating new opportunities for universities. http://www.venus-project.net

18. Re.ViCa Reviewing (traces of) Virtual Campuses http://www.europace.org/rdrevica.php

19. SEUFERT, S. (2001) E-learning Business Models, Strategies, Success Factors and Best Practice Examples In FILLIPPI, R., WANKEL,R. (EDS.) Rethinking Management Education for the 21st century. Greenwich: Info Age Press.

20. VAN DEN BRANDEN, J., OPSOMER A. (2004) Manual for a Collaborative European Virtual University. Report cEVU project. Leuven, January 2004. http://www.europace.org/articles%20and%20reports/cEVU_manual.pdf