Building and testing a virtual university

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Abstract

As the number of students entering higher education increases along with the requirement for greater cost efficiency, the potential benefits of computer based learning (CBL) and computer based assessment (CBA) are great. The diversification into distance learning, community education and industrial training which higher education is currently exploring can also be enabled through the adoption of CBL and CBA, especially if they can be delivered over networks which reach into homes, offices and factories as well as educational institutions. Clyde Virtual University (CVU) is a test bed for exploring, developing and evaluating techniques for delivering learning materials, supporting collaborative learning and carrying out assessment over the Internet. CVU was conceived in the Summer of 1995. The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) provided funds under its “Use of the MANs Initiative” from Autumn 1995 to Summer 1996. This paper reports on CVU’s first year of operation. During the year an extensive educational Web site has been designed and implemented. This report details the enhancements that were made to a basic Web server to create an educational site. It discusses the problems and design issues encountered when creating educational Web-based material. It examines the subject areas where courseware titles have been converted for Web delivery. Finally it concludes with CVU’s plans for the future now that it has been awarded a further 2 years funding from SHEFC.

Introduction

The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) under its Use of the MANs Initiative (UMI) has so far funded Clyde Virtual University (CVU). In June 1995 SHEFC announced that UMI phase 1 would fund projects that exploited the recently established Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). CVU is a collaborative project between Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Paisley and Strathclyde Universities and is leading the way in the collaborative development of learning technology delivered across high-speed networks. This paper is a report on the phase of the project that ran from Autumn 1995 until Summer 1996. As intended, an infrastructure has been put in place which is proving to be a stimulus for further developments in a range of technologies enhancing aspects of teaching, learning, assessment, evaluation and administration.

Further information and CVU itself can be found at http://cvu.strath.ac.uk/.

Section snippets

Personnel

Funding was initially requested for a part-time project manager and a full-time multimedia specialist to work on the project. The part-time project manager position was split between two individuals with complementary skills. Their main roles have been as follows:

Conclusions and future plans

CVU has successfully converted courseware in a number of subject areas for delivery to any student or staff member with access to ClydeNet. This material has been installed on the CVU server and will remain available for years to come. As anticipated, other projects and individuals have expressed the desire to make use of CVU expertise and hardware in the development and archiving of further materials.

The assessment engine has enabled interactive elements to be added to courseware modules as

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