In Global
Peace Through The Global University System
2003 Ed. by T. Varis, T.
Utsumi, and W. R. Klemm
University of Tampere, Hameenlinna, Finland
Open University of
Catalonia (UOC)
The Open University of Catalonia (Universitat Oberta
de Catalunya - UOC) was created in Barcelona, in 1995. It was the result of an initiative of
the Government of Catalonia in answer to a social demand for a Catalan distance
university and within the Catalan university system (Kiselyova,
2002). Consequently, the UOC emerged from the political affirmation of the desire for academic "equality" of a stateless nation, with a language spoken by about ten million people, within the EU framework.
Although the origins of the UOC are political and rooted in a national identity, it could have not been established without the complete trust of the political system to the person in charge of leading and shaping the project: Gabriel Ferrate. Perhaps this unusual origin explains
its success. With twenty years of experience as a university Rector, Mr Ferraté laid the foundations for the construction of a new "distance" university model, which he himself termed "without distances," thus making possible the ubiquity of teaching/learning on the basis of the asynchrony provided by the Internet connection.
Although the starting point
of the UOC is local, its organizational concept and the impact of ICT have
created a global system that can be run anywhere.
The UOC is an innovative Web-centered virtual
organisation, which from the very beginning relies on the intensive use of
information technologies, not only for delivering its courses and conceiving
and developing its learning materials, but also for its management and internal
working.
The specificity of the model lies in its ability to combine the three determinant factors of e-learning, pedagogy, technology and organization, according to the needs and requirements of today's students. To begin with, students
(life-long learners) are placed at the centre of the learning process (Figure
1). Pedagogy deals with the educational
approach that we can implement using technologies. It could be either centered on the learning materials (self-learning) or on the student's interaction. Technology enables the different possibilities to establish
the educational interaction possible: synchronous (time and place overlap) or
asynchronous (no overlap between time and place). And organization provides the student with the strategic,
managerial and functional aspects that make possible the learning-teaching
process (libraries, student services, finances, etc). Management and strategic planning are key factors in the
successful use of ICT in higher education (see different reports in www.utwente.nl/cheps, www.open.ac.uk/cheri/index.htm, www.maple.ubc.ca).
Figure
1. Interactive factors of
e-learning
The construction
of the UOC model is based on a strong organizational leadership. The organization has a clear operating
model, which is present in the different parts of the learning provision
processes. The organizational dynamics establish the construction of the elements of the education service's chain of value. The organisational
model, aimed at satisfying the needs of students, is process-based and its
quality is monitored through quantitative and qualitative mechanisms.
Unlike other academic organizational leadership models, based on the "ownership" and "selective distribution" of knowledge, the UOC bases its organizational leadership on knowledge as a "project", i.e., on the construction of an open and flexible organizational model, based on the institution's own vision and capable of being produced on a cooperation network and of being financially sustainable and global.
The innovation
within the educational model of the UOC not only relies on giving the student a
central role, but in allowing flexibility and personalisation (Duart, 2001).
Flexibility gives students the possibility of organising their own pace
of study and of accessing all the basic elements in the learning process from
anywhere and at any time.
Personalisation occurs with the possibility of adapting the contents and
the learning process to their prior knowledge.
The role of the
teacher (either consultants, in charge of the contents or tutors, in charge of
mentoring) is crucial in the virtual learning process (Ernest,
2003). The learning process is
the result of the coordination between the processes of content creation and
the teaching activity.
Providing the student with access to learning anywhere
and at any time, is the basis of the UOC technological model (see: www.uoc.edu/mirador/). The Virtual Campus is the main space of
communication, where the information transmission, the learning process and the
personal relations take place. It
also gives the students access to all general services, providing them with a
replica of the entire academic and non-academic services found on a
conventional university campus.
In such a
stimulating atmosphere, the members of the virtual community establish
relationships that not only facilitate, encourage and guarantee easy access to
knowledge but also enrich the university life.
The construction of the university space on the Web -- Virtual Campus -- is the result of integrating the elements that enable the pedagogical model application (interaction between the agents participating in the educational process) into the institutional system (free and complete accessibility to the elements complementary to the teaching process -- library, administration, community, etc.).
In the words of a
document titled The Vision of the UOC Strategic Plan for 2003-2005: "The UOC must become a representative university in leading an international network of universities which, by means of an advanced global virtual campus, welcoming students and professors from all around the world to share studies or research. The UOC must go on being
recognized for the quality of its learning procedures and for facilitating the
access to training and education throughout life. The Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), the UOC centre for research, will become the main node of an international net of research centres specialised in studying the knowledge society."
The same strategic plan establishes the Mission: "The UOC's mission, a university emerged from the knowledge society, is to provide people with lifelong learning and education. Our essential purpose
is to enable people to achieve their educational goals, taking into account
their personalized needs and making the best use of their efforts. With this aim, we use the new
information technologies, which allow us to break down the barriers of space and
time and to adapt our educative design to each student's individual
circumstances. Students,
professors and staff interact and cooperate in the virtual campus, building up
a university community that makes use of the Net in order to create, organize,
share and divulge knowledge. At UOC we intend to promote people's creativity and society's progress by fostering research specialised on the knowledge society and by establishing alliances with other universities and institutions around the world that share goals and values, in order to build a global space of knowledge."
The University for
the Knowledge Society needs to offer a high quality education that allows
people to learn throughout their lives according to each individual
circumstance. To achieve this aim,
academic cooperation networks are established based on the exchange and
combined creation of knowledge.
The following are two mechanisms that the UOC uses to establish academic
cooperation: internationalisation and the E-Learning UNESCO Chair.
In its efforts to
become a global university, the UOC need not lose its own identity and
culture. On the contrary,
internationalisation means assuming the cultural diversity and multilingualism
in each and every activity carried out by the university. Likewise, the UOC must be present, by
itself or through its allies, in different countries, forums and international
organisations that facilitate the accomplishment of its mission.
Respect for cultures, one's own and others, is the basis of the internationalisation processes. To this effect, the
following premises for international cooperation include:
E-learning UNESCO Chair
The agreement signed (4/11/2002) for the creation of the UNESCO Chair in E-learning states in Article 2 that "the aim of the Chair will be to promote a comprehensive system of activities for research, training, information and documentation on the use of information and communications technologies in education so as to promote equal opportunities in the knowledge society." The Chair will constitute an instrument to aid collaboration
amongst high-level and internationally renowned researchers, and teachers at
universities and other institutions in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and
other regions around the world
(see: www.uoc.edu/catedra/unesco)
In line with this
aim, the UOC has established the UNESCO Chair's aims in terms of the following
principles:
The
e-learning UNESCO Chair proposes actions along three main lines:
According with the
philosophies and principles of Global University System (GUS) the
new-generation university needs an open and a global sensitivity model. It is
not possible to have a new and transformational university model without really
organizational and moral leadership. The UOC e-learning UNESCO Chair starts its
activities with a specific workshop addressed to the university leaders helping
them how to establish a concrete space to share knowledge and to make possible
the organizational collaborative learning. The cooperation between universities
from different cultures and languages must be built with the common commitment
on sharing experiences and knowledge. This way, we can build a new open and transformational
university framework based in a trans-cultural unity in difference.
The quality
education in the XXI century requires not only a specific analysis of the
academic activities but a new concept of collaboration and respect for
diversity. By promoting the quality education, GUS promotes an integration of the social,
economic, political, and spiritual insights. The new university model exhibits
respect for freedom and dignity by giving many cultures the opportunity to
express themselves in their own best terms.
The UOC specializes its research activity in the
study of the use of information and communication technologies in the various
fields of knowledge and sectors of society, as well as the impact in each.
The analyses of
the changes and phenomena that characterize the information society require
transcending the traditional barriers between
disciplines, since one of the fundamental issues is precisely the
interconnection among diverse social, technical-scientific, economic, political,
and cultural systems (see www.uoc.edu/in3).
The research activity at IN3 (Internet
Interdisciplinary Institute) is:
The UOC aims to be active in the dissemination
of knowledge and emerging trends on Information Society, publishing national
and international relevant experiences of the intensive use of ICT and sharing
its own knowledge being created.
To this purpose, it uses all the possibilities of the Internet, its
presence worldwide and its editorial capacity, experimenting with new formats
and channels (see: www.uoc.edu).
The potential of
UOC for dissemination can be manifested of a specific presence model on the web
has led to a significant recognition in the number of visits. In April 2003, there were nearly 4.5
million visitors to the UOC portal, of which more than half the visits were
people outside the UOC community.
(see traffic details at: www.alexa.com) Besides institutional information, the
UOC publishes its own and other articles relating to the Information Society.
New challenges for the UOC, and for other universities, be they the
traditional model of distance universities or conventional universities, are
marked by the need to adapt to the constantly changing demands of the
information and knowledge society.
This process of adaptation will be possible based on the reformulation of the university model and on the acceptance of the processes of globalisation in which today's society is immersed.
Today, rethinking the university is a must. The traditional university model
is obsolete. The Information
Society calls for the university to come up to date to meet the needs of the
citizens of today and of tomorrow.
New realities such as the UOC are emerging on the different
continents. And these realities
are constructed from open models based on inter-university cooperation.
The bases of the new university model are constructed on the basis of
three axes: a) quality of teaching, b) cooperation in the creation of
university programmes, c) freedom and independence of academic research. These three axes must be coordinated
through a relational leadership based on the application of strategic institutional
plans.
Thinking of the quality of teaching offered by the university is
fundamental for the organisation of the university model itself. The student is not only the centre of
the educational process, but also the centre of the entire university model. Student satisfaction will stem from both the facilitation of a flexible learning process, adaptable to a changing environment, and lifelong learning based on -- but not limited to - professional skills.
Cooperation in the creation of university programmes embraces not only
the academic world but the professional world, too. The university must enter into a dialogue as broadly and
openly as possible with the world of business in the same way that it must
collaborate internally. The academic programmes of today's society must provide a response to the current demands of the job market and predict those of the future. Programmes based on classical knowledge
or on the repetition of outdated models are no longer valid. An example of that --see Figure 2- is the UOC curricula evolution over the last six years.
Figure 2: Change in offer of courses: UOC' response to new economy
Academic research must enjoy the necessary freedom to attain the rigour
and objectivity required. Whereas
applied research may be the basis for the maintenance of the competitiveness of
companies and countries, fundamental research in universities must ensure that
objective models of analysis are suitable for the interpretation of present
models. As a research institution, the university not only must retain its research independence and objectivity, but also guarantee that its application is used for the assessment, analysis and improvement of today's society.
The Information Society University must show global awareness. This means that it must be built with
the capacity for global thinking and response. Thinking only of the immediate or adjacent community is no
longer valid. ICT in general and e-learning in particular bring the university into our homes or put it into everyone's pocket. Thinking of content
ownership is not valid either. The Net is full of content that is significant and necessary for the construction of today's knowledge. The
university is not simply its teachers and its library as it was during the
Middle Ages. Today, the university
is a global network of content, teachers, researchers, students, and services
accessible from anywhere in the world, at any time.
Global awareness is not easy to attain for an institution, given that
this often implies the sensation of a loss of power and importance in its own
society. There are universities in
Europe with over six centuries of history, which were created as part of the
scholastic European culture.
Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, these
became part of national cultures.
Now, universities manifest the local-global interaction that
characterizes our world. On the
one hand, they relate to the identity of the societies where they are
rooted. One the other hand, they
relate to the global system of science and learning.
As a new-generation university, the UOC, created in the midst of the Information Society, must be able to meet a wide array of new educational and technological challenges. It must be able to take advantage of its organisational flexibility, not only as a competitive edge, but also as a determining factor fundamental for the establishment of future strategic alliances. The path to be taken can no longer be taken alone. The future is in the hands of institutions capable of cooperating and building together. We must rethink and reform the structures of our universities, instilling them with global awareness for this to become possible.
Duart, Josep M. (2000) Formacion universitaria por medio de la
web: un modelo integrador para el aprendizaje superior. In Duart, J. M., Sangrý, A. Apender en la virtualidad, Barcelona, Gedisa. Retrieved June 12, 2003 from: http://www.uoc.edu/dt/20173/index.html
Ernest, Pauline (2003) Factors which facilitate effective on-line
learning. English courses at the
UOC. Retrieved June 12, 2003 from: http://www.uoc.edu/dt/20202/index.html
Kiselyova, Emma.
(2002) The Open University of Catalunya: A European Virtual University
Initiative. In Dutton, W.,
Loadter, B.A. Digital
Academe. The New Media and
Institutions of Higher Education and Learning, London, Routledge.
Author Biographical Sketches
|
Josep M. Duart, Ph. D.
International Projects Office Director
E-Learning UNESCO Chair Co-ordinator
Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
Avda. Tibidabo, 39
08035 -- Barcelona
Tel: + 34
932532323;
Fax: +34
9344175129
E-Mail: jduart@uoc.edu
Web: http://www.uoc.edu/
|
|
Josep M. Duart, with a Ph. D. in Education from the Universidad Ramon Llull and an MBA from ESADE Business
School, has taught at various levels in the educational system, including
university-level. He is currently teaching in virtual education on the UOC's Information Society doctorate course, led by Doctor Manuel Castells.
He is Director of the UOC's International Projects Office. Until April 2002, he was the Academic Director of the UOC's Latin American Division and coordinated projects in the UOC's Academic Department. He has
participated as expert consultant advising several Spanish and Latin American
universities and training centres on the application of on line teaching
methodologies. He is Assistant Director of Edu Lab, the UOC's educational innovation laboratory, and co-author of the postgraduate programme in "Designing educational materials for virtual learning environments." He manages
and collaborates on e-learning research projects focusing on learning methodologies,
quality and ethical values. He
also participates in specialist business e-learning forums devoted especially
to the organisation and management of quality in on line training. He has published a number of books,
with his most recent being: La organizaciÛn Ètica de la escuela y la
transmisiÛn de valores (1999) [The ethical
organisation of the school and the conveying of values]; Aprenentatge i
virtualitat (1999) [Learning and
virtuality]; Aprender en la virtualidad
(2000) [Learning in virtuality].
He is co-director of the "Education and New Technologies" collection published by Gedisa y Ediuoc. He
is coordinator of the UOC E-Learning UNESCO Chair.
|
Emma Kiselyova
Head
of International Relations
Open University of Catalonia (UOC)
Avda. Tibidabo, 39
08035 -- Barcelona
Tel: + 34
932532310;
Fax: +34
9344175129
E-Mail: ekiselyova@uoc.edu
Web: http://www.uoc.edu/
|
|
Emma Kiselyova, M.A. (Novosibirsk University), is Head of International Relations at
UOC (Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya) in Barcelona.
Formerly,
she was Assistant Director of Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of
Sciences in Novosibirsk. She was
also Deputy Director of the Siberian International Center for Regional Studies,
Russian Academy of Sciences and Director of the Management School for regional
and business leaders in Siberia.
In 1993-2001 she was Research Associate at the University of California,
Berkeley.
She is author and co-author of several academic publications including "The Collapse of the Soviet Union: the View from the Information Society" (University of California,1995); "Russia in the Information Age" in: V. Bonell and G. Breslaw, Russia at the end of the 20th century, Westview Press,
2000; Russian Federalism and Siberian Regionalism, 1990-2000, in City, London, Number
2, 2000.
Since 2001, her work has focused on virtual learning in higher
education. In this area her last
publication is: The Open University of Catalunya: A European Virtual University
Initiative, in Digital Academe.
The New Media and Institutions of Higher Education and Learning, ed. by W. Dutton
and B.A. Loader, Routledge, 2002.
