Nätuniversitet möten

[David Richardson]

Jag har nyss fått ett e-post från Per Westman vid Nätuniversitet:

"Nästa webbmöte har inte annonserats ut, men du är välkommen att delta

om du vill.

Martin Burman från vår internationella kommitté ska prata om

Kommitténs resa till Indien."

Alla andra är också välkomna.

Jag skriver igen så fort jag vet vilken dag och tid. Mötet äger rum via Karlstad universitets Marratech server (jag eller Per kan beskriva hur man gör för att koppla upp sig)

[David Richardson]

Det blir imorgon, 29/4, kl. 13-14! Om någon vill vara med, så maila till mig direkt, och jag beskriver hur.

Jag fick även den här sammanfattningen från Per W.:

Summary:

India with a population of just over one billion spread over

a large continent made up of 28 states is in very great need

of higher education for its future development. From the time

of its declaration of independence in 1947, India has seen

its higher education grow at a rapid rate. During 2004

approximately eleven million students were participating

in the higher education system and about 20 per cent of

these are distance students. India has had long experience

of distance education, which is now at a high competence

level. Distance education is an important tool for providing

education to many at a low cost. Thanks to the efforts put into

distance education in India, it has been possible to recruit

new groups to participate in higher education. India has

the largest university in the world, the Indira Gandhi Open

University (IGNOU) with 1.2 million students (2004). This

university has been an important motor and coordinating

power for the development of distance education in India.

IGNOU produces educational material for its own courses

and study programmes, but other universities also use this

material.

Wide-band expansion is very limited. The percentage

of Indian households that either have computers or access

to computers is very low. These two factors have a limiting

effect and because of this the major part of distance education

is in the form of modern correspondence courses where the

material is distributed to the students via letters, CD-ROM

and such like.

There is an expanded network of study centres that are

equipped with computers and videoconference equipment.

Lectures, training programmes and study guidance are also

given at these study centres. Many lectures are broadcast

to study centres via wide band from various studios in India.

Because of the poor expansion of wide band, lectures are also

mediated with the help of satellite transmission.

The Indian universities and companies engaged in the educational

sector, which we visited, are extremely interested in

establishing educational activities in Europe, including the

Nordic countries. They are also very open for collaboration

with European universities.

Powerfully developed is the cooperation between the Indian

universities, research institutes and industry. Companies

participate in various educational programmes with qualifi ed

experts, trainee posts, assistance with degree preparations, etc.

Many Indian universities provide extensive skills development

for industry. There are also examples of companies given the

opportunity to open a university.

If Sweden is to work for increasing the number of foreign

students, there must be a comprehensively improved

marketing of the education and research provided by

Swedish universities and university colleges. To attract high

performance students from abroad, Swedish institutes

of higher education must be seen to be international. Our

view is that the Swedish universities and university colleges

need support and assistance in order to be able to successfully

market and sell higher education courses on the global

educational market. Such a support would be to have strategic

alliances with either foreign universities or major educational

companies who are already in this market. Throughout our

journey in India, we met both universities and educational

companies who have been successful actors for many years

on the international market and who are very interested in

a cooperation.

[David Richardson]

Det var ett intressant möte med 17 deltagare från olika håll i Sverige.

Indien är tydligen en expansiv marknad för högre utbildning, och det är fler där som vill ha kontakt med Sverige. Hör av er till mig om ni vill ha en längre referat av mötet.

Nästa möte blir på 13/5 då Johnny Widén från Luleå tekniska universitetet pratar om synkrona nätbaserade möten (han har nyss varit inblandad i en stor enkät/undersökning om ämnet).