Challenges of Global eLearning Varis, Tapio & Puukko, Mika (Eds.) Research Centre for Vocational Education University of Tampere http://tampub.uta.fi Layout: Sirpa Randell ISBN 978-951-44-8037-9 (pdf) CONTENTS Tapio Varis & Mika Puukko PREFACE 5 Tapio Varis GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND COMMUNICATION POLICY 7 Yihong Fan, Danyun Ke & Yan Chen THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL EXCELLENT COLLEGE COURSES (NECCS) AS OER IN CHINA 23 Adi Anani M-LEARNING: PROSPECTIVE ISSUES 39 Essi Ryymin WEB-BASED KNOWLEDGE BUILDING AND TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 53 Rainer Herpers, Manfred Kaul & Simone Bürsner WHY DON’T YOUNG ADULTS CHOOSE COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDY PROGRAMS? 85 Petri Lounaskorpi & Leena Vainio CHALLENGES FOR THE FINNISH VIRTUAL EDUCATION SYSTEM 103 Tapio Varis & Mika Puukko (Eds.) Challenges of Global eLearning University of Tampere, Research Centre for Vocational Education http://tampub.uta.fi, p. 5 PREFACE This publication contains selected full papers presented in the International Workshop “Ubiquitous ICT for sustainable education and cultural literacy”, held in Hämeenlinna, Finland, 6–7 October 2008. The summary proceedings of the workshop have been pub- lished by the University of Tampere, German-Jordanian University and the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO in 2009 at: http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/Kansainvaeliset_asiat/ kansainvaeliset_jaerjestoet/unesco/suomen_unesco-toimikunta/sutjulkaisuja?lang=fi The aim of these papers is to advance education for better technological and cultural literacy in the global context; identify the potential of ICT to advance and improve educa- tion; share knowledge and best practices about successful policies in global education; cre- ate venues of collaboration; and consolidate responsible communities for multi-literacies. The SECL workshop was a continuing effort of academics representing consortium in- stitutions from Finland, Germany, Sweden and Jordan and other countries collaborating on an EU Tempus funded project. The main objective of the project is to advance the frontiers of knowledge in ICT education as a core driver for Jordan national prosperity. The academ- ics envision a collaborative atmosphere among Jordan and EU institutions for advanced teaching, applied research, staff/student exchange, and development for better quality of ICT education and relevance knowledge in a socioeconomic development context. The contributions of this publication include experts of e-learning and communication in global educational contexts, who come from Sweden, Germany, China and Finland. The articles reflect a wide variety of current issues surrounding these themes. The contributions also reflect the activities of the UNESCO Chair in Global e-Learning of building Global University System (GUS). The report is a product of a series of collected efforts from academic research expertise put together with international leaders to better understand challenges in an era of global education and cultural dialogue. The report pro- vides findings and thoughts that could assist in enhancing mutual understanding among nations, and in building communities that will collectively lead to sustainable education in the global context. Our findings may be used to guide the efforts of governments and poli- cies leading to a future success for better cultural understanding. University of Tampere, Finland 3 February 2010 Tapio Varis Mika Puukko Tapio Varis & Mika Puukko (Eds.) Challenges of Global eLearning University of Tampere, Research Centre for Vocational Education http://tampub.uta.fi, pp. 7–22 GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY AND COMMUNICATION POLICY Professor Tapio Varis UNESCO Chair in Global e-Learning University of Tampere Research Centre for Vocational Education P.O. Box 229, FIN-13101 Hämeenlinna, Finland tel: +358 50 5679833 e-mail: [email protected] homepage: www.uta.fi/~titava ABSTRACT The concept of digital literacy in a broad sense is a way of thinking but it can also be under- stood as complementary to the concept of media education and even synonymous with media literacy. Digital literacy as media literacy aims to develop both critical understand- ing of and active participation in the media. Digital and media literacy is about develop- ing people’s critical and creative abilities. Using a computer requires diverse and complex previous knowledge. It also introduces the individual and humanity to new contexts, which demands mental, intellectual, profound and complex changes. In essence, digital literacy is a complicated process that consists of acquiring a new tekne, ability of art or craft. Cre- ativity and culture become essential raw materials for the knowledge economy.The Social Web refers to an open global distributed data sharing network similar to today’s World Wide Web, except instead of linking documents, the Social Web will link people, organiza- tions, and concepts. In an intercultural world communication necessarily mediates dif- ferent values and cultural behaviours. Great civilizations and cultures have very different patterns of communication and use different senses in a different way. In consequence, if a truly global information society is to be created, more attention should be given to the diversity of cultures and the co-existence of different civilizations and cultures. The UN Al- liance of Civilizations (AoC) Rapid Response Media mechanism, in close cooperation with UNESCO, is promoting these goals. Keywords: media literacy, digital competence, critical thinking, UN Alliance of Civilizations, UNESCO, European Union 8 Tapio Varis INTRODUCTION Globalisation is consolidated by the extraordinary invasion of education and learning by new technologies, especially the Internet. The development of communication and in- formation technologies makes it possible for distance teaching institutions to strengthen their position in the educational landscape. They also pave the way for lifelong education for all and at the same time are spreading the traditional universities, more and more of which use distance teaching methods in their activities, thereby making the distinction between the two types of institutions virtually meaningless. There are an increasing num- ber of university networks of this kind all over the world, and the use of computers in the learning process, access to the Internet by students as a vehicle for self-directed learning, educational broadcasting and video-conferencing are all being stepped by. Virtual education in Europe has mainly taking place within national level so far and there is not much transnational collaboration yet. National consortia with centre of ex- pertise has been formed in many countries (France, the Netherlands, Finland, etc) while some single e-universities and project-based national initiatives also exist. Public-private partnerships are also developing and there are new providers of content from corporate and media linked sources. The issues of quality assurance and accreditation as well as in- ternational strategic alliances are widely discussed. In Finland, the following progress has been made in recent years in introducing e-learn- ing to higher education: 1. Changes in management: Earlier the leadership of the university gave orders to de- partments and faculties to make progress in applying e-learning in their work. The solution then was further training of the faculty members. Now there are strategic services to the universities to have the departmental level involved. This middle-out approach involves the operative directors of departments and faculties. 2. The trend is to promote cooperation between the best research and teaching univer- sities so that materials of high quality will be available to all. A European learning portal be- tween universities is being constructed. In addition to the materials also tools for teaching are being developed. For example, questionnaires on how to start e-learning courses and quality instructions are well developed. These e-learning teachers’ skills are developed especially in the Universities of Applied Sciences. These skills cross traditional boundaries between disciplines. A key requirement for participation in e-learning teams is the ability to work effectively in a team whose members may have very different skills and back- grounds. The skills depend on the goals and nature of the training and the specific activi- ties it entails. Thus virtual training programmes, with a strong emphasis on digital learning materials involve a different set of activities and competencies than learning processes, where the emphasis is on the teacher/tutor (Vainio – Listemaa 2004). 3. Common support structures and credit system is being developed between selected European universities which would guarantee mobility and operative infrastructures. Stu- dents of any of the participating universities could participate in research-based educa- tion. Also search engines for the courses are being developed. The introduction of e-learning requires also new competencies. A competency is an area of knowledge or skill that is critical for producing key outputs. The competencies can be grouped into generic categories such as general, management, distribution method, Global knowledge society and communication policy 9 and presentation method which help illustrate the relationship among certain competen- cies. Transnational education is not necessarily international in the sense that this term has been used before in the context of international education. Courses and learning materi- als and environment are simply offered beyond