The Report of the E-Learning Advisory Group March 2002 4/14
Steve Maharey
Associate Minister of Education (Tertiary Education)
The Report of the E-Learning Advisory Group March 2002 4/14
Recommendations
That the Government provides proactive leadership in the development of an
e-learning strategy for the tertiary sector. This can be demonstrated in the
first instance by:
encouraging collaboration between Government agencies, tertiary providers,
iwi and other stakeholders including private enterprise
ensuring that future policy development is informed by development and
evaluation of strategic options for e-learning, through use of tools such as
scenario planning
commissioning a project to examine the cost structures required to support
e-learning and promote business models that will assist institutions to make
appropriate investments in e-learning
asking TEC to ensure that documentation of an e-learning strategy is a
requirement in institutional Charters and Profiles
recommending that Education New Zealand create a working group to develop an
appropriate strategy for promoting and developing e-learning opportunities for
the international market.
That the Government recognises its responsibilities under the Treaty of
Waitangi to ensure that Maori participate equally at all levels of e-learning
and, in particular, encourage:
establishment of a Kaupapa Maori group to work with Kaupapa Maori-based
programmes using e-learning
development of Internet resources and other digital material for a Maori
audience
research into key areas of Maori development in the field of e-learning
professional development for Maori tertiary practitioners.
That Government ensure appropriate scoping and provision of funding for the
phased implementation of the following three initiatives:
the establishment of an e-learning leadership centre through funding a
consortium, made up of tertiary education providers with appropriate expertise,
to coordinate the development of e-learning research and capability within the
tertiary education sector and manage both the portal and the Collaborative
Development Fund as set out below
the creation of a central portal capable of being developed in stages to
achieve maximum benefits with managed risk, the first stage being an electronic
point of entry for people to access information on New Zealand's tertiary
education sector and e-learning opportunities within it
the establishment of a Collaborative Development Fund (CDF) as a pool of
funding for tertiary providers to access capital in order to develop e-learning
capability.
That quality assurance for e-learning meet the same standards as those set
for conventional education and that New Zealand institutions develop a voluntary
code of practice or 'quality mark' in elearning that would assist students to
know which providers have agreed to that code of practice.
That tertiary funding continue to be provided at the same level regardless
of the learning mode.
That infrastructure requirements for access to e-learning initiatives be
addressed by:
building on bandwidth developments in New Zealand's school system and
encouraging the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Education to
achieve closer links between the school and tertiary sectors in e-learning
initiatives
the further development of learning centres.
That the Government ensure that the review of the Copyright Act 1994 meets
the needs of students and educational institutions in a digital environment.
That the Government establish processes to ensure that intellectual property
issues and particularly the management of intellectual property rights are
understood and appropriately addressed within the tertiary sector.
