The project was developed in the framework of the Socrates Programme of the European Commission ( and partially funded by the EC). The Dec eLEARN started in late Autumn 2002 and due to the SARS epidemic outbreak, it was delayed for half a year during 2003 when the epidemic made unsafe for the planned activities and travels to take place. The Final Report was presented to the European Commission in May 2004.
The mission of this project was to develop a common EU-China e-learning model including content development strategies and methodologies to improve the design, development and implementation of virtual lifelong learning programmes for EU and Chinese markets. The original aim of the project was to pave the way to the development of new education and training programs applicable to both the EU and Chinese environments, bridging the current gap between EU and Chinese open and distance education models and strategies.
Partners
- International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) - Norway/Spain
- Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) - Spain
- National Education Examinations Authority (NEEA) - China
- University of Sao Paulo (USP) - Brazil
Summary of the report presented to the European Commission in May 2004:
Aims, targets and objectives:
The mission, targets and objectives as established in the original proposal were adjusted along the way, taking into account the partners’ different backgrounds and development stages regarding e-learning. Originally, it was ambitiously planned to develop a EU-China common virtual elearning model. But in the course of the project implementation, the partners realised that in essence this approach was not the most appropriate one given the situation, the sheer size of NEEA’s system (that caters for millions of students) and the project's approved budget. Hence, there was a switch to another model based more on transfer of knowledge and experiences from the European partner that had already been developing e-learning for 10 years to the Chinese partner that was entering into the field. This step was helpful and necessary in order to be able to define parameters and needs based on practical experiences that would eventually lead towards the virtualisation of the NEEA’s learning system, which is a very complex process with several dimensions involved. Therefore, the virtual e-learning platform of UOC (iAula) was adapted in collaboration, and later tested in China. In this process, the partners developed a high degree of interaction that resulted in better cultural understanding regarding their respective institutions, situation and expectations concerning the project itself and future cooperation. Based on that, a prototype was successfully implemented through a pilot test in China (Dec 2003- January 2004) for training of trainers. The targets changed but the partners agree that good results, those planned and those not originally planned, were achieved. What is more, the partners have developed a number of new topics such as the design of didactic materials for a virtual environment, training of real students, continuous evaluation tools, collaboration on digital libraries (USP-NEEA), etc. Strong cooperation and confidence ties are established, facilitating the road of future collaboration that is already foreseen.
From March to July 2004 a second pilot was running in a course of International Economy for 150 students in China. The preliminary evaluation has been very positive.
Project Activities and Work Programme:
The activities were organised in three successive work-packages besides the project management work package that lasted throughout the whole project life. There was also an overlap among the work packages (i.e. WP1, WP2 and WP3) in order to give flexibility for interaction among experts working in different work packages. Early on, the partners saw a number of synergies and possibilities that they wanted to explore even though that went beyond the scope, budget and duration of this European project. Therefore they decided to carry on with a number of “extension” activities, in addition to the originally planned ones, that were directly related to the project but entirely financed by the partners.
Project Work Packages:
- WP0: Management and Dissemination
- WP1: EU-Chinese Virtual Education Model Definition
- WP2: EU-Chinese Learning Programme Structures and Learning Materials
- WP3: EU-Chinese E-learning Platform & Tools
In the course of the project life and until April 2003, the foreseen schedule was kept at a satisfactory level of accomplishment, even though some delays took place regarding the deliverables, especially due to the workload of the partners. As mentioned previously, the SARS outbreak influenced heavily the working schedule, at that time the project development was at the end of WP2/starting of WP3. During about half a year all activities were put on hold, since the planning training of trainers and of technicians required face-to-face meetings that were not considered safe to take place at that point. Activates were reinitiated in September-October 2003 and besides the mentioned trainings, there was a training of authors that later will be in charge of develop elearning materials (part of extension activities). Besides these unfortunate circumstances due to SARS that were beyond the partners’ control, the overall activities were implemented without too many divergences from the original plan and in 18 months.
From the beginning, the partners showed a high level of commitment to the success of the project. As the project started generating concrete results and the degree of knowledge about each other increased, the institutions involved realised that the potential of the project went well beyond the original expectations and budgets. Synergies were found and the wish to establish an ever stronger collaboration lead to the decision by the partners to develop a number of activities that were not foreseen in the original project, but were directly related to it. All these “extension” activities were financed entirely by the partners involved, many of them are still going on at the present and the partners have already designed plans for further cooperation.