Public University Non for Profit Organization Under the Ministry of National Education

The HOU in brief Foundation in 1992 – Operation in 1997 Funded by the Greek State and the European Commission Main Activities  Distance education  Participation/coordination of research programs funded by the EU, Greek Ministries, Industry  Development of contemporary educational material  Organization of conferences  Member of the Universal Consortium, participating in the Universal Project ( a world-class brokerage service linking educators and trainers for the exchange and distribution of Learning Resourceswww.ist-univesral.org  The Future  Foundation of a publishing house  Building of new premises  Expansion to new areas of education  Expected growth in the number of students

School Structure SSTSHSSSSSAA Educational Material and Methodology Unit Internal Assessment Unit Computer Science Natural Sciences Greek Civilization European Civilization. Hispanic Language Business & Organization Admin Library SST: School of Science and Technology SHS: School of Human Sciences SSS: School of Social Sciences SAA: School of Applied Arts

The HOU in Numbers ( ) 1/2 Undergraduate students Postgraduate students5.262 PhD students31 Number of Courses offered24 Number of Modules offered151 Number of applications submitted for attendance during 2004 – Number of places offered for 2004 –

Graduates (2003-4)2.214 Subsidies awarded since 1998 (2003-4)1.251 Total of published titles (2003-4)461 Tutors950 Research Staff / Permanent Faculty23 Administration Staff107 New Courses to start in Total area covered by the University’s premises (12 buildings) m² The HOU in Numbers ( ) 2/2

Five Contact Sessions (Tutorials) per academic year in eight centres (Athens, Thessaloniki, Patra, Heraklion, Ioannina, Xanthi, Larissa, Pireaus) Four to six written assignments per academic year Distance consulting Final Exams in eight centres Tutor to student average ratio: 1/20 HOU Educational Features

Cities for face-to- face meetings

Computer Science Natural Sciences Business Administration European Civilization Hellenic Civilization Hispanic Language and Civilization Undergraduate Courses

Studies in Education Adult Education Teaching English as a Foreign Language Teaching German as a Foreign Language Teaching French as a Foreign Language Orthodox Theology Quality Assurance Environmental Design of Cities & Buildings Environmental Design of Infrastructure Construction Management Earthquake Engineering and Seismic Resistant Structures Masters in Information Systems Tourist Business Administration Health Care Administration Health National System Services Administration Banking Administration of Cultural Units Graphical Arts – Multimedia Postgraduate Courses

Waste management (2005) Advance Studies in Physics (2005) Catalysis and Environmental Protection (2005) Masters in Mathematics (2005) Master in Business Administration (2005) Postgraduate Courses (new)

Aim: To assist the students to a better understanding of the main teaching material. It utilizes, clarifies and enriches, if necessary, the already existing material. Tools are studied and usages of the new technologies are evaluated, in order to enhance the quality of the distance education provided. Types of Alternative Teaching Material Recorded sound material Recorded video material Webcast (Video-Lectures) Self-evaluation questions Educational software Multimedia, interaction maps Virtual labs Tele-labs Alternative / Supportive Teaching Material

HOU: A Quick Pictorial Tour

The Books volumes !

The Buildings in Patras 1 in Athens 6000 m 2

The Labs...

Basic e-Collaboration Technologies From module portals to the central students portal Students fora Video lectures (streaming video – webcasts) , Distribution Lists, e-Panels, etc.

From module portals to Module portal for INF10 “Introduction to Computer Science” Free area: contains information for the public Registered students area: Requires password

From module portals to Module portal for INF10 “Introduction to Computer Science”: Registered Students area Additional Education Material, projects, results, solutions, hints, etc.

The central HOU portal (based on IBM WebSphere) Available from 2004 The student logs in and then has access only to the areas (modules) that (s)he attends From module portals to

Students Fora Forum for a students’ group. The students may ask questions, or reply to questions asked by other students, or read the tutor responses. Here a student asks and the tutor responds, etc.

Web Casts Web casts (or video-Lectures) combine a series of transparencies with narrative and a simple video (mostly the speaker).

Virtual Classrooms The tutor explaining to 16 participants in this virtual classroom an algorithm. The students can see the slides and the tutor in the video frame.

A student asking a question - this image was extracted from the recording of the virtual classroom, available to all students of this group. Virtual Classrooms

Links The HOU main page at: The students portal at: The students fora at: