1 International Conference Nov. 19, 2009 Kaunas, Lithuania Net Based Courses in a Virtual Organizational Scheme Göran Karlsson KTH-Mechanics, School of Engineering Sciences Johan Thorbiörnson Rescource Centre for Net Based Education - RCN, School of Engineering Sciences

2 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Disposition KTH net based bridging courses (preparatory coursed). KTH net based course: Digital Competence and Learning - ICT and Pedagogy for the 21st Century. Rationalities for the bridging courses. Education for all. KTH-RCN, KTH Virtual Campus, MATH.SE. A new educational paradigm for large cohorts of students. Resources: The mashup university.

3 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Since 2004 KTH offers net based courses for large student cohorts. Every year approximately 20% of all higher education freshmen in Sweden study a nationally bridging course in mathematics or other subjects.

4 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Today there are about six such bridging courses and an additional 15 other courses, some of them in English and some offered in cooperation with other universities [ Most of these are in Swedish but some are in English [

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7 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania LC100N Digital Competence and Learning - ICT and Pedagogy for the 21st Century 8.0 ECTS Examples of course content The students of today – who are they and how do they think? What is digital competence och why is ICT important? ICT-pedagogical theories & research in the field. Web 2.0 ‐ how and to what are the free services on Internet used and to what?

8 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania How do the wervices function and what are the risks? Integrety and property rights on Internet. How are different LMS’s and VLE’s used? Virtual worlds, games and learning. Production and use digitla learning objects and open learning resources (OER’s). Source critiscism and use of different retrieval services.

9 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Discrepancies between Freshmen Actual Knowledge and Expected Knowledge Since 1997 the department of Mathematics at KTH has evaluated the discrepancies between freshmen actual knowledge of mathematics and the KTH faculty expectations. The course curriculum in the bridging courses is based on these discrepancies. This deficiency in pre-knowledge seems not to be limited to Sweden but seems today to be universal. Also the problem to take care of large cohorts of students is related to the concept of bridging courses, since a similar model can be applied.

10 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Problems in science teaching due to students’ poor understanding and preknowledge in math and physics. A too big gap between A-level math, physics and chemistry and initial level at physics courses at universities. Mostly this problem comes in hand with insufficient knowledge in mathematics. Much time must thus be used for low level basic teaching in first year courses before university level physics can be taught.

11 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania “Solution” A bridging course to raise the students’ know-ledge to a full university introductory level at the beginning of university studies and to increase students’ chances to pass courses at university.

12 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Model By using a "flat" non-hierarchical structure and modern social networking tools (wikis, blogs, LCMS, videoclips), we make it possible for thousands of students to share their learning processes, independently of where they are living. This is a big difference compared to the traditional way of organizing courses.

13 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Education for all Online courses make it possible for developing countries to deliver high quality courses in rural areas at low costs. World wide online courses will also form a standard which can be used as a benchmark for an introductory level and to promote students to be more mobile and to take courses in other places than in their native countries.

14 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Online education Another serious drawback in a traditional setup is that students at different schools in different cities will not communicate with each other, even if they are struggling with exactly the same mathematical problems and learning processes.

15 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania KTH-RCN, KTH Virtual Campus, and MATH.SE Resource Centre for Netbased Education (RCN) at KTH [ To strengthen national cooperation between universities in Sweden and to obtain a flexible economic and administrative model a virtual cooperation center MATH.SE exist [

16 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania MATH.SE Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm Stockholm University Uppsala University Linköping University Örebro University University of Gävle Mälardalen University Imperial College, London Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) Universität Stuttgart.

17 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania MATH.SE The same service will now be offered to other countries (full service, low risk and low cost for partner universities)

18 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania MATH.SE MATH.SE takes care of infrastructure, support, formalities, etc. and organizes activities for students to successfully complete the course on the Internet. Call center solution for tutoring – the students can call or their personal mentor.

19 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania MATH.SE Students belong to different universities but study together in one virtual classroom. Universities get administrative tools and can monitor ”their” students.

20 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania A new educational paradigm students in the same virtual classroom in one single course. Students study in the same classroom but are formally enrolled at different universities. High quality resource allocation. Mass-individualization. Large inter-cultural community.

21 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania A new educational paradigm

22 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Services to students Learners may start at any time and study at their own pace. Automatic and peer assessment in large student groups, based on a detailed and level-partitioned examination process. Assessment is integrated with the students learning activities and is utilized as a structure for instructional scaffolding and follow- up.

23 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Services to students Instant feed-back on assessments and advanced follow-up by instructors. Students can call a personal mentor in a call-center or send an if they need support. Online forums support learners’ to discuss and to interact with each other and with their instructors throughout the course.

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25 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Study success prediction An investigation shows that students who completed the summer course on Internet (bridging course) is equally successful in the first year at KTH as students with the highest marks in all courses from school. Pass rate at first year at KTH is 75%.

26 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Present courses: Bridging/Foundation Courses Foundation courses in mathematics Fundamental Notions of Mathematics, 7,5 ECTS Bridging course in physics 7,5 ECTS Bridging course in programming and computer science 3 ECTS Bridging course in chemistry

27 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Present courses: Standard Courses in Mathematics Linear algebra, Single variable calculus Multivariable calculus, Differential Equations, etc

28 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Present courses: Other online courses Financial mathematics 7,5 ECTS Information search 3 ECTS Relativity theory 4,5 ECTS Modern Physics 9 ECTS Laser Physics 9 ECTS Introduction to Environmental Engineering 7,5 ECTS

29 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Present courses: Other online courses Courses in philosophy (such as Argumentation theory) Communication and project management in virtual environments Digital learning and competence

30 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Present courses: Standard Courses in Mathematics Linear algebra, Single variable calculus Multivariable calculus, Differential Equations, etc

31 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Present courses: Online Lecturing and Lectures on Demand, Online Tutoring Lectures on demand and online lecturing from lecturers and scientists; e.g. video clips

32 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Continuous Media Development Integration of new media and interactivity, such as interactive net video, pod casting, community building and social software, Open Educational Resources (OER), etc. Global course activities

33 International ConferenceNov. 19, 2009Kaunas, Lithuania Questions? START!