Since 2000, many national and intergovernmental organisations have
published reports analysing educational opportunities created by
developments in information and communications technologies. The
following is a list of major reports, organised by country. All reports
are free to download from the listed URLs.
Australia
Universities Online: A survey of online education and services in
Australia (45 pages)
Margot Bell, Denise Bush, Peter Nicholson, David O'Brien, Thien
Tran
Australia Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), March
2002
Based on survey data, Universities Online is a detailed picture of
online education and services in Australian universities. The country's
43 universities were surveyed between August and December 2001. The
report covers the rates of usage of online courses, units, and online
services, including statistics on the utilisation of learning platform
software such as WebCT and Blackboard.
http://www.dest.gov.au/highered/occpaper/02a/default.htm
See also the Observatory's Breaking News Story in the May Breaking News
Archives.
The Business of Borderless Education - 2001
Update (57 pages)
Yoni Ryan and Laurence Stedman
Australia Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST),
January 2002
Subsequent to the bear market in the internet and telecommunications
industries, as well as the collapse of many e-learning ventures, this
report updates and revises the earlier 'Business of Borderless
Education' written in March 2000. The authors examine the effects of the
dotcom crash on the education sector, and analyse the status of online
providers after the economic downturn.
http://www.detya.gov.au/highered/eippubs/eip02_1/eip02_1.pdf
The Business of Borderless Education (328
pages)
Stuart Cunningham et al
Australia Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs
(DETYA), March 2000
This influential report examines the emergence of corporate,
for-profit and virtual universities in the United States, and discusses
their likely effects on Australian higher education. The authors focus
specifically upon staffing, student profiles, curriculum, technology
issues, accreditation and quality issues. The report was followed up in
January 2002 with 'The Business of Borderless Education - 2001 Update'
(listed
above) and was the companion report for a similar study in the
United Kingdom, 'The Business of Borderless Higher Education: UK
Perspectives' (see
below).
http://www.dest.gov.au/archive/highered/eippubs/eip00_3/bbe.pdf
Canada
The e-learning e-volution in colleges and universities: A
Pan-Canadian Challenge (125 pages)
The Advisory Committee for Online Learning, February 2001
The Advisory Committee for Online Learning, a group jointly
established by Industry Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education
Canada (CMEC), released this report as an independent analysis of how
Canada might optimise online learning in higher education. The committee
focuses on topics including institutional management options; structural
options and strategic development plans; administrative and
infrastructural challenges; and resources required to meet
priorities.
http://mlg-gam.ic.gc.ca/en/docs.html
European Union
All of the EU's e-learning documents are available from their
eLearning website, at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/doc_en.html.
eLearning: Designing Tomorrow's Education, an Interim Report
(34 pages)
Commission of the European Communities, February 2002
The most recent EU report on e-learning is an interim review of
developments in the eLearning Action Plan across the EU. The report
focuses primarily upon the political and structural issues around
developing e-learning capabilities, including quality certifications,
priority subject areas, and European networks to be developed for
education. The report reviews the various submissions and projects that
are developing under the eLearning Action Plan.
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/sec_2002_236_en.pdf
The eLearning Action Plan: Designing Tomorrow's Education (19
pages)
Commission of the European Communities, March 2001
Written as a follow-up to the May 2000 EU eLearning initiative, this
brief report discusses the implementation of projects under the
initiative. The report outlines the resources, programmes and
instruments available from the European Community that can be applied to
e-learning, including exchange programmes, socio-economic research
projects, technology incubators and development funds. The report also
proposes methods of action at the member state level that can encourage
and reinforce the eLearning plan, and lists initiatives that are
currently underway.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/keydoc/com2001/com2001-172en.pdf
e-Learning: Designing Tomorrow's Education (13 pages)
Commission of the European Communities, May 2000
This document, the EU's official initiative on e-learning for
2001-2004, was developed as part of the broader eEurope Action Plan
aimed at pushing Europe towards a knowledge-based economy. The report
outlines the principles, objectives and lines of action for e-learning
in the EU. It encourages more public-private partnerships to provide
equipment and training and to develop content and expertise in European
member states. The initiative also outlines focus areas for the EU,
including language projects, virtual exchange programmes, and
credit-transfer systems across Europe.
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/elearning/comen.pdf
Designing Tomorrow's Education: Promoting Innovation With New
Technologies (38 pages)
Commission of the European Communities, January 2000
This report, one of the EU's first on ICT in education explores how
to make educational practice dovetail with developing technologies. The
report examines what conditions are conducive to the development of ICT,
and then makes recommendations on how EU member states can establish
these conditions. The appendices give overviews on initiatives in member
states, and also provide statistics on ICT usage.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/keydoc/com2000/com2000-23en.pdf
New Zealand
New Zealand's Offshore Public Tertiary Education Programmes
(14 pages)
New Zealand Ministry of Education International & Policy
Development Unit, July 2002
Produced by the Ministry of Education's International & Policy
Development Unit, this report gives an overview of offshore programmes
provided by New Zealand tertiary education providers and was conducted
to assist the ministry in future planning and policy analysis. The
report found that 63 offshore programmes were delivered by New Zealand's
36 tertiary education institutions in 2001, a dramatic rise from only 6
in 1997. The results of the study are also compared with offshore
provision from Australia, UK and Canada.
http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?layout=document&documentid=6876
See also the Observatory's Breaking News Story on this report in the
June 2002 Breaking
News Archive
Highways and Pathways: Exploring New Zealand's E-Learning
Opportunities (72 pages)
Shona Butterfield et al
E-Learning Advisory Group, March 2002
Written by a national advisory group on e-learning, this report gives
recommendations on how the New Zealand government should develop an
e-learning strategy in tertiary education. The authors encourage the
government to push for collaboration between government agencies,
providers and other stakeholders; examine cost structures and business
models, develop a research group, online portal, and funding agency to
analyse and encourage the development of e-learning, and also establish
a Maori group to develop programmes using e-learning.
http://www.executive.govt.nz/minister/maharey/highways/
See also the Observatory Breaking News story on this report in our April Breaking News
Archive.
United Kingdom
The Business of Borderless Education: UK
perspectives (3 volumes, total 488 pages)
Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP, now known as
Universities UK), and the Higher Education Funding Council for England
(HEFCE), March 2000
This three-volume report, conducted in concert with an Australian
study of the same title (see above),
explores the implications of borderless development for higher
education. The report discusses legal and regulatory matters, quality
assurance, accreditation, governance and institutional management,
costs, infrastructure issues, teaching and learning, and staffing. The
report also recommends the formation of an observatory to track
developments in borderless education, which led to the development of
the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education in 2001.
http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/bookshop/HowToOrder.asp?Code=20
USA
The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from promise to
practice (168 pages)
Bob Kerrey et al
Web-Based Education Commission, December 2000
Written by a bipartisan, federally-appointed commission, this report
is based upon extensive consultation with educators, technology experts,
and other stakeholders on use of the internet in all levels of
education. The report both reviews current use and also gives direction
for the future, focusing on issues around technology, training, funding,
regulatory practice, and privacy. Illustrative examples from across the
United States are used to demonstrate innovative uses of technology in
education.
http://interact.hpcnet.org/webcommission/index.htm
e-Learning: Putting a world-class education at the fingertips of
all children (64 pages)
US Department of Education, December 2000
This 2000 report reviews progress achieved since United States' first
report on educational technology, "Getting America's Students Ready for
the 21st Century: Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge", published
in 1996. The report finds that technology has been successfully
introduced into many classrooms, and sets new goals for future planning.
Topics discussed include technological infrastructure, teacher training,
research, and teaching and learning. While the report focuses mainly
upon elementary schools, it helps to clearly define the country's
broader goals around educational technology.
http://www.ed.gov/Technology/elearning/index.html
Report to Congress on the Distance Education Demonstration
Program (37 pages)
US Department of Education, January 2001
In the United States, where higher education is largely a state and
private endeavour, the federal government's main focus on higher
education is in regards to funding. This is the first report on the
results of a federally-appointed evaluation of distance education
providers, which were restricted under the American Higher Education
Act. Participants included a mix of public, private and for-profit
institutions, including New York University, Western Governors
University and Capella University. The study found that institutions
were restricted by regulations on the amount of distance education an
institution may provide, as well as the complexity of student aid
programmes. The report raises a number of questions and suggestions as
to how federal regulations could be altered to accommodate distance
education programmes.
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/DistEd/DistanceDemoReport.pdf
American Council on Education (ACE) and EDUCAUSE
Distributed Education: Challenges, Choices, and a New
Environment (5 volumes, 182 pages total)
ACE and Educause, 2001-2002
This series, compiled from papers commissioned by ACE and EDUCAUSE,
explores policy issues around distance education, distributed education,
and e-learning. The first volume, written by senior staff at ACE and
EDUCAUSE, describes the range of developments in borderless education,
and the subsequent volumes focus on specific topics around accreditation
(volume 2), institutional leadership (volume 3), student learning
(volume 4), and strategic partnerships (volume 5). The reports typically
provide an overview and discussion of major issues, then give practical
recommendations for implementation.
http://www.acenet.edu/bookstore/index.cfm?pubID=228
American Council on Education (ACE) and European University
Association (EUA)
The Brave New (and Smaller) World of Higher Education: A
Transatlantic View (32 pages)
Madeleine Green, Peter Eckel and Andris Barblan, August 2002
This essay emerged from the Transatlantic Dialogue conference held in
July 2001 at Université Laval in Quebec, Canada, jointly hosted by ACE
and the EUA. The essay examines the broad ideas of globalisation,
technology, and competition, and then discusses the corresponding
responses in higher education, which include partnerships, alliances,
internationalisation, and policy frameworks such as the Bologna
Declaration.
http://www.acenet.edu/bookstore/pdf/2002_brave-new-world.pdf
World Bank
Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary
Education (232 pages)
Richard Hopper, ed.
World Bank, October 2002
This World Bank report, one of the organisation's few forays into
tertiary education, suggests strategies for developing countries to
improve their colleges and universities in order to compete better in
the so-called 'knowledge economy'. The report outlines recent
developments in technology, education and society that present
opportunities and threats to developing countries, and suggests how
governments can develop a coherent policy framework for tertiary
education. Case studies are presented as successful examples for other
parts of the world.
http://www1.worldbank.org/education/tertiary/documents/Constructing%20Knowledge%20Societies.pdf
See also the Observatory Breaking News story on this report in the October
2002 Breaking News Archive.
UNESCO
Technologies for Education: Potentials, Parameters and
Prospects (202 pages)
Wadi D. Haddad and Alexandra Drexler, eds.
UNESCO and the Academy for Educational Development, August 2002
Written by private educational consultants Knowledge Enterprise on
behalf of UNESCO and the Academy for Educational Development, this
report aims to cover a great deal of ground, by discussing the
rationales, technical applications, and case studies on technology in
education. By compiling chapters from individuals with good first-hand
knowledge of regional contexts, the report offers solid case studies of
education utilising the internet, as well as other technologies like
radio and television from developing and developed countries around the
world.
http://www.aed.org/publications/TechnologiesForEducation/TechEdBook.pdf
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
E-Learning: The Partnership Challenge (110 pages)
Anne Lear, Chris Duke and Kurt Larsen
Centre for Educational Research and Education, OECD, June 2001
Arguing that the high costs of developing e-learning necessitates
public-private cooperation, this report focuses in particular on the
topic of partnerships in e-learning. The report is based in part on OECD
events that drew together representatives from the software and hardware
industry, publishers, educational institutions, and policy makers, and
examines both the K-12 and higher education sectors in OECD countries.
It analyses trends and developments in e-learning, provides advice to
business and education on development partnerships, and examines the
long-term impact of policy decisions.
http://www1.oecd.org/publications/e-book/9601061e.pdf
