Building a High Quality Global E-Learning Network: Lessons, Pitfalls and Opportunities from Universitas 21 Global

Abstract

Universitas 21 Global was formed by 16 internationally focused research universities to provide a laboratory for online learning and to provide the highest quality learning to underserved populations globally. Accordingly, the paper will provide the background and history for the U21 Global collaborative experiment in online learning. It will also cover lessons learned during the four years that U21 Global has been operation including what we have learned about strategies to support a common platform for ‘internationalising’ education in the online medium. Both progress and pitfalls will be discussed as are our processes and criteria vis-à-vis quality assurance and benchmarking and some of the innovative frameworks that have been developed at U21 Global for managing quality processes in our open online learning environment. The paper also touches on issues of democracy, student-centred approaches to learning, and international collaboration and cooperation in the e-learning space that U21 Global has experienced. Also explored in the paper are opportunities for the future to enhance online learning and expand its scope and scale internationally. A major focus of the paper will be the importance of cooperation between and among U21 Global and its parent universities, which has provided U21 Global with unique and powerful opportunities to bring very high quality graduate program learning experiences to learners globally. The experience suggests that focusing on and committing to deep cooperation and quality are key elements differentiating U21 Global and underpin its successes to date. The paper concludes with new paths and ideas that build on successes and overcome problem areas that have been identified during the past four years. These paths largely rest upon increasingly numerous and creative links with U21 universities.

Keywords: Online education, Academic consortiums, Quality assurance, Benchmarking, Higher education, U21Global