The Swiss Connection: a new partnership emerges

Step inside one of the advanced resource classrooms in Wallenberg Hall and it is easy to see tangible evidence that technology has the potential to improve the quality and richness of learning and teaching in higher education. But the innovative use of high tech classroom tools is not yet widespread, and is often limited to the group of teachers dubbed early adopters.

How, then, can teaching enriched by the best technology become more widespread, and eventually permeate the world of higher education? This is the question at the heart of a new alliance formed between the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning (SCIL) and the Swiss Centre for Innovations in Learning (Swiss SCIL) at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland . The partnership, solidified in March, 2004, is the beginning of a year-long partnership under the new program, SCILNet.

SCILNet is the international program of SCIL, and is devoted to fostering collaboration with other universities, government and research institutions around the world.

The Stanford-Swiss partnership seeks to answer some key questions in an effort to further broad implementation of technology that has been proven successful in improving teaching and learning:

• What are the characteristics and qualities of the faculty member who most successfully employs technology in the classroom? What are the cultural factors that encourage them to try new approaches in the use of technology?
• What are the specific technologies that make a difference in teaching, and what sort of support is required in the classroom for them to be best utilized?
• What incentives or provisions need to be made to support faculty in the use of technology? How can researchers capture and analyze the experiences and reflections of faculty who have used technology?

In order to answer these questions, researchers from Stanford and Switzerland will examine several case studies at universities in Europe and the United States , including Stanford University , the University of St. Gallen , and the Open University in the United Kingdom.

To kick off the Stanford-Switzerland project, the first Swiss workshop on eLearning, “Promoting eLearning Innovations in Higher Education” is slated for May, 2004. SCILNet Director Reinhold Steinbeck is one of the keynote speakers who will begin the discussion on organizing support centers, encouraging competence development and faculty engagement. About 20 eLearning experts from around the world are expected to attend, and results of the workshop will be published at: http://www.scil.ch/projects/communities-en.html .

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