Tallinn, April 2006 - (by Ene Tammeoru, Head of the Estonian e-University) The scene of Estonian higher education (HE) is changing towards more flexible ways of providing both higher and continuing education. The number of adult students in continuing education and retraining programmes will grow, and the number of high school graduates decrease. This void is being filled by the three-year-old Estonian e-University - a consortium of higher education institutions (HEI) with the goal to instigate and facilitate inter-university cooperation in implementing eLearning based on the principles of lifelong learning.
The Estonian e-University was founded on February 21, 2003 and operates as a project organisation under the umbrella of the Estonian Information Technology Foundation (EITF). The founding members of the consortium are:
Associated members:
The members of the consortium pay an annual membership fee. The fee consists of two parts - a fixed fee and a proportional fee. The amount of the fixed fee is determined annually by the Council of the e-University. The proportional fee is calculated on the basis of a coefficient where full-time students in member universities have a coefficient of 1, whereas distance, evening, and part-time students have 0.75. Memberships fees total 5% of the budget of the Estonian e-University and are meant to cover administrative costs. The fee increases the commitment of the members of the consortium and willingness to contribute to sustainability of the Estonian e-University.
The activities of the e-University are carried out by six people employed by EITF and inter-university working groups. The activities are led by the e-University council. Since 2005 the Estonian e-University has coordinated the activities of the Estonian e-Vet. There are 32 vocational schools and six applied universities in the Estonian e-Vet consortium. The Estonian e-University initiates and coordinates inter-university cooperation with the target groups: HEIs, teachers, students, and other learners.
Higher education and eLearning
There are over 60,000 students in Estonia, more than 40,000 of whom are studying at the member universities of the consortium. About 25% are adult students (distance and part-time studies) who work in addition to studying. Even a large number of full-time students have jobs. Furthermore, tens of thousands of students (an estimated 30,000 to 40,000) are taking part in continuing education courses at universities. The number of students participating in continuing education programmes should rise in the future as lifelong learning is becoming more important. Furthrmore, an important result of this trend is that the number of secondary school students is diminishing.
Currently the proportion of e-courses from all the courses in Estonian HEIs is nearly 5%. Usually the elements of eLearning are used in addition to ordinary courses. Only a few enthusiasts are involved in eLearning.
The objective of the e-University is to increase the percentage of e-courses as well as the percentage of modules and curricula, so there will be a -˜critical mass' of courses available via the Internet. To increase the number of teachers involved in eLearning is also relevant.
Although three years is a relatively short time to change a national education and training scheme, quite a bit has been achieved. The activities of the Estonian e-University are primarily aimed at the employed people, people living further from the university towns, as well as at the disabled, so that HE would become more accessible and flexible. At the same time, a large proportion of the activities are aimed at improving the opportunity to study for all students. A more flexible learning process also helps the teachers to plan their schedules and eliminates doubling of subjects for different target groups (e.g. campus and distance students) in different places (different universities or colleges of one university).
Thus the best e-courses (hopefully made in cooperation with other universities) will be available for a wider target group, which will raise the quality as well as the economic feasibility, which is significant when taking into account the relatively low number of speakers of Estonian.
