Title: Developing a framework for best practice in sustainable virtual campuses

Authors: Mark Stansfield, Thomas Connolly, Antonio Cartelli, Athanassios Jimoyiannis, Hugo Magalhaes, Katherine Maillet

Addresses: School of Computing, University of the West of Scotland, High Street, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, UK. ' School of Computing, University of the West of Scotland, High Street, Paisley PA1 2BE, Scotland, UK. ' Faculty of Humanities, University of Cassino, Cassino, Italy. ' Department of Social & Educational Policy, University of Peloponnese, Korinthos, Greece. ' Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovacao, Porto, Portugal. ' Department of Foreign Languages & Social Sciences, Telecom & Management SudParis, Institut Telecom, Evry, France

Abstract: Despite the significant investment and growth both in Europe and globally in the development of virtual universities and virtual campuses over the last decade, there have been a number of high-profile projects and initiatives that failed to achieve their intended goals. If such failures are to be avoided in the future, then it is vital that a better understanding of best practice within virtual universities and virtual campuses is achieved. This paper reports on the work of a European Commission Education Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) co-financed project |Promoting Best Practice in Virtual Campuses| (PBP-VC), which is aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the key issues and success factors underlying the implementation of virtual campuses. The paper will outline a tentative model of the issues underpinning best practice in virtual campuses which covers areas that include organisational, pedagogical, technological, student/user, financial and consolidation issues derived from an investigation into virtual campus projects and initiatives within Europe. The project is working towards developing a practical framework to help guide the process of creating best practice in virtual campuses, as well as raising awareness of issues and approaches to creating sustainable virtual campuses.

Keywords: best practice; constructivist learning environment; CLE; virtual campus; virtual university; web based campus; online campus; electronic learning; online learning; e-learning; sustainability; European Commission EACEA; PBP-VC; higher education; universities; Europe.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2009.027390

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2009 Vol.6 No.5, pp.440 - 459

Published online: 21 Jul 2009 *

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