Overview

Objectives

The aim of MASSIVE was to design a model of necessary support services for European traditional Universities to successfully implement the virtual component of teaching.

We focused on the following specific objectives:

• Defining the conceptual model of virtualisation
• Identifying and classifying good practices in the organisation of support services to the University community regarding University virtual components
• Exploring and comparing the elements for transferability
• Validating the approaches to develop the support services
• Guaranteeing the wide dissemination of the practices and use of the model

Approach

After the Lisbon strategy, e-Learning can be considered as a key element for higher education, and universities have taken many steps to implement the virtual component in one way or another.

However, the adoption of e-Learning strategies by “traditional” Universities does not only need to integrate pedagogic or technologic approaches into their strategies but to provide a set of support services that will facilitate their integration into the University provision.

6 service areas have been identified as particularly critical and needed in the EU higher education institutions:

1. University Strategies towards the integration of ICT in the Teaching/learning practice
2. Evolution of University Libraries
3. Management of IPR issues
4. Support to teaching staff
5. Support to students
6. Design of online courses

The starting point of MASSIVE were the results coming from previous projects: not only to analyse them but to sustain the good practices generated so as to include them in the final model of support services that is to be designed in the 6 areas proposed by the project consortium. Thus, MASSIVE intended to promote, through a peer review evaluation approach, a mutual support model for service provision among specialised teams of University staff.