| Components
In Denmark, interest in virtual learning platforms developed in the late 1990s – early 2000s. Initiatives in this area have developed stage by stage, each stage in close synergy with the other, each stage corresponding to the development of a specific type of service. The successive initiatives are at present still in operation. They are : the messaging service SKOLEKOM, the digital educational resources portal EMU, and the SKOLEINTRA network, which together form the backbone of the Danish approach to virtual learning platforms.
SKOLEKOM (www.skolekom.dk)
This web service for messaging (email) and (thematic) teleconferencing has been in operation since 1995. It is intended for teachers, education staff as a whole, and students of all state schools. From the outset, the main objective was to create an educational space for all state schools, a kind of classroom on the national scale.
SKOLEKOM currently has about 600,000 registered users, 250,000 of whom are active. There are 120,000 connections per day and some 2,000 simultaneous users. Nationally, there are 2,000-3,000 open conferences in three different sections: one for teachers, the second for student learning and the third for communication with families. This last component – offering possibilities for communication between schools and parents – is currently on test. There are also 60,000 to 70,000 closed conferences, i.e., aimed not at national level but within the institutions themselves. Most of them occur in school intranets to allow schools to share information and calendar functions between teachers and pupils. Finally, there are closed national discussion forums mainly used by groups of teachers in the same subject and by teacher associations.
The SkoleKom system is directly managed by UNI-C (about 12 employees altogether). UNI-C is responsible for support, maintenance, sales and development. The only other players are the schools and the Danish Ministry of Education. UNI-C has a contract with the Open Text Corporation, offering schools rates according to their size and the number of years taught (from the equivalent of 50 to 90 euros per year).
SkoleKom is based on the FirstClass collaborative software developed by the Canadian company Open Text. This software enables users to connect to the system anywhere in the world; all communications between the server and the users are encrypted. All users are connected to a single server which can handle 5,000 concurrent users. SkoleKom represents only the infrastructure. The policies have therefore aimed to encourage the use of Sektornet – a set of high-speed data cables connecting schools so as to support the deployment of SkoleKom and other virtual learning environments.
EMU (www.emu.dk)
This national portal, created in 1999 at the instigation of the Ministry of Education, offers digital resources for schools. EMU (Electronic Meeting Place for the Educational World) is still in use today. Its implementation and management are provided by UNI-C. EMU offers all types of information and resources relevant to pupils, teachers and parents, from a central point.
The portal also hosts a series of web ‘sub-sites’ such as an information guide for each subject with high-quality links, the e-Museum, the national catalogue of learning resources, examples of good practices, competitions and events, etc. Most services offered are free. EMU also provides access to the SkoDa site, operated directly by UNI-C on a commercial basis, which gives access to a range of databases such as encyclopaedias and newspaper articles. EMU provides access to digital resources produced by commercial publishers, both well-established companies and smaller, less well-known companies.
Publishers provide with their products the metadata required by the search engines. The largest publishers also offer their products on their own sites, which they use as their main marketing tool. Providing access both to commercial (paid) digital resources and free, public goods, EMU thus reflects a policy that aims for and seems to achieve a good balance between the public sector and the commercial sector.
Constant adaptation of the services provided to meet changing needs and opportunities and on-going redefinition of the respective roles of public and private sectors are the major components of such a strategy.
UNI-C also plays a central role here, since the Ministry has entrusted to it the design and implementation of its eEducation initiatives, with UNI-C withdrawing from initiatives it has itself launched as soon as they are mature and can be regulated by the market.
Because a single sign-on system was implemented in Denmark for various different web services even before the creation of EMU, all students and teachers use their ‘UNI login’ to access EMU and the other online services to which their schools subscribe. This use of a single login to access EMU is also thought to be one of the reasons why the EMU portal quickly secured a critical mass of users.
Currently, the number of weekly ‘unique’ users (not counting further logins by the same user in the course of the week) averages 185,000, i.e. approximately one quarter of the population of Danish primary and lower secondary schools.
SKOLEINTRA (www.skoleintra.dk)
This intranet system for sharing information and knowledge was launched in 2001. SKOLEINTRA is a communication and information platform which functions as a closed network accessible only to certain users (access management is in the hands of UNI-C). It includes several modules, between which data can be exchanged. These modules were introduced in stages.
• The main module is LaererIntra (Teachers’ Intranet). Introduced in 2001, it offers basic tools for archiving documents, teamwork, and management by teachers of school activities (room bookings, calendar, etc.) and it provides access to Skolekom (messaging and virtual conferences, see above).
• The ElevIntra module (Students’ Intranet) came into operation at the same time (2001). It enables the management of work among students and teachers, and distributes information on the life of the school.
• ForaEldre (Parents’ Forum) module and Infokiosk (the schools’ information service) were implemented in 2005. The first informs parents about school life and the daily work of their children: it also enables parents to communicate. The second provides real time information on the school (announces school closures due to bad weather, etc.). The ForaEldre module was in fact developed to meet an existing demand from parents who had previously used their child’s login to access the platform and read about school life. The tradition of participation and cooperation between parents and the school is strong in Denmark.
• The FaellesNet (shared municipal intranet) module was made available in 2006 at the request of local authorities, to manage and share information on all educational establishments in their respective areas.
• SkolePorten (a School Portal module) has also been operational since 2006 and allows the school to add further services to the modules mentioned above (web pages to present the institution, etc.) and to access them through the same UNI login.
The use of all of these modules (LaererIntra, ElevIntra, ForaEldre, Infokiosk, etc.) costs the school the
equivalent of 4,000 euros for the first year and 1,500 euros a year thereafter.
Diagram of all services by users in Denmark
Deployment
The current Danish situation regarding virtual learning platforms can be summarised as follows :
• At primary and lower secondary levels, 95% of state schools use SKOLEINTRA and the remainder use platforms like Fronter or solutions available on the market.
• In upper secondary education, SKOLEINTRA is hardly used; the platforms favoured by these institutions are based on LEKTIO, Blackboard, Fronter or It’s Learning. UNI-C provides support to institutions that have opted for the It’s Learning solution.
The table below gives an idea of the use of Skoleintra by parents, teachers and students for the month of September 2009 :
Currently, the proportion of non-users within a school is small; on average only one or two teachers do not use SkoleIntra at all. Five years ago there was more reluctance, but this has now declined. Teachers acknowledge that society has changed and online government and internet shopping are now a part of everyday life.
The deployment was carried out gradually, as user needs developed.
There was no pilot phase as such in the implementation of Skoleintra. The system was originally developed by two teachers who wanted to provide their own institution with a virtual learning platform. These teachers approached UNI-C to offer their model for a platform and seek collaboration to develop, stabilise and distribute it more widely. The initiative aroused the interest of a good number of teachers, who saw it as a tool particularly suited to their needs because it was designed by teachers who had a very close knowledge of the context and necessary functions.
The product was then developed in stages, in response to comments made by teacher-users to the developers (particularly through a discussion forum on SKOLEKOM), which seems to have enabled an extremely smooth collaboration to take place between the two parties. The development of SKOLEINTRA was guided by taking account of – and sometimes anticipating – specific needs expressed by teachers. For example, when the Ministry decided in 2007 to make it compulsory for teachers to supply a detailed written annual evaluation for each pupil, SKOLEINTRA provided the tools to simplify this task.
The SkoleIntra system thus became the most popular one, especially as it came to be used by most municipalities. Schools that use it became examples to follow, and consequently the reputation of the system grew exponentially.
Uses and Users
• Pedagogic Uses
Although 97% of Danish schools (state and private) use a virtual learning platform, they do so mainly for administrative rather than pedagogical purposes. Several evaluations have been commissioned to discover areas for improvement. Relatively low pedagogical use recurs as a leitmotif, together with inadequate training of teachers. A study by the Danish Evaluation Institute EVA in 2009 showed that the information and knowledge sharing systems are used by teachers – and between teachers and the school management – primarily for administrative and organisational purposes (such as ordering equipment and materials). However, these systems are rarely used in order to share knowledge among teachers or between teachers, pupils and their parents.
When the virtual learning platforms were designed, however, the government expected pupils to be the main users. In reality, use of the system by learners for learning has been relatively low, because the learners had little reason to use it, unlike the teachers. The latter were the early users of these platforms because Danish teachers have considerable autonomy, and the virtual platform system perfectly suited their working practices and behaviour. In addition, a large part of their teaching is based on team projects, and virtual platforms support this approach. Five years after the implementation of these platforms, a third wave of users is now emerging among learners, but there is much progress to be made in this area.
The platforms have, however, gradually made it possible to establish a new level of constructive collaboration and communication among teachers nationally (highest level), between teachers and learners – at school or outside school – and among learners. Exchanges between teachers and pupils are more than a formal
relationship; assistance is provided by the teacher to the pupils in many ways. In some ways this is an extension of what happens anyway: close contact between teacher and pupils, especially since a teacher is often responsible for the same class from first to fifth year, and even beyond. It follows that in the classroom
relations between teachers and pupils seem “relaxed”. Indeed, it is considered normal for pupils to send text messages (SMS) to their teachers using their personal mobile numbers. While such closeness might be considered a cause for concern in many countries, it does not create a problem in Denmark.
• Communication Uses
Virtual platforms encourage communication between parents and their children, among parents and between parents and teachers. Through the ‘Unilogin’ system, each user has his or her own identity.
The success of virtual learning platforms with teachers was followed by a similar response from parents, who like to receive alerts and text messages giving information about the school. Danish parents are keen to know what their children are doing in class, what field trips are organised, etc., or simply to have contact with teachers. Most of the time, the interest shown by parents is not motivated by a desire to control, but rather to
share information and participate.
Problems relating to data protection have arisen (over class lists for example), resulting in some limitation of permissions. However, since the platforms are generally developed locally, there is no real threat to privacy. The teachers’ union has nonetheless opposed one function of the system, which allows text messages to be sent to teachers’ personal phones, on grounds of concern about controls on teachers. This is however in a context where it is normal for parents to send text messages to teachers, if for example their child is sick.
All messages are archived in any case and can be retrieved when necessary.
• Governance
Initially, the government financed 50% of the purchase of virtual platforms. This grant has been abolished and schools now fund the development of virtual platforms with the money they receive from their municipality (as already mentioned, the charge is 4,000 euros for the first year and 1,500 euros each subsequent year; these amounts are paid to UNI-C).
The municipalities were active at the time of the launch of the operation with a view to replacing textbooks with new technologies in schools, and this included considering virtual platforms as useful supports in this respect.
A head teacher could nevertheless decline to collaborate at any time. But competition between schools and the favourable view taken towards using virtual learning platforms has meant that parents now find it natural that they exist in schools, and teachers can no longer imagine their schools without them.
The implementation of virtual learning platforms also coincided with a move to amalgamate municipalities (see above) and the municipalities had to agree on the type of virtual environment to be used to share information. The teachers then opted overwhelmingly for SkoleIntra, which was already their favourite digital work environment. This choice was a kind of “popular movement”.
The Government then set the framework and defined the overall objective. UNI-C for its part identified the candidate products and acted as an intermediary between suppliers and purchasers, managing and promoting the overall process. Schools, and local authorities when they had decided to group the contracts of several schools, signed a contract with the supplier. The risk of lawsuits against UNI-C from companies not obtaining orders or challenging the selection process was reduced by establishing a biennial review of the system to ensure that the objectives are properly fulfilled.
Technology choices and security
SkoleIntra is an advanced concept, since it is an open system readily accepting new functionalities to provide users with new products, tools and services. The technology of Skoleintra virtual platforms is, by contrast, not particularly advanced; it is web-based and requires little in the way of sophisticated equipment or advanced connectivity. It can be accessed through a slow connection, from a mobile phone or even an iPhone. The potential of some products essential for widespread uptake is, for example, limited since schools must have a particular computerised management system in order to make use of them. UNI-C has therefore aimed to develop transferability systems to enable data import and export between different systems.
The system has three levels of control: UNI-C, which is responsible for the management of UNIlog, the school, and the class/teacher. Each school can determine the level of access it gives to parents. Generally, the approach is open, until a problem arises. In that case, arrangements are very quickly suspended and reviewed.
In general, there is no a priori control of messages but there is a retrospective control, in which inappropriate messages may be removed. The system depends largely on the collective responsibility of users: the final product is made visible and public, an approach that seems to work. This confidence placed in the children echoes the attitude adopted in the school, where they have permission to use their mobile phones or personal computers responsibly in the classroom. Teachers confirm that pupils are aware that their behaviour can and should vary from one location to another and report that abuses in the use of SkoleIntra are few. Even when pupils connect at home, they adopt an attitude similar to that in class, generally considering that if they connect to SkoleIntra, this means thay have a state of mind that is ready for work.
The authorisation system means that teachers have no access to communications between students (the class sets the levels of authorisation, which allows students to exclude or to invite certain people). However, teachers can apply to UNI-C to provide a file containing the history of the sessions and to disable pupil accounts in the event of a problem. Students can upload pictures and videos of social events, but only pictures/videos of groups rather than individuals, unless given permission by their parents.
Schools determine the menu suited to each pupil level; the youngest have a few simple graphical options while older ones can consult more text and also have more options.
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