Institution:
IT-Department
University of Helsinki
Helsinki
Address:
IT Department
P.O.Box 26
Teollisuuskatu 23
00014 University of Helsinki
tel. (09) 191 44354
fax (09) 191 44690
Contact persons:
Project coordinator
Olli Salo
Coordinator for ICT Education
IT-Department
Fabianinkatu 28
00014 University of Helsinki
Tel. +358-504075509
ICT Driving Licence contact persons:
Jouni Vainio (Faculty of Biosciences)
Päivi Ala-Poikela (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine)
Janne Marvola (Faculty of Pharmacy)
Kristiina Pirnes (Faculty of Arts)
Matti Lattu (Faculty of Behavioural Sciences)
Kalle Romanov (Faculty of Medicine)
Vesa Niskanen (Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry)
Heikki Suhonen (Faculty of Science)
Anne Haarala-Muhonen (Faculty of Law)
Sami Yli-Karjanmaa (Faculty of Theology)
Timo Harmo (Faculty of Social Sciences)
Kai Korpimies (Open University)
Christian Lindblom (Swedish School of Social Science)
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The ICT Driving Licence (3 ECTS) is a common
course for all the students of the University of Helsinki.
The goal of the course is to make sure that each new student from all of the 11
Faculties will have the necessary ICT skills for studying.
Background
The ICT Driving Licence -project has developed a joint ICT curriculum
for all of the University of Helsinki's 11 faculties. The course started in
Autumn 2005. The Project is coordinated by the University of Helsinki's ICT
Department
A full-time coordinator for ICT education, Olli Salo, has coordinated the
project since the Autumn 2004. The planning of the joint curriculum started in
the Autumn 2004.
In the Spring 2005 the project group and a hired consultant created the online
self-study material, teacher guides and exams.
In the Autumn 2005, the ICT Driving Licence pilot started at all 11 faculties.
During the pilot year 2005-2006 students and ICT Driving Licence teachers gave
feedback.
The Spring 2006 was the time for the further development of the course: the
self-study material and exam questions were scrutinized. The problematic
questions were abolished and new simulation questions were added.
The material will be translated into English and Swedish. An important phase was
also the sharing of the best practices between the faculties.
Project
timetable
- Planning (Autumn
2004): the development of a joint curriculum. The ICT Driving Licence
curriculum is a fixed part of the University of Helsinki's Virtual
University recommendation for the ICT studies in the curriculum reform.
- Production (Spring 2005): creating
the self study material, teacher guides and exams.
- Implementation (Autumn 2005): The ICT
Driving Licence Pilot starts in all 11 Faculties. Feedback is gathered from
the students and ICT Driving Licence teachers.
- Further development (Year 2006->): scrutinizing
the curriculum, material and the exams according to the student and
teacher feedback. Translating the material to English and Swedish.
Sharing the best practices between the Faculties.
Key
factors for success
- Coordination: The IT department coordinates the
project but it is truly a project of the whole university.
- Timing
- Support from the university management: The ICT
Driving Licence curriculum is also a fixed part of the University of
Helsinki's Virtual University recommendation for ICT studies in the
curriculum reform.
- Cooperation on different levels:
1. University level cooperation in the project team: IT
department, pedagogical units, libraries, IT teachers and IT pedagogical
support personnel from all faculties and representatives from the Student
Union and the Open University;
2. Faculty level cooperation with IT teachers and librarians;
3. Course level cooperation with the teachers of the introductory
courses and librarians;
4. Library level cooperation: This project brought together the
teaching librarians and enhanced cooperation at the ten libraries of the
University of Helsinki.
Challenges
for the future
- Funding
-
Compromising: The
university-wide mass course means inevitably compromising. It is very
important that students participate in the hands-on sessions or lectures
which address the subject and faculty specific issues.
-
ICT
Driving Licence for the faculty and staff: The
faculty and staff need some means to improve their ICT skills. There have
been some preliminary plans for the ICT Driving Licence for the faculty and
staff. There are many challenges because the skills and needs of the faculty
and staff may be even much more heterogeneous than students’ skills and
needs.
-
Pedagogical soundness: The
pedagogical issues of material and tests need to be continuously assessed
and developed in the future. The ICT Driving Licence provides just a
starting point for the learning of ICT skills: ICT literacy skills need to
be embedded appropriately in curricula. The ICT Driving Licence
provides a solid foundation on which to build the ICT skills later.
Content:
The five modules complete each other
-
Introduction to the use of computers
The first module gives an introduction how to use
a computer and its add-ons and what to do in the most common IT problem
situations.
-
The computer environment at the University of
Helsinki
The second module introduces a new student to the
computer environment at the University of Helsinki. Students are advised what
kind of online student services the University offer.
-
Modifying and presenting data
The third module helps students to choose the
correct programs for assignments and gives the basic information about how to
use them.
-
Information
seeking
The information seeking module gives just a basic introduction to the
services and information resources of the University of Helsinki and
information seeking.
The sincere aim is to avoid presenting too much material, so a first-year
student would not get overwhelmed. The skills will be deepened later.
The goal is to cover those kinds of information seeking tasks that most
first-year students need: how to find a course book and how to conduct an
easy search by topic.
The following topics are covered: information retrieval techniques,
types of information resources, how to use the library catalog and the
information retrieval portal, how to search the open web, and the basics of
copyright issues.
The
University of Helsinki libraries are responsible for the information
seeking module.
The
information seeking module
Library instruction enhanced
with
hints of information literacy
Target
group: fist-year
university students
Level: basic
Learning
objectives
The
student will be able to use the services of the University of Helsinki libraries,
and to seek information from different sources. He will be familiar with
different search techniques, and will know the basics of copyrights.
Key
issues
•
Planning the information search
• Finding material from the HELKA libraries
• Seeking information about a specific subject
• Utilising and evaluating search results
Learning
material (in Finnish only)
Several
components of the ICT Driving Licence
A.
Entry level test
B. Library tour
Library
tours are guided by the library staff.
C. Hands-on session in computer class rooms
The University of Helsinki Libraries are responsible for the information seeking
module. The campus libraries and the Undergraduate Library organizes the
hands-on session of the information seeking module. It varies by library and by
faculty whether the library instruction sessions are embedded or stand-alone
sessions.
D. Self-learning material on the web
E. Monitored exam
F. Feedback collection
Different
routes for different learners
A student can take various routes to pass the
ICT Driving Licence course, depending on her/his previous knowledge and skills.
It varies by department whether the components are compulsory or not. The
only component that is compulsory in all 11 faculties is the monitored
examination.
Although it varies by each faculty whether the teaching is obligatory or not,
some libraries, such as Viikki
Science Library, highly recommends all students to participate in the
information seeking hands-on sessions. In some faculties teaching is
obligatory.
Faculties are responsible for the administration of the course: registration,
tests, and credits.
The
University of Helsinki Libraries are responsible for the hands-on
information retrieval sessions and for organizing of the library tours. The
selflearning material and test questions for the information seeking module are
produced in cooperation with all the libraries of the University of Helsinki.
Some
results
Students’ self-assessments indicate that the course improved the
ICT skills of the students considerably.
The Information retrieval module seemed to be the most challenging module for
many students because it contained new information also for those students
who were experienced computer users.
At least some students stated that they found the information seeking module
important and they wanted more time for in-class teaching.
Useful information about the ICT Driving Licence at the
University of Helsinki are available in English in the following
paper, presented at Creating
Knowledge IV - Empowering the Student through Cross-Institutional Collaboration.
International
conference at The Royal Library and University of Copenhagen. Copenhagen, 16-18
August 2006:
Päivi Helminen, The
ICT Driving Licence at the University of Helsinki: Synergy from Cooperation.
Keywords: ICT driving licence - ICT driving licence for
university students - ICT driving licence for university staff - ICT project -
course for first-year university students - higher education - university
cooperation - academic synergies - joint curriculum - ICT integration into
curriculum - ICT curriculum - ICT skills - ICT literacy skills - study skills -
information seeking skills - information literacy - library instruction -
information seeking - information seeking module - library services -
information resources - information searching - disciplinary information
searching - web searching - information retrieval - search techniques
- search strategies - evaluation of search results - copyright issues -
library tours - information seeking hands-on sessions - modularity
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