A wake-up call for b-learning in Portuguese higher education

Abstract

University of Minho and other Portuguese campus based Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are creating new 2nd ad 3th cycle curricula, delivering agile blended learning courses in different pedagogical models and formats. Those courses are shaping a contemporary HE sector, creating innovative ways of learning, targeting online students and attracting international students to short term studies on-campus. The strategy benefits distant students worldwide, many of them coming from Portuguese speaking countries, which otherwise could not attend post-graduate courses in almost all Portuguese HEI. B-learning post-graduate study programs are adapted to student’s lifestyles and benefit geographically disperse and/or working students, with reduced timeframes to study in-campus based lectures, following a face to face traditional programs. University Aberta, the Portuguese open university, the natural born plyer, established bilateral agreements with traditional face to face HEI to offer joint post-graduate programs at distance. Known agreements include University of Coimbra, University of Porto and University of Lisbon. UNorteX is the Extension School for the consortium between University of Minho, University of Porto and University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto-Douro in the north of Portugal. It is putting together a “Northern University Extension School” using a common framework to shape agile and articulated strategies in distance education. Panorama e-learning 3600, a barometer of e-learning in Portugal, started a benchmarking report on e-learning in HE is focusing on post-graduate programs. Preliminary results indicate that traditional campus based HEI, like University of Minho, University Nova of Lisbon and Leiria Polytechnic Institute are putting in place consistent distance education initiatives, delivering b-learning programs for remote post-graduate students. The e-learning panorama in Portuguese HE is changing. HEI, solo or in consortium, are developing internal policies, regulations and programs delivered to students worldwide, in a stand-alone mode, or in combinations with their traditional face to face courses. Together they are opening the way to digital education policies to come to light.