VIRCLASS Consortium Agreement
Annex 1
07.03.07
ANNEX 1
9.1 ORGANIZING THE FUTURE VIRCLASS PRODUCTIONS
By VIRCLASS project leader, Anne Karin Larsen, Bergen University College
BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................ 1
Important factors for cooperation ...................................................................................... 2
Existing knowledge and competences ................................................................................ 2
Existing Learning Resources: The VIRTUAL BOOK ........................................................ 3
The Educational Programme: Social Work in Europe ...................................................... 3
Partnership involvement .................................................................................................... 4
FUTURE PLANS ....................................................................................................................... 4
ADMINISTRATION OF THE VIRCLASS COURSES ........................................................... 5
The consortium model ........................................................................................................ 5
Numbers of students per teacher ........................................................................................ 5
CALCULATING COSTS FOR THE VIRCLASS COURSES ................................................. 6
Estimated budget for the courses with 15 students per teacher ......................................... 7
What will be the Cost for the Programme for each partner institution? ........................... 8
Comments on the calculation ............................................................................................. 9
MODEL FOR ADMINISTRATION ....................................................................................... 11
BACKGROUND
The VIRCLASS project was established under leadership of Bergen University College (HiB)
in 2003. Partnership involvement, building on collaboration in the European Social Work
Thematic Network (EUSW-TN), under administration of University of Parma, has made it
possible to build on a solid and committed group of partners in the VIRCLASS project.
The VIRCLASS meeting in Bergen November 2006 addressed a new era in the administration
of the project. Partnership involvement between 2003 – 2006/07 have been predominantly
funded by grants and money allocated to the project from the Norway Opening University
(NUV) and Bergen University College.
To develop e-learning courses in the professional education of Social Work on a European
level with cross national cooperation and commitment is pioneering work. This work was
made possible with the above-mentioned financial support but is also due to some financial
support from EUSW-TN and other partner institutions, mainly by the investment of academic
work in the development and running of the courses and contributions to the Virtual Book.
This has either been done on a voluntary basis or as part of their job at the University.
Two applications for grants from the European Commission were made, the MINERVA
programme and the ELearning programme, with no success. Writing these kinds of
applications is very time consuming and takes time from other important issues that need to
be addressed.
After three project years, the time has come to find a more permanent administrative and
financial solution for the running of the international Educational Programme “Social Work in
Europe”. The first stage for production of e-learning courses and e-learning material is done
and a new stage, including implementation of the VIRCLASS courses into the ordinary study
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programmes and with a shared financial solution for partners involved in the project, is now
to come.
This annex will fill in some of the aspects described in the VIRCLASS Consortium
Agreement about the administrative model and financial solution for the future running of the
programme.
Important factors for cooperation
In the book, Managing Technological Change by Tony Bates (2000) 1 he expresses the
following:
When it comes to organizational structures, the challenge is to develop a system that encourages
teaching units to be innovative and able to respond quickly to changes in subject matter, student
needs, and technology. At the same time, redundancy and conflicting standards and policies
across the institution must be avoided (2000:181)
In our future VIRCLASS organisation this is what we want to strive for.
One of the reasons why the VIRCLASS project has been successful is that the staff/partners
have been willing to work collaboratively across organizational boundaries, within a friendly
atmosphere and with an eagerness to succeed in what we have as common goals.
The close cooperation between the project and the highly competent Media Centre at Bergen
University College has been crucial for the production both of the courses and the Virtual
Book.
Existing knowledge and competences
The professional knowledge related to the themes addressed in the Curriculum plan (Annex
II) has been solidly documented by the teachers involved in the courses.
Also the competence in administration of e-learning courses at HiB and the development of
competence in e-pedagogy among teachers involved in the project have been important for the
programme’s success. Developing skills in e-learning pedagogy has been one of the aims of
the project, and teachers involved in the project have learned both how to use the Learning
Management System it’s learning and how to work with students on the internet.
During the production of the Virtual Book, teachers have gained experience in successfully
producing screen lectures, audio-visual triggers and a video case that can stimulate reflections
and discussions among students.
Evaluation and Research based on data from the students’ experience and work have been
presented at several national and international conferences during the project period.
Research reports have been or will be published in books and journals2.
1
The director of Distance Education and Technology in the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of
British Columbia in Vancouver
2
Hole, G O & Larsen, A K (2007): VIRCLASS: the Virtual Classroom for Social Work in Europe - a toolkit for
innovation? EURODL (accepted article)
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Existing Learning Resources: The VIRTUAL BOOK
Development of the flexible learning resource: VIRTUAL BOOK – A guide to Social Work in
Europe 3 consisting of 24 short screen lectures, 1 article, 12 triggers and a case in 12 scenes
has produced important material that can be used over and over again in these courses.
An abbreviated version (CD) of the Virtual Book will be made available to the partners
mainly for promotion of the courses. A DVD of the Virtual Book will be available for the
partner institutions with the restrictions of the copyright stated in the Consortium Agreement
(7.2.)
The Virtual Book is meant to be a Learning Resource for the specific e-learning programme
Social Work in Europe and should not be used for other purposes and in competing courses.
The Learning Resource is intended as a non-commercial product. However, if promotion of
the Learning Resource in future should result in sale of licenses, income from the sale should
be distributed according to the following priority:
1. 20.000 Euro to HiB/VIRCLASS project as refund for production expenses.
2. Income in excess of 20.000 Euro to be shared among all parties involved in the
HiB/VIRCLASS production of the Virtual Book – A Guide to Social Work in
Europe
Completion of the Learning Resource and the Curriculum plan in 2006 means that the content
of courses will only need minor adjustments for the following three or more years.
The Educational Programme: Social Work in Europe
The first eLearning courses in Social Work in Europe started January 2005 and were set up
with three modules with a combination of self-study and e-learning and in the end a summer
school period at University of Parma.
After an evaluation meeting in Amsterdam autumn 2005 it was decided that VIRCLASS
should concentrate its activity on developing e-learning courses. The Curriculum Plan was
adjusted by the project members and approved by the Dean of HiB before new courses with 2
modules (15 ECTS credits) started in mid-October 2006.
By December 2006 module 1 ended, and 37 of the 70 students starting in the course delivered
their exam, most of them with good results.
The evaluation of the course by students who managed to complete the course was very
positive and 35 students continued to module 2 in January 2007.
The main reasons given by students withdrawing from the programme are the following:
 Students were not prepared for the amount of work (not well enough informed before
they applied)
 Students had too much to do already (the course came on top of their ordinary study)
3
Larsen, Anne Karin (editor) (2006): VIRTUAL BOOK – A Guide to Social Work in Europe. Bergen.
Bergen University College. A VIRCLASS production.
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Technical problems in the beginning of the course caused delay and made it difficult
to keep up with the work.
Personal problems arose during the course that made it difficult for students to
continue.
Students’ language skills were not sufficient
We believe that a better procedure for intake of students in the programme and making the
courses a part of the curriculum plan in the social work programme will reduce the number of
withdrawals. A plan for how these problems can be met is presented under the paragraph:
Administration of the VIRCLASS courses.
Partnership involvement
Partnership involvement between 2003 – 2006 has been confirmed by letter of intent and
letter of agreement about educational cooperation and participation. As long as the project has
been financed mainly by project grants this has been sufficient. The project period as well as
the project grants will end in 2006/07 and to be able to continue the cooperation and future
running of the VIRCLASS courses we need a stronger commitment from the partner
institutions.
Bergen University College is therefore inviting partners to form The VIRCLASS Consortium.
A draft for a new agreement was presented to the leaders from the Partner institutions at the
Bergen meeting in November 2006 and a new letter of intent stating the partners’ willingness
to do their best to work out a Consortium Agreement by March 2007 was signed by the
partners.
FUTURE PLANS
According to the Consortium Agreement point 2.7, VIRCLASS has three pillars. The
running of the existing courses is the main pillar.
Development of new courses is another pillar. Expansion of the VIRCLASS courses to extend
the number of modules offered to students might be of interest in the future. A common
module in Community Work method with cooperation among different continents like Africa
and Latin-America would certainly be of interest for European students. Development of such
a module will also meet the objectives for the EUSW –TN, A worldwide platform for social
work (www.eusw.unipr.it).
Development of an international BA (Bachelor Degree) in Social Work focusing on
comparative perspectives can be a reality with VIRCLASS courses comprising one part of
such a BA programme.
The third pillar is focusing on research on e-learning and will promote research cooperation
among partner institutions on social work education in an international perspective.
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ADMINISTRATION OF THE VIRCLASS COURSES
The consortium model
Partner institutions will establish a partnership – a VIRCLASS Consortium.
A new agreement will secure the future running of the educational e-learning programme:
“Social Work in Europe” once a year.
Bergen University College (HiB) will be the administrator of the educational e-Learning
Programme “Social Work in Europe”. HiB will take the responsibility for electronic intake of
students to this programme through the website: www.virclass.net. HiB will be the
webmaster of this site.
VIRCLASS partner institutions will assess the quality of students’ applications and potential
to undertake the course. This will entail an interview in English with students, checking their
qualifications and motivation, their capacity to fulfil the course requirements in relation to
total workload, and their ability to write and read in English.
VIRCLASS partner institutions will advertise the courses as optional courses for Social Work
students on their websites, in their programmes, study catalogues, by posters, flyers and class
presentations in time before the application deadline.
VIRCLASS partners will recognize the ECTS credits earned by students as an optional course
in their ordinary programme of Social Work.
HiB together with the Universities the students come from issues a joint Certificate and
credits to students for the specific VIRCLASS courses. Students who take the VIRCLASS
courses as an optional compulsory course/part of their ordinary social work study programme
will receive their credits from their home University. Students not registered at one of the
partner institutions will receive their credits from Bergen University College.
HiB has the responsibility for coordinating the assessment process and approval of the
assessors.
The VIRCLASS partner institutions recruit teachers to the educational e-learning programme
with competence in e-learning pedagogy. Assessors are recruited from VIRCLASS partner
institutions as well. In case of lack of teachers and assessors from partner institutions, these
can be recruited also from other higher education institutions in EUSW-TN.
New teachers in the VIRCLASS courses have to document their skills in e-learning or take a
short course in e-learning pedagogy set up by Bergen University College. The course will be
paid by the teachers taking the courses or their institution.
Numbers of students per teacher
According to our experience and knowledge of e-learning administration and teaching, an
optimal group of students per teacher in e-learning courses is about 15 students. To be able to
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handle the group of e-learning students in a good way we suggest that the future courses set a
limit of intake of student at no more than 75 students per year. With assumed withdrawal we
will allow applications and intake from 85 students.
Module 1 (5 ECTS credits) is a compulsory course for Module 24 and the course will be
organized with 5 groups with one teacher/group and 1 head teacher for the whole module.
Module 2 (10 ECTS credits) has three themes and students choose one of these.
In each theme two teachers will take part. One will be the head teacher for the theme and both
will be supervisor for the students.
In 2005, the group of students participating in the courses came from 15 countries and in 2006
from 11 countries. In 2006 students from Czech Republic, Estonia and other institutions in
Germany and Italy as well as professional social workers participated as well as students from
the VIRCLASS partner institutions. To be able to keep up the multinational comparative
possibilities we will suggest that 10 places will be given free to students from Eastern
European countries that are not partners in the project.
An intake of 85 students and 10 scholarships for East European students means that 75 study
places will be shared equally by the partner institutions. If one of the partners cannot fill their
number of students, professional social workers or students from non-partner institutions can
be approved. Students from non partner institutions will have to pay for their study place
according to the cost of teaching hours and administration. Students who pay for the courses
will reduce the total costs for partner institutions.
See table of the administrative model at the end of this document.
CALCULATING COSTS FOR THE VIRCLASS COURSES
It should be borne in mind, when calculating the costs for the future running of the
VIRCLASS courses, that we already have developed a common curriculum plan and prepared
multimedia materials.
According to the Consortium Agreement the costs shared by the partners from the
announcement of new courses for the study year 2007/08 will be the administrative costs
related to the work done by Bergen University College. These costs must be refunded HiB by
January each year. First time January 2008 for the period Autumn 2007 spring 2008.
Teaching and assessment contributions must be delivered by each partner institution by the
agreement about educational cooperation see Annex IV.
Expenses like travel and meeting costs must be covered by the partner institutions or by
teaching exchange and Erasmus grants when this is possible.
Development of new courses and research must be covered by grants from other fundings.
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Exceptions to this can be approved in special occasions when students can prove to have the basic
qualifications in comparative method and e-learning.
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East European partner institutions as well as Portugal and Spain are requested to apply for EU
money that can support their participation and the VIRCLASS project in general5.
To give an overview of the total costs for the courses including teaching and assessment we
have decided to present the full calculation even though the amount of money that are going
to be shared are the administrative costs at the time.
Below follows an estimated budget for the costs of the courses and comments on the
calculation.
Estimated budget for the courses with 15 students per teacher
Price per hour teaching is calculated to: 48 EURO per hour
Teacher costs Module 1:
5 teachers a 80 hours = 400 hours
Headteachers:
60 hours (1 course 5 groups of students)
Module 2:
6 teachers a 70 hours = 420 hours
Headteacher
180 hours (60 hours x 3 courses)
Teaching costs 15 ECTS credits:
1060 hours x 48 Euros/hour =
50880 EURO
Assessment costs:
Module 1: 75 students a 1,5 hour = 112,5 hour
Module 2: 75 students a 1,5 hour= 112,5 hour
External assessor 25% of tasks
60 hours
Total cost assessment:
285 hours x 48 Euro =
13680 EURO
Administrative costs:
Total costs 75 students 15 ECTS
22805 EURO
87365 EURO
Cost per student: 87365 : 75 = 1165 EURO
The teaching/assessment/head teacher costs will be covered by the work load
calculated and arranged in Annex 4.
What-if analyses of the administrative costs with different number of
partners.
Number of partners
10 partners
9 partners
8 partners
7 partners
Costs per partner per year in EURO
2281
2533
2850
3250
5
Scholarship funds under the EEA financial Mechanism system. Mobility and academic cooperation between
Norway and the new EU member states. Applications can only be sent from the new member states.
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The table above gives the amount of money to be shared among the partner institutions
depending on the number of partners signing the Consortium Agreement. The more partners
the less expenses per institution
The administrative costs are based on the following calculation:
Administrative Costs: (75 students)
Price pr. hour is NOK 320,- ,approximately EURO 39,-.
Costs:
NOK:
EURO:
Comments:
Administration of assessment
Certificate and postage
Marketing
Project leadership
Budgets, financial work
Administrative expenses
Admission costs
It`s learning
13500
6.750
20.000
64.000
16.000
48.000
12.000
6.750
1.646
823
2.439
7.805
1.951
5.854
1.463
823
¼ hour per student
¼ hour per student
Posters and flyers, upper limit
200 hours
50 hours
150 hours
½ hour pr. student
¼ hour per student
187000
22805
Euro 304
Total administrative costs:
Costs per student (15 ECTS)
TOTAL COSTS PER STUDENT 15 ECTS: 1165 EURO
Meetings:
Consortium Management Group: One 2-day meeting a year
Steering Committee meetings: Two meetings per year a 2-3 days
Teacher meetings: Two meeting per year a 2-3 days: about
Research Group meeting: One meeting per year a 2 days
Development Group meeting One 2-day meeting a year
750 EURO per participant
1500 EURO per participant
1500 EURO per participant
750 EURO per participant
750 EURO per participant
The meetings can be held in combination with other meetings if possible to reduce the travel
costs.
What will be the Cost for the Programme for each partner institution?
Number of students
Teaching/assessment /head teacher costs
Administrative costs
Total costs per year
75
64560
22805
EURO 87365
The Calculation above give the amount of money that the course cost per year.
Only the direct administrative costs have to be shared among the partner
institutions.
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Comments on the calculation
Price per hour teaching
According to the discussion at the meeting in Bergen we have separated the costs for teaching
and administration. The price per hour teaching and assessment is calculated at 48 EURO. In
the calculation of teaching hours per course there is included no preparation time. The
workload in total is calculated at 10 hour per week per teacher with 15 students in module 1.
The group of students in module one will be divided in five subgroups with one head teacher
for all the groups. Every groups will have one supervisor/teacher. In this module all the
groups are following the same curriculum.
In module 2 there will be 7 hour of work per teacher per week. Two teachers will be involved
in each of the three themes including a head teacher for each theme. In each theme there can
be from 25-30 participating students.
Assessor time
Assessor time is calculated at 1,5 hours per student. Until now 2 assessors (one course teacher
and one external teacher) have assessed the student’s tasks together. Two assessors give a
possibility for an interesting learning process and collaboration for teachers in international
courses and give an important input to the Bologna process.
However the calculation of costs for assessment might be reduced if only some students were
assessed by two assessors and the level was adjusted according to these tasks. In the
calculation of assessment costs only 25 % of the students final assessments are assessed by an
external assessor. If possible and needed for the first years this can be exceeded to 50%.
Head teacher
The head teachers’ tasks are connected to preparing and presenting the weekly programme
and messages on the bulletin board in the course, and to coordinate the course and the
teachers involved. In module one there will be 5 groups with 15 students and one teacher. The
head teacher will coordinate the work in the classroom/platform.
In module 2 there are 3 themes with 2 teachers per theme. Students will be divided in three
groups with about 25 students in each group. One of the teachers will be the head teacher.
Both teachers will be supervisors for the students.
The calculated time is set equal for the two modules. The head teacher in module 1
administers 5 groups in 9 weeks and head teachers in module 2 administer 1 group in 16
weeks. This will probably produce the same amount of work.
Administrative costs
By request, we have tried to make the administrative costs as transparent as possible.
According to the calculation above administrative costs includes:
 Administration of assessment both for module 1 and 2—includes administration of
assessors, making rules for examination and assessor guides.
 Certificate and postage
 Marketing—the courses will need marketing both in the partner institutions and in
other EUSW-TN institutions. The marketing costs include the design of pamphlets and
posters, and printing and postage for sending out the information.
 Budget and financial work related to the Consortium..
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Administration of the courses and practical work with the meetings for the
VIRCLASS partners etc.
Admission costs relates to the intake of students.
It’s learning costs include instructions and technical support in the use of it’s learning
for students and teachers, including license/user and project leadership.
Project leadership includes the coordination of the whole project.
Meetings
Costs for participating in meeting are not included in the budget and are suggested paid by
partner institutions. The possibility for using Teacher Exchange grants should be considered.
The costs for the meetings are stipulated according to the meeting plan in the Consortium
Agreement. To reduce travel costs teachers meetings can be set in connection to VSC
meetings and teachers exchange grants can be used to finance the costs for the meetings.
Each partner has to pay the costs for travel and accommodation for the meetings.
Bergen, 07.03.2007
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MODEL FOR ADMINISTRATION
Model for
administration
Cooperative
model/
consortium
Administrator Intake of
students
HiB on behalf HiB
of the
VIRCLASS
Institutions
consortium
sending
students to
the
programme
confirm the
qualifications
of their
students
Certificate ECTS
credits
HiB and
Recognized
the
by students
student’s
university
university and HiB
Teachers
Assessors
Marketing
VIRCLASS
partners
recruit
teachers
from their
own
institutions
or from
HEIs in
EUSW
VIRCLASS partners
recruit assessors.
HiB is
responsible/coordinator
for assessment
VIRCLASS
partner
institutions:
In their
study
programme,
at their
website,
posters,
flyers,
presentation
in classes
and at
conferences.
Information
to HEI in
EUSW
Status of
the course
An optional
course in the
ordinary
social work
study
programme
in the
partner
institutions.
Can also be
a
postgraduate
study or an
extra course.
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