Professor Rajesh Chandra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Chairman, Distance and Flexible Learning Committee

1. Using Cutting-Edge Telecommunications for distance education: the case of the USPNet at the University of the South Pacific Professor Rajesh Chandra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Chairman, Distance and Flexible Learning Committee Chairman, Communications and Information Technology Committee

2. Outline of the Presentation • ICT and Education: the fundamental role of ICT and education in the creation and enhancement of the knowledge economy/society--general remarks • USP at a glance • Distance education at USP • USPNet: using cutting edge technologies • Current limitations and future plans

3. ICT and Education • ICT has both tremendous potential to help the education sector as well as needing the education sector for its growth and development • The Pacific islands lag behind the more progressive developing countries in applying ICT to education and health, and generally in making their economies more productive and competitive • The Ministers of Telecommunications adopted a Regional ICT Policy and Action Plan in April this year (2002)

4. ICT and Education-Continued • This policy framework provides a good basis for urgent national action in the ICT area • (e.g. liberalizing the telecommunications sector and creating national ICT infrastructure) • USP is making a major effort to ensure that it remains at the forefront of ICT both in terms of teaching related to it, and in making the best use of ICT in its teaching and other functions

5. The proposed ICT Centre at USP To improve its services to the Region and help in its leadership of ICT, the Fiji Government has submitted a regional proposal to the Government of Japan for a major ICT Centre at USP. Preliminary indications are positive and we anticipate that this project will be the highlight of the proposed PALM 2003. USP represents the largest and most sophisticated ICT system in the South Pacific: useful ICT demonstrator for the Region

7. The University of the South Pacific Serving the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu

8. USP at a Glance Regional university for 12 countries Established in 1968 Covers area of 33 million km2 Great pressure to meet urgent human resource development needs Produces over 1,600 graduates per annum

9. USP at a Glance--Continued 14,383 students, 51 percent are females Student growth at about 10 percent per annum Great pressure to ensure increased access to education Sensitivity to location/decentralization--importance of distance education/internet/broadcast of lectures

10. USP ICT • 1600 PCs • 1200 PCs connected to the network • 40,000 email messages a day • 5 km of fibre on Laucala and 2 km at Emalus and Alafua • Private network that links 12 countries over an area of about 33 million square kms • USP is the best demonstration for the region of what can be done with ICT and how to do it

11. Distance Education at USP We now come to the third part--distance education Distance education was seen as important from the beginning: “The University should have an Extra-mural Department to enable it to carry university studies to towns and villages through the Region, and to promote understanding of and affection for the University in the people of distant places” (Morris Report, 1966: 48). UGC has put great emphasis on distance and flexible learning and teaching and its improvement

13. Distance Education at a Glance 8728 students, or 61 percent of the total number of students (14383) study by distance Programmes offered by distance include continuing education certificates, Certificate in Foundation Studies, Certificates in almost all the subject areas across the five schools Diplomas, and degree programmes, such as BEd, BA (various majors and minors), BSc (some courses only), LLB (all courses upto year 2 are available but in the next three years, the entire degree will be available

14. Selected Master courses More equitable since participation by females higher: 57 percent and share of students from countries other than Fiji is higher than for on-campus students (23 and 32 percent respectively) Fees have been kept low: currently 53 percent of on-campus fees; projected to reach the same level in 2010. Distance Education at a Glance

15. Distance Education at a Glance Distance education is provided via three campuses and 14 University Centres, some of which are expected to be declared campuses in the near future Distance education is being transformed in terms of its organization and delivery options Mainstreaming distance and flexible learning and teaching: strengthening the one-university, one system approach

16. USPNet was inaugurated in March 2000 by HE the then Vice-President of Fiji

17. A private educational telecommunications system based on a VSAT system owned and operated by the USP through educational licences from member countries Integrates all technologies: satellite, PCs, high speed document readers, telephones, faxes, advanced control software, and various e-learning software such Web-CT What is USPNet?

18. USPNet

19. The USPNet hub-Laucala campus

20. What Does USPNet Do? It allows the University to support distance and flexible learning and teaching by enabling 4 video broadcasts of lectures at any one time--can reduce duplication and make available courses quickly It allows reliable audio and videoconference tutorials for students

21. USPNet Operation - Video Video Channels 1 2 3 4 e a e a l l Lecture Broadcast (Campuses Only) Received at all Locations

22. USPNet Allows: Student Internet access: general access, can also do Internet courses Intranet access, with access to on-line resources Distributed learning resources: the digitization project Greater student interaction: on-line platforms allowing for discussion groups, emails, and chats Data to be transmitted to support teaching, research and administration Telephony and faxes to be integrated

23. Breaking the Ultimate Tyranny of Distance Problem of assignment turn-around: airline schedules Experimentation with electronic transmission of assignment and returns Electronic transmission and local printing of some course materials when Centres run short Logging of turn-around times of assignments and the quality of responses to student work

24. USPNet Operation - 64kbps Circuits

25. Designed to support a major shift at USP towards distance and flexible learning Strengthens the regional integrity of the USP: It supports all member countries with a common platform and capacity Allows Emalus and Alafua Pro VCs and Heads of School to take part in management meetings without having to come to the Laucala campus USPNet as a Symbol of Transformation

26. Limitations and Future Plans Bandwidth Problems USPNet bandwidth and internet bandwidth USPNet bandwidth already stretched, but some expansion will be relatively cheap Internet bandwidth is the bottleneck--was 128 kbps in 2000, doubled in early 2001, now 512 kbps To put in perspective, individuals often have 64 kbps accounts--try to imagine all USP staff and many students sharing 512 kbps!

27. Bandwidth Problems (Continued) During the day, speeds come down considerably The cost factor--at least five times that of Australia The expansion of internet bandwidth is crucial

28. Major limitation of USPNet is that it stops at the Centre New phase of USPNet development must address this Some experimentation is underway Going Beyond the Centres

29. Upgrading USPNet Conversion to a full IP platform From hierarchy to a flatter structure Dealing with political risk: Emalus and Alafua as possible alternative locations for operations in times of difficulty General increase in the efficiency of the USPNet From narrow-band to broadband Staff development is crucial

30. Linking With Other Networks USP is exploring the idea that USPNet can be linked with other similar networks to improve the range of services to member countries, so is talking with the World Bank about its Global Development Learning Network Talking with AusAID about the Virtual Colombo Plan and GDLN Talking with Japan about J-Net