2008 Edited Collection Proposal

Book Proposal: Supporting E-Learning and Institutional Change: The E-Learning Maturity Model
Editors:
 * Dr Stephen Marshall
 * Professor Paul Bacsich
 * Dr Gayle Calverley

1. Content and aims
The book collects together the experiences of UK institutions applying an e-learning quality improvement framework, the e-learning maturity model (eMM), under the auspices of the HEA Benchmarking Pilot programme in 2007. It complements this with chapters on experiences applying the eMM in Scottish FE institutions and in New Zealand. It explores how these institutions have used the methodology and the outcomes of its application to guide investment in and support of e-learning. As well as providing a series of detailed case studies of organisational change in the higher education sector it will also assist other institutions interested in improving their own e-learning activities.

2. Audience and style
This book is for managers and leaders of higher education institutions internationally. The content and style will be aimed at senior managers and decision makers who are not experts in e-learning technologies.

3. About the editors and contributors
Stephen Marshall is one of the two creators of the e-learning maturity model and is actively involved in guiding its ongoing development and use internationally. He has written extensively on the eMM and supported a number of large international projects applying the model.

Paul Bacsich is …

Gayle Calverley is a member of the team at the University of Manchester who first piloted the e-learning maturity model (eMM) to test its potential for use in a UK Higher Education institution. The team has subsequently offered support based on its experiences to other UK teams working with eMM. Gayle is also Occasional Publications Editor and Honorary Secretary for the Association for Learning Technology.

Contributions for Chapters 6-13 will be provided by staff involved in the eMM projects undertaken at the following institutions:
 * The University of Manchester
 * The Open University
 * The University of Leeds
 * The University of London Extension
 * The University of Sheffield
 * The University of Southampton
 * The University of Wales: Bangor
 * The University of Wales: Aberystwyth

4. Competing publications
While there are many books addressing quality in e-learning from the perspective of individual courses and teachers, there is rather less in print from an institutional perspective. Books in this area are either focused primarily on a quality perspective (for example Ehlers and Pawlowski, 2006) or on the general area of benchmarking (Jackson and Lund, 2000; Bender and Schuh, 2002). Birnbaum (1991) and Kezar (2001) provide useful examinations of institutional change, but in a much wider context and with the intent of analysing change rather than the supporting of effective investment and improvement of e-learning. As well most of these books are dated, calling into question their relevance in a fast moving area such as e-learning.

Birnbaum, R. (1991). How colleges work: The cybernetics of academic organization and leadership. Jossey-Bass. Jackson, N. and Lund, H. (2000). Benchmarking for Higher Education. Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press. Kezar, A.J. (2001). Understanding and Facilitating Organizational Change in the 21st Century: Recent Research and Conceptualizations. Jossey-Bass. Bender, B.E. and Schuh, J.H. (2002). Using Benchmarking to Inform Practice in Higher Education. New Directions for Higher Education 118. Jossey-Bass. Ehlers, U.-D. and Pawlowski, J.M. (2006). Handbook on Quality and Standardisation in E-Learning. Springer.

5. Selling points
This proposed volume distinguishes itself by focusing on how quality and benchmarking information is used to support institutional improvement and change, reflecting the intent of the eMM as a tool for facilitating future activities rather than an auditing of historical performance.

There is considerable international interest in ensuring that investment in e-learning is genuinely delivering benefits to students, institutions and society in general. This is coming from both institutions and national funding bodies. This volume draws together case studies from very prominent institutions in the area of e-learning, including the Open University and the University of London, but also from much smaller institutions. This combination provides the volume with a combination of perspectives that convey the issues facing a range of institutions, rather than just those that are internationally already dominant.

The eMM, as the tool used by all of the institutions contributing, provides a coherence to the case studies and a starting point for users of the book interested in engaging in similar work in their own contexts.

6. Extent and design
The book will be around 100,000 words. There are no special fonts, but each chapter will be illustrated with eMM capability diagrams that are normally reproduced in shades of blue and black. These diagrams can be reproduced in shades of grey, but this is less effective. The institution chapters will be structured in a common manner, with each of the three groups introduced by a short analysis chapter written by the editors.

7. Schedule
The book is intended to take advantage of the completion of the HEA benchmarking project and associated reporting activities and interest. Chapters would be collected in final draft form by the 1st of May 2008. The intention is that the book be available at the 2008 ALT conference.

8. Outline of Contents
1. Introduction (editors) 2. HEA perspective on benchmarking e-learning (Derek????) 3. Organisational change and e-learning literature review (SJM) 4. Benchmarking concepts and methodologies (Paul) 5. eMM concepts (SJM) Introduction: HEA Benchmarking Pilot 6. Manchester University Introduction: eMM in the context of distance learning (editors) 7. The Open University 8. The University of London Extension Introduction: eMM in the context of face to face delivery (editors) 9. The University of Leeds 10. The University of Sheffield 11. The University of Southampton Introduction: the eMM in Wales (editors) 12. The University of Wales: Bangor 13. The University of Wales: Aberystwyth Introduction: the eMM as a tool for guiding a sector (SJM) 14. Sero/SFC experience (Sero team???) 15. NZ ITPNZ experience (SJM) 16. NZ university experience (SJM) 17. Evolution and ongoing development of the eMM (SJM)