University of Gavle

From Researching Virtual Initiatives in Education

The University of Gävle (Högskolan i Gävle, HiG) supports distance education, primarily via internet.

It is located in Gävle, Sweden, and despite its English name is not a university by Swedish law (per Wikipedia, June 4 2009). Established in 1977, it has six departments offering "approximately 50 degree programmes and 800 elective courses".

There are approximately 13,000 registered students at the university. Half of these students come from the surrounding region; the other half come from other parts of Sweden. The total number of employees is some 800, of whom over 30 are full professors and 150 senior lecturers. A high percentage of the academic staff has an international background, a fact that contributes to the university's on-going process of internationalisation.

The most common form of distance education at HiG is the combination of Internet and video conferences, but also e-mail and telephone are commonly used. In some courses, there may even be one or more meetings at the university. Certain courses are, however, completely web-based and have no obligatory meetings at the university or any other place. Students and teachers communicate via e-mail, computer conferences, or so-called virtual classrooms.

A learning center is the central support function for distance education and flexible learning at HiG. The learning center also closely cooperates with the study centers in the region.

The university web site is at http://www.hig.se/Verktyg-i-hoger/In-English.html

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