UOC, pioneer in online learning, is helping others around the world in their digital transformation

27 Nov UOC, pioneer in online learning, is helping others around the world in their digital transformation

Josep A. Planell, President of UOC, shares how the university is excited to share their more than 25 years of experience to help institutions get up to speed digitally to improve higher education and respond to societal demands

COVID-19 has forced schools and education facilities to accelerate their IT implementation. As if this was not enough, the recent cyber-attack on the UAB in Barcelona has brought to our attention the need of cybersecurity when operating “online”. The UOC was a pioneer and has been a leader in the digital world, e-learning, and distance learning since 1995. Would you share a bit of history about UOC and the basis of the methodology you follow?

Over 25 years ago, we began in what many are now just taking their first steps––online learning. The UOC was born in 1995, and we were the first one hundred percent online university in the world. The model is not much different from other distance learning universities, such as the British Open or the Spanish UNED, but the premise is that we use a virtual classroom and communicate entirely online. Around 80 percent of our participants are over 25 years old. These are individuals that are following a degree or master’s program usually while working and probably managing family or social obligations. Our target is not an 18-year-old who is studying for the first time, rather it is the lifelong learning student. I prefer to call them, in fact, learners more than students. Technology is the means to make all of this happen.

If you think about it, in 1994-95, there were less than three thousand web pages in the world. Now we have more than 1.7 billion. Things have changed dramatically. Back then, you could not even transmit images over the internet; printing an image would take at least five minutes; and taping lectures was out of the question. That forced us to devise a specific pedagogic model in which the learner is at the center of the activity, and essentially learns by doing. Our methodology is based on three basic elements: learning resources, personalized student support from teaching staff, and collaboration.

There are no lectures. Learners are provided with the academic resources needed to solve the problems that the professor poses to them. They then have the possibility to contact the professor with any doubt or question they may have. Learners collaborate among themselves when necessary or participate in seminars. All activities are asynchronous, which is a huge advantage in that the university exists wherever the professor or wherever the learner is at any given moment. Learners can work at the most convenient time and place for them. Furthermore, UOC is constantly reinventing itself with the latest technology that will best serve the learning experience. A great part of our mission has to do with democratizing knowledge and guaranteeing people’s access to high quality online education.

Barcelona is certainly one of the preferred destinations in Europe for students from all over the world. What are the most important markets for UOC and the emerging ones?

Barcelona is indeed an attractive city, but since we are online, we could really be anywhere. Our university’s ambition is to be international and that means to educate global citizens anywhere in the world. Fortunately, we have two common languages which are Spanish and Catalan Spanish, thus we can address our degrees to the whole Spanish speaking community in the world. We have some programs in English, as well.

We have about one hundred thousand learners and ten percent of them have non-European Union passports. In that sense, about half of those are Spanish speaking immigrants in Spain or in other parts of Europe, and the other half are Latin American.

The UOC offers undergraduate and postgraduate education in different fields and areas. The University is also behind the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, for example, and other initiatives. Could you please explain the major areas of “business” of the UOC? Do you also support the public sector and other public and private institutions through specific studies and partnerships? What is the overall impact of the university on Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain?

In terms of the business, I would have to say we are heavily grounded in the digital space. We were born out of technology, and therefore our research and knowledge production are in the areas of technology and society, for instance, how technology affects society and specifically how technology affects education. We have specific areas of research and knowledge building in ICTs and learning, or e-learning, and in e-health, as well as in areas such as creativity and technology. We are very interested in working in art, science and technology.

On the other hand, as a digital organization, we work with other institutions in helping them,  with their digital transformation. The pandemic has accentuated the need to digitally upgrade many entities, particularly universities. UOC collaborates with other universities in the world in their digital makeovers, which is so critical right now. We are extremely interested in providing digital competencies to individuals. It is a must that citizens be educated and trained in digital proficiencies in general.

Would you qualify Barcelona as a global leader in education?

I would say that it is, without a doubt. Barcelona now has some very significant universities such as the University of Barcelona, The Autonomous University, Pompeu Fabra, the Technical University and us. Barcelona has the capacity to train students in a wide range of areas and it has shown its worth in the high positions it holds in international rankings. Barcelona has the capacity to attract talent and keep it, which is the challenge these days. We have a stellar group of leading research centers competing at a European Level, where science and investigation is thriving. Innovation or technological districts like 22@ connects the most creative and brilliant in media, tech and communication, energy, design and healthcare. I firmly believe we can lead education within Europe and beyond.

A number of global corporations are setting up some key offices in Barcelona, and there is a long list of new startups growing in Barcelona and expanding regionally and internationally. How important is the partnership between the local education system and the emerging new economy?

Barcelona is attractive for companies because our universities are providing the talent that these companies need. Startups are absolutely flourishing in our town. In fact, we have what we call a Hubbik, which is a hub for innovation and knowledge where we provide facilities for startups and spinoffs to develop and gain support. We also have a company in the UOC that we call Invergy where we provide seed capital to startups. This comes in the form of small sums of money, 60 to 80 thousand euros around the areas where our university is strong, mainly technology and education, and technology applied to health.

The 21st century will go down in history as the century of cities. In your view, what should a smart-city’s education system look like?

As Sanjay Sarma, Vice President at MIT said, the 21^st century began in 2021 with the pandemic. It is has shown us what we were lacking. We now know that internet and digitalization is pivotal for the development of our society. Education in smart cities should be centered around the same things that general education should, but with a strong emphasis on digitalization. It is essential that our learners be trained to solve complex problems, and that is not only necessary in smart cities. It is a general demand. However, in smart cities, it is even more important. Smart cities should also be taking care of equality and diversity. A strong town is one that attracts diverse talent and allows this talent to live together and provide the starting point for new development and innovation. Education should be designed for inclusivity.

Professor Simon Collinson, Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham and Chair of the Chartered Association of Business Schools said that “the growth of business education over the past 60 years has been phenomenal”, however, he adds, in 25 years’ time, “many of our business schools will not exist, and none will exist in their current form”. While the UOC is not only a business school, if you had to apply this to the UOC case, what are the major trends, the biggest challenges, and the greatest opportunities of the sector for the next 10 years?

I believe that business in general needs to shift toward what the European Union is calling the Green New Deal. We must move simultaneously toward a digital society and a green society as well. These are the challenges we face today––how can we best train our business leaders of tomorrow to promote and work towards these societal objectives.

Do you have any final comments for our readers at Newsweek magazine?

I would just say that distance learning education is more than just taping a lecture and calling yourself an online university. True distance learning education requires thorough pedagogical planning.

Online education is here to stay. The questions that had been raised in the past about distance education are no longer relevant with people working remotely. The new rurality and the need to support non-urban areas demands online education and needs the effective response of online learning.