Today we meet Ignacio Despujol Head of the MOOC initiative at Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, one of the main references in inclusion of digital technologies in education. Hello Ignacio, tell us about the evolution of Universitat Politécnica de Valencia strategy in education technology. Hello Orlando, well, at Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, as soon as year 2007, within the framework of our strategic plan we found out that inclusion of new techonologies in education was a top priority and started a specific line of work to address that. First, the rector and governors board needed to be clear on this, which they were clear already, and secondly is that professors have the proper training and the eagerness to participate. Then we designed a plan called "Teaching Network" [Docencia en Red] that has been working since then, and it is now in its 10th edition where we offer a small economic incentive that will not get you out of poverty but it is a recognition with teaching activity points, and special events to acknowledge and reward the best learning materials produced, the creation of digital learning materials is encouraged. We started with digital learning materials in the form of videos and developed also a recording technology, Polimedia, that allows recording educational videos easily, and also learning modules with their own content and at the same time OCW subjects (Open Course Ware), and this was further encouraged when MOOCs appeared on scene, the MOOCs, the flipped classroom we will discuss, and also a training plan to support teachers, so that with these tools as always, we worked as volunteers then, we brought early adopters, people eager to do things and little by little, professors are becoming accustomed to the tools, and out of 2,400 professors, 600, almost 700 have already produced their own learning videos and created content. then of course, we have already a large number of professors which is the second leg of the table, the first is the university authorities, the second are these professors, and then we go to the third that are learning materials and content which is what we need for the development of the online learning initiative later on Then, that is what has allowed us later, when MOOCs arrived to create MOOCs, when the flipped teaching team appeared, and the rector and his team had a good impression, because the flipped teaching ran successfully, etc, etc. Then a clear strategy and support professors. Well, very good. Now what would you recommend to other institutions wanting to get on board this train of digital education that evolves really fast, all this universe of technological advances in education, what would you suggest ? Until recently, approximately 6 or 7 years ago it seemed that the world of higher education was very impermeable and reluctant to changes. In the 30's, the educational radio appeared that promised to revolutionize everything In the 80's it was the educational television. Or in the 2000's internet also appeared and it didn't take on, but now it seems it will. Big name universities are investing heavily to adapt to the upcoming change There are non-university related actors, like for example the company Telefónica, that just announced a campus brought from France where they intend to train 450 people in subjects related to programming and where university professors are not necessary, and they help themselves in project-based challenges, we will see if it works effectively but there is an increasing number of initiatives like this one. And if the university does not adapt, probably it will miss the train, sooner or later, like next year this change will go beyond next year. But now you can see the path clearly. Why? Why do I believe this will be successful now? In the first place because People is now getting used to consume content in different ways, here and now, our kids consume content on Youtube, a lot more than books, there is even a study of generation Z saying that the first reference is the professor and then comes Youtube, then, on the other hand, people have become accustomed to ask questions and answer in social media. Before, we had online forums only used by a small minority, but now everyone is accustomed. And lastly, technology has lowered substantially the costs of creation of new digital content, and now we have all the pieces to assemble the puzzle and we have also a change on people's mentality, it is not just that they became used to the technology, they are comfortable with receiving content in other formats. Then, I would suggest what I have said, to develop a strong strategy, this strategy should include support and training for professors, and then content creation. It is really interesting how all these pieces have come together in this precise moment to advance in this field of education, and now, as you mention it, I would like you to share with us a little bit more about your flipped classroom experience that you had here at the university with your own courses with your students. What are your thoughts and what feedback did you receive. Well, on the subject of flipped classroom I can speak from two perspectives. One is the institutional experience, I mean, how the university, same as other strategies, decided it was an interesting topic to have professors prepare content so students could follow theory at home, that they can see it several times in many cases on video, other times using PDFs so the student can come prepared beforehand, can rewatch several times the theory he does not understand, and then come to the classroom to receive the biggest value of a campus based university, which is face-to-face professor time, which is really valuable because it is him who can help the student if he or she gets stuck, then it is a lot better if the professor collaborates with students making active classroom work, debating, it is better than just giving a lecture, speaking, and students to receive it then, the university perceived it was a good model to try, and it decided to experiment, the university reduced the in-classroom teaching hours, to those professors willing to try, I joined the experiment, where I can speak from the second perspective, the one as professor, not only as part of the system, the system works very well, we have right now more than 250 courses using this method of flipped teaching, we are working on an initiative at the university level studying quality, assessing in which areas we can support professors the most, where we can make improvements, we have 4 years already, and I as professor have to say that I believe that students learn a lot more. This has a problem, which is that students have to work more, it changes what they are traditionally comfortable with, becasue of course, they have to watch the theory videos at home and then they come and work at the classroom, but from all the poll results I have seen, at the end, I truly believe students learn more and from what I have discussed with students, when I finish the course and I talk to them, I beleive their learning lasts a lot more because at the end they learn by doing on my courses, because they watch the theory at home the ones studying aircraft engineering and then I put them to work in groups, they have between 15 or 20 projects depending on the year, they have to work on them in groups and this way I beleive they learn a lot more. Very good, I find it very interesting and relevant this experience you had at the Universitat. and I also consider it is really interesting to analyze and crunch all the data and opinions you receive from the professor staf, from students, and also how the public perceive you outside the campus, the image the university has regarding technological evolution Yes, in fact, one of the most important aspects that technology provides, when applying it to education, we have been discussing the content available anytime and anywhere, we discussed that people can learn at their own pace, we discussed that accessing professors is becoming easier but we have not discussed something related with that you are pointing out now that is the professor and the intitution's capacity to analyze and assess what is happening. The number of inputs, in English, the input of data you have aobut how the student is working, and the speed and promptness of data, there are many students and we have to learn, in fact we are all, the research community, that is what we are working right now, on how to take advantage of that big flow of data in order to improve education. And that, there is even people, well, at the EMOOCs, at the conference we were recently and the open EdX conference there is a professional of the area that worked for Amazon that has worked at Stanford that beleives that data is the most important, the truly revolutionary, that will change more, that we could have data on what is happening many data in real time and we could adapt, even in personalized ways, for every student. Well very good, I am very pleased for this idea and how it has been evolving and I wish you the best of luck with your future projects at the Universitat. Very well, thank you very much Orlando. Thanks.
