E-LEARNING AS THE KEY TOOL IN TODAY’S ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Europeans have been capable of inventing their own responses to a problem common to the whole world: how to keep one’s cultural identity and at the same time adjust to the modern world, i.e., the technological revolution. The roles and attributions of these new professionals involve the possession of competences based on a strong integration of knowledge, on technological, methodological competences above the average and sometimes managerial skills. Such professional figures, still in development in Romania and sometimes not yet very well differentiated are the manager of the e-learning system, the e-learning project manager, the e-authoring expert, the expert in developing advanced e-learning content. We strongly believe that the appropriate training and role distribution of the academic staff are decisive steps for the creation and development of a competitive e-learning department in any university and for conferring a European dimension to the Romanian education. In the past years, e-learning has been used very effectively in university teaching in Romania for enhancing the traditional forms of teaching and administration. Students on many courses in many universities have progressively had web access to the lecture notes and digital resources in support of their study, they have personalised web environments in which they can join discussion forums with their class or group, and this new kind of access gives them much greater flexibility of study. Part time students can more easily access the course and this in turn supports the objectives of wider participation, removing the traditional barriers to higher education study. The importance of network technologies for enabling both campus and distant students to learn through social interaction and collaboration is becoming more and more obvious every year. The implementation of e-learning systems in the Romanian higher education has so far been a successful process, but there were nevertheless difficult aspects that had to be overcome. Europeans have been capable of inventing their own responses to a problem common to the whole world: how to keep one’s cultural identity and at the same time adjust to the modern world, i.e., the technological revolution. The roles and attributions of these new professionals involve the possession of competences based on a strong integration of knowledge, on technological, methodological competences above the average and sometimes managerial skills. Such professional figures, still in development in Romania and sometimes not yet very well differentiated are the manager of the e-learning system, the e-learning project manager, the e-authoring expert, the expert in developing advanced e-learning content. We strongly believe that the appropriate training and role distribution of the academic staff are decisive steps for the creation and development of a competitive e-learning department in any university and for conferring a European dimension to the Romanian education. In the past years, e-learning has been used very effectively in university teaching in Romania for enhancing the traditional forms of teaching and administration. Students on many courses in many universities have progressively had web access to the lecture notes and digital resources in support of their study, they have personalised web environments in which they can join discussion forums with their class or group, and this new kind of access gives them much greater flexibility of study. Part time students can more easily access the course and this in turn supports the objectives of wider participation, removing the traditional barriers to higher education study. The importance of network technologies for enabling both campus and distant students to learn through social interaction and collaboration is becoming more and more obvious every year. The implementation of e-learning systems in the Romanian higher education has so far been a successful process, but there were nevertheless difficult aspects that had to be overcome.