VCSE Guidebook/How to promote the VCSE-model/On-site workshops: Difference between revisions

Outcomes of on-site workshops with regards to the stated objectives have not been formally evaluated, but it is plausible that the workshops themselves and the publicity generated before and/or after the workshops have contributed to a raised awareness of the benefits of a virtual campus model and an enlarged basis of support for virtual campus initiatives, such as the VCSE, at European universities. With regard to the third objective of dissemination, motivating the target groups to become involved in the VCSE or to start a similar virtual campus in another domain, the results are mixed. The workshops did (thus far) not result in the start-up of virtual campus initiatives in other fields following the VCSE-model and/or making use of the open-source VCSE virtual campus software. The workshops were more effective in raising interest in the involvement in the VCSE, and resulted for example in attendance of a Central Demonstration Workshop (CDW) or an explicit expression of interest to join the VCSE in the near future. None of the workshop participants interested in the VCSE made use of the offer of a ‘free trial period’ (i.e., access to the on-going courses as an ‘observer’). It seems that active follow-up is needed, either in the form of CDW or regular contacts, and that on-site workshops alone will not result in new members joining the VCSE. This supports our active approach to enlargement as described in Chapter 4.