Teletop was developed at the (then) faculty of Educational Science and Technology in 1997, as a learning environment for Twente students. A website on which they could find everything about their courses. But the Twente student is no longer the only one using it, the product has been æmarketedÆ significantly.
Co-ordinator Quirijn Hamel of the service department ITBE: 'The user group is very diverse. Multinationals like Shell, use it for their internal educational programmes. At this moment there is a group of real estate agents wanting to use it for a set of retraining courses. In Great Britain, the business branch of the Open University is selling the product, and we have been experiencing the interest of secondary school pupils recently.'
Not that strange really, pupils also need a place where they can look up everything on a certain subject, can practice, can find their schedule, and know exactly when to do what.
Hence this project, financed by the provincial development organisation (Overijsselse Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij). Hamel: 'The project will run from now on until the end of 2004. The fourteen secondary schools participating have all appointed an internal Teletop-manager. These managers have had extensive training from us and can always call us if there are problems. You cannot just mail a CD-rom and say: good luck! The teachers who have to work the system, receive training from four educational experts we have hired. They have to learn the technical tricks, but also acquire the educational aspects. What is the optimal to use the learning environment for a specific subject?' During evaluation moments the teachers can indicate which adaptations Teletop has to undergo to become completely suitable for secondary education.
Hamel: 'It is very important for teachers to contribute. That is how Teletop was developed, with the teacher seated next to the technician. A number of things have already been mentioned. Students at a university only take a couple of courses, for example, but pupils at secondary school take a great deal more. Therefore, there is a need for a schedule overview.'
Ultimately, when Teletop has been sufficiently refined as a result of the feedback, the product 'Teletop Secondary School' can be sold.
'A separate company will then market it', according to Hamel. 'The income generated flows back to the product. We keep on developing.'
In addition to secondary schools Teletop continues to focus on higher education, foreign countries, and business. Is Hamel not afraid that other universities will poach on some of his territory? 'No, not at all. The UT is the only university in the Netherlands with its own electronic learning environment.'
The success, according to him, is in the user-friendliness. 'It is very easy for teachers to start using it. The simplicity of the system, that is the strength of Teletop.'
Jannie Benedictus transl. Dineke van Aalst
