CLIMB YOUR NEXT STEP: HOW CAN E-LEARNING PROMOTE THE CHANGE FROM SCHOOL TO UNIVERSITY?

1. Initial conditions and objectives of the project:
In Germany, there are more and more students who drop their study (Heublein et. al. 2012). This is related to the inability to meet the demanding requirements of the study (Heublein et. al. 2009). Other reasons are the lack of identification with the subject of the study, misconceptions or disorientation by following their own study objectives.

Since 2009 there is a research in change from school to university at TU Dresden. UnIbELT as an innovation project enabled 1300 pupils to attend courses in different subjects for their study preparation. Until 2012 over 80 e-learning courses were conducted at schools. The follow-up project KoSEL - competence development and study orientation promoted by e-learning” started in 2013.

The objective of the project “KoSEL” is to improve the change from school to university and to close the gap between school curricula and university standards by offering e-learning courses. The courses focus on different topics and train social, methodical and personality-related skills while considering learning and media consumption habits of today's students. Furthermore, the pupils get in touch with e-learning methods of higher education and become well prepared for the all-day life in university.

2. E- Portfolio: Packing my bag and taking it to University:
In opposite to the traditional assessment like multiple choice tests and complex exercises, some of these courses come with e-portfolio-tasks. The learners are to create various artefacts and collect them in their own space in the learning management system. The aims of these tasks are the personal reflection of learning outcomes and triggering of feedback processes.

For the authors of these courses, the challenge of this method is the conception of tasks and the reflection instructions. It is necessary to let the pupil sufficient space for an open and general self-reflection but there is also the request for a pre-structured, well prepared and organized learning
environment. Authors of these courses have to create e-portfolio-tasks which promote the learning and competence development in an optimal way.

3. Virtual World: Innovative communication scenarios for higher education:
Communication and collaboration are key elements of the courses. The next step on e-learning is a 3D environment that makes it easy to interact with each other every time and everywhere. Besides E-Mail and Skype-Support-modules for asynchronous communication some courses come with a virtual environment to work together on a higher level and train social skills. The pupils can choose an avatar for their virtual life and meet each other at individual creatable rooms or places to work on special tasks, like giving a speech, teambuilding or collaborative problem solving.

4. References:
[1] Heublein, U., Richter, J., Schmelzer, R., Sommer D. (2012). Die Entwicklung der Schwund- und Studienabbruchquoten an den deutschen Hochschulen. Statistische Berechnungen auf der Basis des Absolventenjahrgangs 2010. URL: http://www.his.de/pdf/pub_fh/fh-201203.pdf (Retrieved 2013-07-08).
[2] Heublein, U., Hultzsch, C., Schreiber, J., Sommer, D., Besuch, G. (2009). Ursachen des Studienabbruchs in Bachelor- und in herkömmlichen Studiengängen. Ergebnisse einer bundesweiten Befragung von Exmatrikulierten des Studienjahres 2007/08. URL: http://www.hrk-bologna.de/bologna/de/download/dateien/HIS_studienabbruch_ursachen2009.pdf (retrieved 2013-07-08).