ICT fans the flames of learning: University of Groningen introduces Nestor

In the spring of 2000, the University of Groningen (RUG) launched a university-wide ICT in Education programme: the electronic classroom (EC). In this case that means a kind of distributed learning in which IT-opportunities were mixed with traditional classroom management. Now the pilot year has ended successfully. In the academic year 2000-2001, more than 8,500 students (roughly half of the total number of students at the RUG), and 500 teaching staff made use of Nestor – as the EC has now been christened. This article describes how the EC was implemented. The article focusses on the project organisation, choosing the learning platform and the phases in the project. One of the main conclusions we can draw from the project is that the introduction of new ICT facilities for teachers is more successful if they can be involved in a hands-on capacity at an early stage. Another main conclusion is that the project is a costly one. Now it is completed almost Euro 1.5 million will have been spent over a period of eighteen months. The RUG has taken an important first step by introducing Nestor but there is still a great deal to be done: