Towards the development of a framework for promoting best practice in virtual campuses

International audience; Despite a significant growth in the development of virtual campuses (VCs) across the EU in recent years, the findings from a European Commission DG Education and Culture workshop in 2005 on VCs highlighted a number of concerns relating to VC projects and initiatives across the EU. It was felt that many VCs suffered from a low profile resulting in little support at senior levels, thus hampering their development, as well as having very little contact and interoperability with each other. If eLearning and VC initiatives are to be sustainable within the European Union, then it is vital that stakeholders understand how new models of teaching and learning transform the institution and how they can be used to enhance the flexibility and inclusiveness of the European education system. This paper reports on the work of a European Commission DG Education and Culture co-financed project PBP-VC Promoting Best Practice in Virtual Campuses which is aimed at providing a deeper understanding of the key issues and critical success factors underlying the implementation of VCs. The paper will outline a tentative model of issues underpinning best practice in VCs derived from an initial literature based investigation of existing VC initiatives within Europe. In addition, the project is working towards developing a practical framework to help guide the process of creating best practice in VCs, as well as raising awareness of issues and approaches to creating sustainable VCs.