Distance Education in Transition - Master of Distance Education ...

The Pedagogical Flexibility of the Virtual University
In addition, the theory of the two parallel worlds of learning enlarges the flexibility of
learners and teachers as there are innumerable possibilities for combining learning in
real spaces and in virtual spaces.
B. Emerging Institutional Patterns
Another driving force in the process of developing net-based learning and virtual
universities are the universities themselves. Many of them have seen that this cannot be
achieved by individual faculty members working independently of each other, but must
be brought about centrally by the governing bodies. It is obvious that these universities
can only be transformed into virtual universities by developing and pursuing a uniform
strategy of innovation. Quite often they intend to use computers and the net on a large
scale. Four such universities can be distinguished: (1) ThinkPad universities, (2) Internet
universities, (3) virtual universities, and (4) virtual distance teaching universities. Each
of them displays distinctive characteristics and is interesting with regard to the goal of
increasing the flexibility of teaching and learning.
ThinkPad Universities
As early as in 1996 IBM began a »Global Campus Initiative« in the United States in
order to be able to supply as many universities as possible with IBM-laptop notebooks.
The idea was that universities interested in this technical innovation should require
every faculty member and student to own and operate the same mobile computer. In
order to promote this campaign a special Computer Enhanced Learning Initiative (CELI)
was founded. Many institutions of higher learning adopted this particular system. In
1999 there was a Yahoo ranking of “the most wired colleges” in which 500 institutions
were already taking part. There is also a Yahoo guide to America’s 100 most wired
campuses. (http://www3.zdnet.com/yil/content/college/intro.html).
We might be tempted to call these institutions virtual universities because each faculty
member and each student has access to the net. But a closer look shows that we are
dealing here with web enhanced campus-based learning only. This can be demonstrated
by two examples:
� Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem (NC)
This is a private university catering for 6 000 students of business administration, law
and medicine. Tuition fees are USD 21 420 per year. The university has accumulated
endowments totalling USD 823 million. The teacher-student ratio is 1:11. Since 1996
all teaching staff and all students have been required to own ThinkPad notebooks.
� Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ
This is the oldest and largest Catholic university in the USA and caters for 8 500
students. Here, too, everybody is supplied with the same mobile computer which is
exchanged for a new one every second year. This university is considered to be the
showpiece of IBM. In the Yahoo ranking of the 500 “most wired colleges” it achieved
the 16 th place.
Although the use of the latest computer technology is promoted by a campaign called
“Catholicism and Technology”, many faculty members remain hesitant. Only one third
of them use the laptops in teaching processes as well. Another third of them refuse to use
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