Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Institutions of higher education have to make some hard educational, managerial, financial and strategic
policy choices. Information technology will help make some of these choices work better.
This article analyzes the new challenges characterizing the environment in which higher education institutions
operate and compete, and examines some concrete implications of these challenges, looking at promising
trends and experiences in countries and institutions.
There are three very good reasons to support a re-engineering of the higher education process in today’s
environment: demand and diversity, technology and capacity and finally quality and transformation.
Information technology is sold aggressively around the world, and its price keeps falling. Yet, the use of
information technology in education is particularly skewed, regardless of level. Why?
Technology and what it opens for learning force reassessment but also gives opportunities for better
systems of assuring the quality education that students, faculty, and the community expect.
19 TechKnowNews
The Stockholm Challenge Award Now Open for Entries ♦ Internet2, Where to?♦ Corporate Universities
Reinvent Training ♦ 'Open Archives' Project as an Alternative to Costly Journals ♦ Cisco's E-Learning
Initiative, Dramatically Shifts Learning Model ♦ HungryMinds.com Adds Thousands of University Courses to
Online Learning Marketplace ♦ FORWARD Towards the Information Society ♦ Low-Cost PCs For Indian
Education Sector ♦
This article describes the African Virtual University, its objectives, functions, programs and future.
23 University of the Highlands and the Islands: New Paradigm or Exceptional Case?
Richard Hopper and William Saint, World Bank
The University of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland could represent a new paradigm in higher education
delivery for developing countries where community isolation, program availability, and academic
infrastructure remain problematic.
To gain public confidence and academic respect is a major challenge to the viability and survival of Open
Universities. The Open University of Hong Kong has taken this challenge seriously.
This trial Project permits the Korean private sector and the conventional higher education institutions to
compete with foreign universities by establishing degree-granting virtual universities.
This article describes the main features of the Monterrey Institute: technologies, instructional design and
linkages with the industry.
This article examines how the University of Phoenix operates, assesses the quality of education that it
provides, and discusses whether it is a model that developing countries should consider for the expansion of
tertiary education at little or no cost to the public sector.
38 The End of the Campus University? What the Literature Says About Distance Learning
Sonia Jurich
Some view new forms of delivery of higher education as no more than fads, soon to pass. For others, the
days of the traditional university are counted. This article brings some light to this discussion with the help of
three recent documents.
The polar views expressed in many policy discussions—that there is “no significant difference” on the one
extreme, and that distance learning is inherently inferior on the other—defy reason. The real debate needs to
focus on identifying what approaches work best for teaching students, period.
Countries and institutions interested in developing tertiary distance education will need to formulate
comprehensive strategic policies, choose an institutional model and make management choices. This article
provides an analysis of policies to select from and institutional models to choose from.
This article focuses on the costs of different models of teaching with technology in higher education, bearing
in mind that these technologies also support a wide range of other core activities.
Alternative organizations to the university will take over many of its roles if it does not adapt. The institutional
challenge is to simultaneously become dramatically better at current operations, and innovate. This article
presents some concrete management responses to this challenge.
This article describes the process of development of a University Information System with the dual purpose
of serving the oversight and monitoring needs of the national authorities and meeting the management
needs of the universities.
57 Video Projectors
This article describes the advantages of using video projectors in the classroom, how they differ from
overhead projectors, and the practical questions you should ask before you buy one.
This article offers a selection of websites illustrating possibilities for using information technology to improve
higher education.
This article describes the latest in speech recognition software and how they work. It also poses the
questions you should ask before considering any purchase.
The CEO of CODECS tells the story of how the Center has brought to Romania the most flexible and
accessible management education, by using The Open University (OU) distance learning system.
This "profile" highlights three moments in the history of Universities on the American continent: the
commencement ceremony for a new doctor at the University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, during the 1600's,
the Chautauqua society in the late 1800's and early 1900's in the United States, and the use of information
technology in Mexico.
Higher Education :
The Ivory Tower and the Satellite Dish
Introduction To answer this question, this article is divided into two parts. It
Imagine a university without buildings or classrooms or even a looks first at the new challenges characterizing the environment
library. Imagine a university ten thousand miles away from its in which higher education institutions operate and compete on
students, delivering on-line programs or offering its courses the eve of the 21st century. Second, it examines some concrete
through franchise institutions overseas. Imagine a university implications of these challenges for higher education leaders,
without academic departments, without required courses or looking at promising trends and experiences in countries and
majors or grades. Imagine a college proposing a bachelor’s institutions which have taken the lead in introducing reforms
degree in Individualized Studies or in Interdisciplinary Studies. and innovations.
Imagine a degree valid only for five years after graduation.
Imagine a higher education system where institutions are The New Challenges
ranked not by the quality of their teachers, but by the intensity There are three major, intertwined new challenges which
of electronic wiring and the degree of Internet connectivity. bear heavily on the role and functions of higher education:
Imagine a country whose main export earnings come from the (a) economic globalization, (b) the growing importance of
sale of higher education services. Imagine a socialist country knowledge, and (c) the information and communication
which charges tuition fees to obtain full cost recovery in public revolution. Globalization is the process of growing
higher education. Are we entering the realm of science fiction? integration of capital, technology, and information across
Or are these evocations real-life stories of revolution in the national boundaries in such a way as to create an increasingly
world of higher education on the eve of the 21st century? integrated world market, with the direct consequence that
more and more countries and firms have no choice but to
In the past few years, many countries have witnessed compete in the global economy. This is not to mean that
significant transformations and reforms in their higher globalization is necessarily a good thing or a bad
education systems, including the emergence of new types of phenomenon. Many people see it as a major source of
institutions, changes in patterns of financing and governance, opportunities, while critics decry the dangers of inter-
the establishment of evaluation and accreditation mechanisms, dependency, such as the risk of transferring financial crises
curriculum reforms, and technological innovations. But the from one country to the other. But globalization is
tertiary education landscape is not changing as fast everywhere. happening, whether one likes it or not, and every country in
At Oxford University, New College is a venerable sixteenth the world, every firm, and every working person has to live
century institution. The oldest university of the American with it.
continent, the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo in the
Dominican Republic, is about to collapse under the pressure of The second dimension of change is the growing role of
its 80,000 students that are crowding facilities originally knowledge. Economic development is increasingly linked to
designed to accommodate only 6,000 students. The largest a nation’s ability to acquire and apply technical and socio-
university in the world, the National Autonomous University of economic knowledge, and the process of globalization is
Mexico, has been paralyzed since April 1999 by a strike over accelerating this trend. Comparative advantages come less
the Rector’s decision to increase tuition fees by the equivalent and less from abundant natural resources or cheaper labor,
of US$140. In this rapidly evolving world, what is likely to and more and more from technical innovations and the com-
happen to those higher education institutions, which are not petitive use of knowledge. The proportion of goods with a
willing or able to change? medium-high and high level of technology content in inter-
national trade has gone from 33 percent in 1976 to 54 percent
in 1996.2 Today, economic growth is more a process of
“It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the knowledge accumulation than of capital accumulation.
most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to
change.” In this context, economies of scope, derived from the ability
- Charles Darwin to design and offer different products and services with the
same technology, are becoming a more powerful driving
Introduction and classrooms, know when, how and what to learn and have
the resources to pay for them. The arrival of the newer
Some 10 years ago John Gardner a one time secretary of technologies certainly seems to have stimulated a resurgence
state for health and education, under the Reagan of interest in diversifying methods of knowledge delivery.
administration and, current professor at Stanford University
was reported as saying that “ I am entirely certain that 20 Admittedly any transformation of educational systems
years from now we will look back at education as it is cannot ignore a role for technology in the delivery of that
practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could education. There are several reasons why this is so, but a
have tolerated anything so primitive.” By and large our few stand out as immensely important. These are:
traditions of teaching and learning [in that order] has
undergone very little change from the days of Aristotle. The short supply of talent: On one hand, the planet is filled
Notwithstanding, there is a strong lobby that is emerging with highly skilled and talented people in all fields of human
which argues for the “exceptions” to become the “norm”. At endeavour. On the other, critics of global educational
the forefront of this lobby is not academia but political forces systems have constantly bemoaned the fact that, by and
and perhaps commercial interests. They believe that the large, the academic talent found in our schools, colleges and
technologies of today and those that are emerging will universities need to enhance the quality of the learning
transform the teaching landscape to that extent where it will environment beyond levels of mediocrity. We need
be neither economical nor socially acceptable to cling on to excellence in our teaching and we need to source our
ancient traditions. teachers from the best in the community and distribute them
to the whole learning community. The Western Governors
There are at least three very good reasons to support a re- Virtual University initiative among the North Western States
engineering of the educational process in today’s of the USA is, in fact, attempting to do the same thing. This
environment: demand and diversity, technology and attempt envisages going beyond campus walls to source
capacity and finally quality and transformation. academic “teaching” talent. Contributors to courses will
come from business, commerce, industry and government,
and users of the courses will include ordinary people along
Demand and Diversity with thousands of college and university students.
Notwithstanding certain levels of scepticism, the provision An unmet demand: Since the end of the last World War, the
for learning is becoming more open and accessible. Many planet has expanded its educational provision at all levels.
factors contribute to this changing educational culture. While in proportionate terms we congratulate ourselves for
Important among these are the forces of economics, social having achieved near universal basic, primary and more
and technological. These forces are worldwide in their scope secondary and post-secondary education, the absolute
and, in terms of their power, seem to have a profound impact number of people still needing education at all levels is
on business practises, manufacturing processes, financial astronomical. To be a globally competitive economy, the
services, government policies and, more recently, in our renewal of peoples’ knowledge, especially those in the
teaching practises and learning behaviours. It would not be workforce, is vital. If we also include our desire to build
an exaggeration to say that as we enter this century, we are nations of informed and knowledgeable citizenry for the
also moving irrevocably in the direction of changing the way functioning of a healthy democracy, then this planet’s
we think about information, knowledge and learning. demand for educational opportunities is truly staggering. No
conventional system of educational delivery can meet this
In addition, there is also a change in the nature of those demand. Using technology may provide some relief, and
requiring education and training. Communities are no longer using technology in partnership with others may provide lots
contented (nor should they be) to limit access to education of relief.
and training to the fortunate few who live in urban
communities, have access to communications, infrastructure
Information technology is sold aggressively around the Institutions that teach about technology tend to use technol-
ogy in the process of teaching. Vocational and technical
world. Its price keeps falling at the now famous yearly
schools are the first and most eager adopters of technology.
rate of 20%. Yet, the use of information technology in Technology begets technology. These institutions are the
education is particularly skewed, regardless of level. technophiles. Policies to introduce technology in these
Some institutions use it abundantly, others, not at all. schools are mere policies to buy equipment. This is all that is
needed. Once the equipment arrives it is quickly installed and
Some use it well, others do not. Why? This article puts armies of teachers and students start immediately playing
together some thoughts on this matter. with it. When it breaks, they rejoice at the chance of tinker-
ing with it. This is true for modest vocational schools up to
The Power of National Organizational Culture the prestigious MIT (where some engineering courses are
Countries differ in the way their education institutions work, moving to browsers).
reflecting national organizational cultures and traditions. For
instance, in the United States, what happens in one school Enterprises, particularly those that produce services and mer-
district may not take place in another - and even individual chandise with high technological content, tend to use tech-
institutions within the same district differ. One institution nology in their training programs. Perhaps they are the most
might be chock-full of computers and the next has close to avid and systematic customers for new teaching technolo-
none. One may use creatively the computers; another lets gies. Firms like IBM spend gigantic budgets on training and
them sit idly. By contrast, European schools are synchro- have little reluctance to have their conventional training mi-
nized to the tune of powerful ministries of education. If grate to computers, satellites, browsers and teleconferencing.
France decides to have 100,000 computers, they will be pur- By contrast, academic institutions are far more likely to be
chased from the same vendor and equipped with the “offi- technophobes. Teachers fear computers and all the miscon-
cial” software. Japan did close to nothing until recently, but ceptions associated with them. The task of bringing technol-
it seems to have changed its mind and we should expect a ogy to them is arduous and results are slow to come.
massive and obedient introduction of computers in the near
future. Of course, if the programs are poorly designed, all However, there are no hard and fast rules here. Schools that
schools will suffer. The same holds true for good programs. have had to use technology to deliver their courses tend to
In those countries, individual initiatives that go against the get used to the idea of using technology as a learning tool. A
grain of the “Plan” have difficulty flying. good example is the Monterrey Technological Institute
(Mexico) that had to use technology to deliver its courses
Related to this are the relative merits of incremental versus throughout its multiple campuses. This imposed familiarity
critical mass styles of use. The US style has been mostly led the institution to increasingly use computers and other
incremental (with many exceptions). The implicit rationale is technologies in its teaching.
to bring more and more computers and hope that more and
more teachers will find ways to use them. The risk is that – Computers in Schools and Computers in Education: The
as discussed below – supply does not generate demand and Nouveau Technophobes
the computers remain idle, under-utilized or poorly utilized. The discussion above misses one critical issue: there is a
The alternative is to concentrate a critical mass in some in- difference between computers in schools and computers in
stitutions and ensure that they will use competently the ma- education. The traditional technophobes hated and feared
chines and establish some good models (as Israel and Singa- computers, whether they admit it or not. They demurred, they
pore are doing). The good examples will then be replicated. did nothing to help and if computers came and were in-
The risk is that replication may not take place. The judge- stalled, they found one thousand solutions for not using
ment is still out on the relative merits of either alternative. them.
Technophobes and Technophiles But the old technophobes are becoming a relic of the past;
Perhaps even more important to explaining the use of com- being replaced by the nouveau technophobes. This new breed
puters, is to consider the attitude of different types or catego- loves computers, buys them, brings them to schools and uses
ries of educational institutions towards computers, depending them. But it does not use computers in education. Computers
on their ethos. Some institutions are technophobes while oth- become better typewriters, better calculators, better tools to
ers are technophiles. communicate irrelevancies, better ways of keeping grades
Another powerful and understandable tendency is to teach The traditional universities are reluctant to transform their
how to use computers and productivity tools. These are use- classrooms. They do not see much to be gained. Their in-
ful and needed skills for future jobs. However, this is still not creasing offer of distance education courses does not seem to
using computers in education but rather using education to affect mainstream teaching. It remains an enclave, perhaps
learn about computers. managed by extension departments. By contrast, Open Uni-
versities are progressively moving to the use of browsers, the
Indeed, most schools decided that they like computers; they Internet, video technology and whatever else is available. On
are fashionable, bring status and help in administration. The the other extreme, new institutions such as the University of
challenge is no longer bringing computers to schools but Phoenix and Jones University, lacking tradition and even
bringing them to education. They remain at the margin of the disdaining traditional means, are more than willing to ex-
teaching and learning process. Teachers type the exams on periment with whatever technology is around. They see in
computers. Students type their papers on computers. This is technology a means to bring something better to students
about all that computers do in education even in some of the who do not have access to conventional high quality educa-
most prestigious schools, and in the most over-equipped tion.
schools of the United States.
Lessons?
The nouveau technophobes forego the fascinating possibili-
What do we want? Quick results? More bang for the buck in
ties of using computers in education. From the maligned but
the short run? Then we should invest in the technophiles.
useful drill and practice of teaching mathematics or lan-
They will put technology to its fullest use. They will become
guages, to the new generation of intelligent tutorials, to the
showpieces of what technology can do for education.
“as if” exercises, to the intriguing and entertaining simula-
tions, to the experiments and explorations of nature, there is Do we want to invest in the long run? Do we have the time,
an endless range of possibilities and not less ample supply of patience and money to insist and insist? Do we want to bring
innovative software. But by and large, these are the least new instructional technology to the mainstream of educa-
explored uses of computers in technophobe institutions. tion? If that is the case, we may want to invest in the techno-
Ironically, they were the first uses conceived for computers phobes.
in education.
But the strategies and the people needed to do one or the
Status and Technology other are different. Engineers and techno-prophets do well in
One would imagine that high status educational institutions dealing with the technophiles. For the technophobes, the
being closer to the technological leading edge would tend to problem is not at all dissimilar to the well-known problems
use it for their teaching. This seems not to be the case. Pres- of introducing innovations in organizations. Technology is
tigious teachers are too involved in their research, too ob- the least important worry.
sessed with the publish-or-perish pressures to devote much
time to teaching. The temptation is to keep using the same Perhaps starting with the technophobes is not a good idea.
class notes scribbled in worn out yellow pads. It is not so The sequence of failures and false starts is demoralizing and
much that they reject technology but that they are not willing expensive. Actually, it may backfire, by creating a bad image
to devote much time or attention to the teaching end of their and frustration. With the technophobes, perhaps the best
careers. strategy is to concentrate resources in a few experiments and
learn from them as much as possible. The bottom line is that
By contrast, institutions where the faculty is not under pres- introducing technology into educational institutions is not a
sure to publish and where teaching is a more central en- technical issue but a sociological experiment. The hurdles are
deavor, tend to more easily move to the use of computers, not technical but have to do with the internal logic of the
starting with the ubiquitous PowerPoint. In the United States, institution, with built-in incentive systems, with values, with
community colleges that deal with academically weaker stu- expectations, and with prejudices. It is not a chapter in the
dents - and where there is a commitment to bring teaching science of technology but in the art of institutional change.
Predicting change in higher education: Nicholas Negro- nisms, such as accreditation, will be reassessed, both in proc-
ponte predicted that higher education will have been signifi- ess and outcome to maintain student trust. Without the
cantly changed by the new technologies. Harvard president changes, the core of higher education institutions will wither.
Neil Rudenstine noted the “critical interlock between the
structures and processes of the Internet, and the main struc- Distance learning influences changes in accreditation:
tures and processes of university teaching and learning” is Technology driven programs are influencing accreditation.
one of the reasons the Internet is fundamentally different Their requirements for effective review are different enough
from earlier electronic inventions. Peter Drucker insists that that basic questions of quality assurance are being turned on
the university as we now know it will pass into oblivion. their head. And yet, the need to assure quality in these pro-
“Thirty years from now the big university campuses will be grams cannot be ignored. Sir John Daniel, President of the
relics.”1 Significant change is upon us. Open University of the United States said, “Distance learning
is a world of extremes, when you look at the best university
Information proliferates but communication becomes education around the world, some of it is now distance
more personal: Because the entry and distribution costs are learning, when you look for the worst, all of it is distance
negligible, sources of information will continue to prolifer- learning. Bad distance learning may now be given a new
ate. However, while mass audiences will not disappear, they lease on life by the brave new world of on-line teaching.”44
will become smaller, more diffuse, and more specialized. However, distance education methods and their importance
The media and related communication will become more are growing.
personalized. This impacts the process of teaching and
learning in higher education even as it affects television, ra- Distance education grows: Sukhothai Thammathirat Open
dio, Internet, and our workplaces. Although information University now has the highest number of university gradu-
technology will not change human nature, it will change ates in Thailand. Very conservative estimates show that over
nearly everything else. 2 2.2 million U.S. college students will be enrolled in distance
education in the next two years, a fourfold increase in just
Building trust in information: This explosion in communi- four years. In this same time frame, 85 percent of the com-
cation, connectivity, and networking requires trust for our munity colleges will be offering distance education courses.
participation. Most information is free and the sources are Thirty-three states in the U.S. have created a statewide vir-
infinite. Anyone and everyone can participate. We need to tual university or are participating in a regional virtual uni-
find measures to ensure quality of the information we get. versity.5
Accreditation as a means toward trust: A core tool for Building quality assurance in distance education: Build-
building that trust in higher education, for assuring a level of ing quality control into this decentralized, rapidly growing
quality for those choosing to participate, is accreditation. It form of education is challenging the more traditional as-
is the process, the sanction, the outcome that gives assurance sumptions about how quality is measured. However,
to those selecting a course, a program, a degree, a profes- “building distance learning into the academy will renovate,
sional enhancement, that once the work is completed, the refurbish and transform the whole structure for the better.
outcome will be valued in the larger community. The integration of distance learning, if done well, will drive
all higher education to better levels of quality.”6
Accreditation is already changing: Even as technology
invades the teaching and learning world of higher education, Structure of distance education forces new accreditation
the process of accreditation is already different, buffeted by methods: Distance education requires technologies different
these and other environmental pressures.3 The pressures will from that of the classroom, setting up challenges of the
only increase the speed with which quality assurance mecha- working process, the form of organization, and the ap-
1
Richard Burt and Olin Robinson, “Reinventing Diplomacy in the Information Age,” Center for Strategic and International
Studies (December 1998) at 26-27.
2
Barry Fulton, “Publics Count: Mass Media, Public Opinion, and the New Technologies in Foreign
Policy,” (speech at Public Diplomacy Foundation, Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 1999).
3
Peter T. Ewell, “Examining a Brave New World: How Accreditation Might Be Different” (speech at CHEA annual confer-
ence, May, 1998) at 1.
4
Sir John Daniel, "Building in quality: The Transforming Power of Distance Learning", (Speech at CHEA Annual Conference,
January 1999):1.
5
IHEP “Distance Learning in Higher Education,” (Special publication for the CHEA 1999 Annual Conference, Jan. 1999) at 1-
2.
6
Daniel, Quality, at 2.
7
Ibid. at 4.
8
Ronald A. Phipps, Jane V. Wellman, Jamie P., Merisotis, “Assuring Quality in Distance Learning” (Washington, D.C.
CHEA, April, 1998) IX-XII.
9
Ewell, Examining, at 3-5.
10
Ibid. at 6-8.
11
Department of Education, 1997.
12
Ewell, Examining, at 9-11.
13
Ibid. at 12.
14
Lisa Guernsey, “Is the Internet Becoming a Bonanza for Diploma Mills?” The Chronicle for Higher Education, Dec.
19, 1997.
15
Burt, Reinventing, at 49.
By Mactar Diagne
What is the AVU? fessionals to establish easy, permanent and highly productive
linkages with excellent sources of quality knowledge world-
The African Virtual University (AVU) is a response to a des- wide to strengthen their on-campus learning. Access to
perate generation of Africans. The ills that plague Africa's "quality academic faculty, library resources and laboratory
higher education, the frightening deterioration of teaching experiences" is made easier than ever. (see AVU Website,
http://www.avu.org/avusite/about/index.htm)
and research capabilities in many countries and the absence
of adequate educational strategies to satisfy the drive for
higher learning have led many of the best brains of Africa to
flee the continent in search of better opportunities. Why the AVU?
Africa's youth are eager to capitalize on the opportunities Current university programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, particu-
offered by the information age to improve their lives and larly in science and technology, are insufficient to respond to
liberate their continent from the effects of poverty. But with the demands of a changing labor market, satisfy the students’
scarce resources and a declining educational system with no thirst for higher learning and spur development. Meanwhile,
promising solutions, they can sink into hopelessness. Many the science and technological gap between Sub-Saharan Af-
African institutions are faced with tight budgets, obsolete rica and the rest of the world is widening at a disturbing rate.
libraries and dysfunctional equipment and offer little or no Distance learning may be the most efficient route to help
Internet access. While there is one Internet user for every 38 African countries tackle these challenges.
people universally, Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South
Africa, counts only one Internet user for every 5000 Afri- The AVU provides "the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of a
cans, wrote Andrea Useem in The Chronicle of Higher Edu- virtual academic infrastructure…[to help] produce large
cation. This situation plays a major role in hindering Africa's numbers of scientifically and technologically literate profes-
development as an integral part of the global economy. sionals and support them with lifelong learning opportuni-
ties. [It] can thereby contribute to overcoming the existing
The AVU aims, together with African Universities, at help- barriers of declining budgets, too few faculty, outdated
ing reverse that trend. As an unprecedented "interactive- equipment, and limited space and facilities that prevent in-
instructional telecommunications network," it works towards creased access to higher education for a significant majority
building capacity and supporting the economic development of students in Sub-Saharan Africa. The increase in the num-
of Sub-Saharan African countries through the use of cutting- ber of scientifically and technologically literate professionals
edge modern technology "to provide world-class quality edu- will, as a consequence, better position countries in Sub-
cation and training programs to students and professionals." Saharan Africa to be part of the global information age and
(see AVU Website, http://www.avu.org/avusite/about/index.htm) the new knowledge economy" (see AVU Website,
With no physical places where teachers and students meet to http://www.avu.org/avusite/about/index.htm).
interact, the AVU brings a dispersed number of students
from African countries together with highly qualified in- How Does the AVU Function?
structors from prestigious academic institutions around the
world. Currently, the AVU operates in twenty-two Sub-Saharan
African universities (14 Anglophone and 8 Francophone) in
The AVU's satellite and computer connections with African sixteen countries. The courses are taught by professors from
Universities provide openings for African students and pro- well-known institutions in Africa, North America and
The University of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (UHI) could represent a
new paradigm in higher education delivery for developing countries where commu-
nity isolation, program availability, and academic infrastructure remain problematic.
Is UHI Applicable to Developing Countries? For more information on the University of the Highlands and
Islands Project, visit their web site at: http://www.uhi.ac.uk.
UHI appears to be an interesting prototype for tertiary edu-
cation in industrialized countries of the 21st century. It cer-
tainly represents a radical break from higher education tradi-
tion within the British Commonwealth and clearly challenges
the prevailing worldwide university model. Notably, it in- *
The comments made herein do not reflect the views of the World
corporates contemporary good practice from around the Bank Board of Executive Directors or of the governments they rep-
world, anticipating many of the recommendations contained resent.
in recent higher education assessments by high-level com-
Reducing Cost and Improving Quality Moreover, with a few exceptions, most of the Trial Project’s
participants have no monitoring or evaluation system in place.
Three major strategies seem to be applied to reduce costs in Few institutions have computer monitoring systems that elec-
operating virtual institutions: maximizing the use of existing tronically save the identity of the network users, their log-in
technologies, sharing physical and human resources, and and log-out times, specific menu usage, and interaction times.
private financing. Since there was no initial funding from the
government, all participating institutions had to provide grants Impact
to establish the virtual programs. To minimize investments, the
institutions used existing hardware and network systems, While the Virtual University Trial Project is still on going and
maximizing their use by forming a consortium and making no concrete impact has yet been observed, it seems to be
only limited investments to purchase new hardware. Due to the creating some systemic changes in Korean higher education.
national technology implementation policy for higher educa- First, the project has caused colleges, universities and com-
tion, most colleges and universities have established a solid panies to collaborate in instituting technologies for higher
server system and are linked to the national educational com- education and training and to explore various ways of operating
puter network or the national information superhighway. future virtual universities. In addition, some institutions have
established formal relationships with well-established foreign
In addition, some universities have established a videoconfer- virtual universities such as the National Technological Univer-
encing system and are using a satellite channel to deliver sity and the Western Governor’s University. However, not
courses. Co-development of virtual courses and team teaching much substantial cooperation has taken place, such as course
among professors from member institutions is encouraged, exchange, because of language differences and lack of experi-
although such collaboration has been limited to date. This is ence in academic collaboration.
because there is little or no systematic support for this type of
cooperation, or professors are simply more comfortable work- Perhaps one of the most significant effects is that the Virtual
ing independently. However, production facilities, computers University Trial Project has encouraged Korean companies to
and network systems are shared extensively, including those of develop software. Several companies have successfully created
private companies. virtual education platforms or distributed learning systems for
authoring, implementing and managing virtual courses. At least
Major strategies to improve the quality of virtual courses six virtual education platforms developed by Korean compa-
include providing training, adopting a concept of instructional nies are now available on the market. In addition, companies
systems design, and setting up a monitoring mechanism. have begun to develop Web-based training programs to be
Unfortunately, only a few institutions have understood that delivered through one of the Trial Project participants.
Founded in 1943 and inspired by MIT's model oriented to- for teacher upgrading, 129 for public administrators, and 956
wards industry, the Technological Institute of Monterrey, for business programs. A reception site consists of an area
Mexico (ITESM), is the most important private higher edu- dedicated to satellite classes, as well as a variety of technolo-
cation institution in Mexico. The ITESM is known for its gies for communication, and a learning center is an area de-
commitment to quality and excellence in faculty, programs, voted to individual and collaborative learning experiences. A
and educational services. In 1997, ITESM enrolled 70,000 teleconference system is built into 18 locations. Interactive
students in 26 campuses throughout Mexico. It provided 31 keyboards are provided to support the satellite broadcasts.
undergraduate and 37 graduate programs. As the ITESM Finally the Internet is becoming a powerful tool for its pro-
expanded throughout Mexico it began to realize that distance grams, especially those granting degrees.
education technologies could play an important part in deliv-
ering educational services. The Instructional Model
Beginning in 1989 it established the Virtual University, For many years the educational model for virtual classes was
which has expanded rapidly. It serves a wide variety of cli- simply a "talking head."' Since 1996, a strategic change has
ents and settings, offering 15-degree programs, mainly at the been introduced to focus on the learning process rather than
Masters level, in administration, education, and engineering, the delivering of information. The new model has three
as well as a wide variety of training and upgrading programs components--instruction, self-study, and collaboration. The
and tailor-made programs for industry. In the second half instructional portion is the teacher-based model. Currently
of 1998 it had the following enrollments: the instructional portion of courses is delivered via satellite
live transmission broadcast, as well as on the Internet. The
Virtual University Enrollments, August-December 1998 self-study portion is the student contribution to the learning
process. Books, notes, Internet, and research are sources of
Undergraduate courses 2569 self-study. Collaboration is the group contribution to the
Graduate programs 4148 learning process. Technology helps this approach since vir-
Teacher development programs 4550 tual groups can be established through the Internet as well as
Teacher upgrading 9187 at defined learning centers. Depending on the subject matter
Business channel 21149 and the clientele these three modalities will be used to a
Customized programs 8625 greater or lesser extent.
The hardware requirements for participating students are UOP expects students to devote less time to their studies
modest. All that is needed is a Pentium II 75 MHz computer than most U.S. universities. The credit requirements for de-
The University, as an institution, began in Western Europe The Development of Virtual Education: A Global Perspec-
approximately 1,000 years ago, and quickly assumed the role tive, edited by Glen M. Farrell (Vancouver, Canada: The
of producer, guardian and transmitter of higher order, scien- Commonwealth of Learning, 1999) - This report (online at:
tific and humanistic knowledge across the globe. With its www.col.org/virtualed) is a collaborative effort of experts in
large and generally impressive lecture halls, the University five different regions across the globe, providing a pano-
campus came to symbolize higher education in different lan- ramic view of how information and communication tech-
guages and cultures, in industrialized and developing coun- nologies, particularly the use of Internet and the World Wide
tries alike. Political and economic changes during the Web, are shaping the provision of education. (For a detailed
Twentieth Century created new demands on higher educa- review of this report, see the article Virtual Education:
tion, while technological developments promoted new forms Trends and Potential Use in TechKnowLogia, Novem-
of delivery. Some view these changes as no more than fads, ber/December 1999).
soon to pass. For others, the days of the traditional univer-
sity are counted. This article aims to bring some light to this
discussion with the help of three recent documents:
DEFINITIONS
Harry (1999) quotes the New Oxford Dictionary definitions
Higher Education Through Open and Distance Learning, for open learning (“learning based on independent study or
edited by Keith Harry (London: The Commonwealth of initiative rather than formal classroom practice”) and dis-
Learning, 1999) - This book analyzes the contributions of tance learning (“a method of studying in which lectures are
open and distance learning for higher education, the lessons broadcast or conducted by correspondence, without the stu-
already learned from actual practices in different countries dent needing to attend a school or college”). His book fo-
across the globe, and the challenges that lie ahead. The sec- cuses on distance learning institutions. Daniel calls mega-
ond part of the book is a showcase of distance learning ini- university an institution that has more than 100,000 active
tiatives in different countries in Africa, Americas, Asia, students enrolled in degree-level courses and whose primary
Europe, and Oceania. activity is distance-teaching. He recognizes eleven mega-
universities: China TV University System (Republic of
Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology China) and Anadolu University (Turkey), with more than
Strategies for Higher Education, by John S. Daniel (Lon- 500,000 students in degree programs each; Universitas Ter-
don: Kogan Page, 1996) - Sir John Daniel, the former Vice- buka (Indonesia), with more than 300,000 students; the In-
Chancellor for the British Open University, examines the dira Gandhi National Open University (India), Korea Na-
challenges faced by higher education institutions in general, tional Open University (South Korea), and Sukhotai Tham-
the innovations that distance learning has introduced to the mathirat Open University (Thailand), with more than
field, and the potential for change of new technologies. 200,000 students each; and the Centre National
d’Enseignment à Distance (France), Open University (United
Kingdom), Payame Noor University (Iran), University of
The Twentieth Century was characterized by unprecedented Distance education has been touted as the answer to the ris-
economic expansion accompanied by deep political and so- ing costs of higher education, and distance learning institu-
cial transformations. These changes benefited rich and poor tions are being asked to find the balance between cost effec-
countries alike, although in uneven ways. Old forms of tiveness and educational quality, a balance that the traditional
dominance were destroyed, and the masses began to claim university could not find. Such expectations may prove un-
many of the privileges reserved for the elites. Education was reasonable. At least initially, costs must go up due to in-
one of these privileges. Across the globe, the expansion of vestments in infrastructure, technology and organizational
primary and secondary education produced a large amount of changes. Farrell (1999) considers the lack of strategic plan-
individuals in search of further learning. Moreover, ongoing ning in the development of technological infrastructure as a
education became a necessity for people who want to remain major challenge to distance learning. When such planning
employable in this fast-paced, continuously changing tech- exists, he says, it gives little or no consideration for educa-
nological world. As Guiton (Chapter 4, in Harry, 1999) ob- tional applications, resulting in large socio-economic and
serve, the ideology of education is shifting from a model geographical disparities in access to the technology, even
based on cumulative but finite years of studies that culminate within developed countries. This lack or inadequacy of
in the receipt of a degree, to a lifelong learning model. This planning is even more acute in countries that have yet to en-
new model changes dramatically the student configuration by ter the communication revolution, and risks increasing the
decreasing the importance of the degree and increasing the gap between developed and developing nations. Costs are
demand for personalized, applied learning. exacerbated by the emphasis on the use of computer-related
At the same time that the demand for higher education in- technology that, although more powerful, is significantly
creased, governments began to move away from full financ- more expensive than other telecommunication technologies,
ing, leaving some or all the expenses to be borne by the such as radio and television. (It is true, though, that technol-
learner. In this process, the relationship between learners ogy costs have decreased significantly in the past years and
and educational institutions became that of buyers and sell- this downward trend is far from over).
ers, submitted to the rules of the market. From institutions
designed to cater to the needs of the providers (Daniel ob- Quoting Gafford*, Daniel (1996) notes that the 3,500 col-
serves that the best entrance in the campus leads to the Presi- leges and universities in the United States enroll 14 million
dent’s building, not the students’ association), the universi- students with an average cost of $12,500 per student. In
ties must become learner-centered institutions. contrast, the 11 mega-universities enroll 2.8 million students
for an aggregate budget of approximately $900 million, or
less than $350 per student. Issues of cost are still at the cen-
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY ter of the debate on distance learning, and the process used
All three documents depict technology as the opportunity per for cost estimates and cost comparisons reflect more the es-
excellence to overcome the crisis between increased demand timator’s own biases than some universal consensus. For
and dwindled resources in higher education. An obvious instance, Hülsmann (Chapter 6, Henry 1999) looks at
advantage of the new technologies, particularly telecommu- graduation rates, which tend to be significantly lower in dis-
nication, is to overcome the limits imposed by mobility and tance learning institutions when compared to campus univer-
The use of technology as a medium for delivering postsecon- effectiveness of distance learning. The report found the
dary education is rapidly gaining prominence and popularity, quality of the research on distance learning’s effectiveness
both in the U.S. and around the globe. Evidence of this in- was quite weak.
creasing visibility of technology-based learning is every-
where. For example, a 1999 report from the International WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that 2.2 million college That study strongly supports the findings of a 1999 report
students in the U.S. will be enrolled in some form of distance that examined the recent literature on distance learning’s
education by 2002, up from approximately 710,000 in 1998. effectiveness. That report, entitled What's the Difference? A
IDC’s research estimates that 85 percent of two-year colleges Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness of
in the U.S. and 84 percent of four-year colleges will offer Distance Learning in Higher Education, was published by
distance learning courses by 2002.** Similarly, a report from The Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington,
the Campus Computing Project at the Claremont Graduate DC, with support from the American Federation of Teachers
School found that one-third of all classes on college cam- and the National Education Association.
puses used Internet resources in 1998, compared with only
15 percent in 1996. The What’s the Difference? report (available at
www.ihep.com) has served as a kind of lightning rod in the
THE "NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE" NOTION debate in the U.S. about the quality and effectiveness of dis-
But what is known about the effectiveness of this teaching tance learning. From April through October 1999, the report
and learning method? This question has become increasingly had been cited in major media, such as the Associated Press
prominent as technology has made distance learning more wire (which ran a lengthy story published in more than 300
common. At least one major web site, maintained by North newspapers), and the trade press and higher education maga-
Carolina State University’s Thomas Russell, is dedicated to zines. The report was downloaded over 30,000 times (in pdf
this. This site, The No Significant Difference Phenomenon, format) from the authors’ web site.
compiles various writings on distance learning. With few
exceptions, the bulk of these writings suggest that the learn- Why such a fuss? The report, after all, is a pretty straightfor-
ing outcomes of students using technology at a distance are ward and frankly somewhat dull review of the available lit-
similar to the learning outcomes of students who participate erature on the subject. The main conclusion of the report is
in conventional classroom instruction. The "no significant that there is a relative paucity of original research dedicated
difference" finding has become accepted as fact in the policy to explaining or predicting phenomena related to distance
community, where at least some public officials have pro- learning. Despite the large volume of written material con-
nounced that the last college campus has been built. centrating on distance learning, the amount of original re-
search is quite limited. The study’s analysis encompassed
A recent working paper from Indiana University's Center for about 40 of these original works of research - a number far
Social Informatics challenges the "no significant difference" fewer than is often cited as "evidence" that there is no sig-
notion. The paper points out that "many authors in the dis- nificant difference.
tance education literature discuss only the positive aspects of
computer-mediated distance education," and notes that stu- From this more limited group of original research, three
dents' potential problems with distance education is "a taboo broad measures of the effectiveness of distance education are
topic in the discourse." The study investigates students’ usually examined. These include:
frustrations with a single web-based course. Their findings? • student outcomes, such as grades and test scores;
Students faced several problems, including technical diffi- • student attitudes about learning through distance educa-
culties, lack of prompt feedback from the instructor, and am- tion; and
biguous instructions (see www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI). • overall student satisfaction toward distance learning.
Even more compelling is a study completed by the U.S. Most of these studies conclude that, regardless of the tech-
Army Research Institute for Behavioral and Social Sciences. nology used, distance learning courses compare favorably
That study, entitled "Training Through Distance Learning: with classroom-based instruction. For example, many ex-
An Assessment of Research Findings," was published in perimental studies suggest that the distance learning students
October 1999, and reviews a broad array of literature on the have similar grades or test scores, or have the same attitudes
Second, most of the studies do not use randomly selected So far, the research on distance education has no concep-
subjects; many rely instead on intact groups (such as an en- tual framework. Several researchers have lamented the lack
tire class of students) for comparison purposes. As a result, of theory dealing with the interactions and interrelationships
these studies run the risk of having several variables affect of variables contributing to the effectiveness of distance
academic achievement or student satisfaction, instead of the learning programs. Theory allows researchers to build on one
technology itself used to provide the education at a distance. another’s work, which increases the likelihood of their ad-
dressing the most important questions in a field. For distance
Third, the study found questionable the validity and reliabil- learning, there is a vital need to develop a more integrated,
ity of the instruments used to measure student outcomes and coherent, and systematic program of research based on the-
attitudes—such as questionnaires and surveys. And fourth, ory.
many studies do not adequately control for the feelings and
attitudes of students and faculty—what the educational re- Further, the research does not adequately assess the effec-
search refers to as “reactive effects”—which can sometimes tiveness of digital libraries. Many students, particularly
skew findings by showing short-term or temporary benefits those in remote locations, rely on digital “libraries” for ac-
that are not sustained over the educational program. cess to bibliographies for different resources, as well as full
texts. But can digital libraries provide adequate support? An-
GAPS IN THE RESEARCH ecdotal evidence suggests that the curriculum objectives of
What is perhaps more compelling, however, is what the lit- some distance-learning courses have been altered because of
erature does not say about the effectiveness of distance the dearth of resources available.
learning. These gaps must be filled so that public-policy dis-
cussions about distance education can be based on accurate REACTIONS TO THE REPORT
and adequate information. What’s the Difference? obviously struck a chord with those
interested in using technology in higher education. That
One major gap in the research is a lack of studies dedicated chord, however, has not been entirely harmonious. Indeed,
to measuring the effectiveness of total academic programs the reaction tells us much about how fractured the debate on
taught at a distance. Virtually all of the comparative or de- distance learning in the U.S. has become.
scriptive studies focus on individual courses. That raises se-
rious questions about whether an academic program deliv- Many college presidents, faculty, and administrators seemed
ered by technology compares favorably with an on-campus intrigued by the conclusion that much of the research on dis-
tance education is of questionable quality, rendering its
LESSONS LEARNED There is some danger that the innovations are advancing
What’s the Difference? is not the most important or influen- more rapidly than our understanding of their practical uses.
tial report ever written on distance learning in higher educa- Princeton historian Robert Darnton points to this common
tion. It is probably not even the most important document problem with new technologies in his essay in the March 18,
published on the topic last year. But the report and the reac- 1999, issue of the New York Review of Books. Darnton ob-
tion to it have brought out into the open some of the key is- serves that, since its inception, electronic publishing has
sues in the debate about distance education. What’s the Dif- passed through three stages: “an initial phase of utopian en-
ference? also offers guidance on how to proceed as technol- thusiasm, a period of disillusionment, and a new tendency
ogy gains prominence in the teaching and learning process. toward pragmatism.” So far, we have heard a lot about the
“utopian” possibilities. Now “pragmatism” needs to come to
One of the things learned from researching and writing the the fore to allow us to discuss the practical implications of
report is that too much of the debate has taken place with distance learning as a tool to enhance teaching and learning.
an “us” versus “them” mentality. It is somewhat surprising Joining in this pragmatic and ultimately crucial discussion
to learn that those who use technology as a major teaching must become the common goal of those with an interest in
and learning medium see themselves as a community some- higher education’s future.
how separate and distinct from the rest of higher education.
*
Certainly some level of advocacy and focus is appropriate— Jamie P. Merisotis is President of The Institute for Higher
as evidenced by the balanced perspectives taken by this Education Policy and co-author of What's the Difference? A
online journal—but this wholly separate identification Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness of
reinforces the notion that what “we” do is more important or Distance Learning in Higher Education. Jody K. Olsen is
better than what “they” do. Much the same bunker mentality Senior Vice President for Human Resources and Institutional
is evident among those faculty members who see distance Development at the Academy for Educational Development.
**
learning as the latest pernicious administrative attempt to In this article, distance education is understood to rely on a
reduce or eliminate their influence on curriculum and combination of technology, including television, videotapes,
pedagogy. audiotapes, video conferencing, audio conferencing, e-mail,
telephone, fax, Internet, computer software, and print.
Countries and institutions interested in developing tertiary distance education will need to formulate
comprehensive strategic policies, choose an institutional model and make management choices.
What Policies to Select? course, which must be passed as a requirement for admission
to the tertiary distance education program4.
1
The views expressed in this paper are entirely those of the author and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, its affili-
ated organization members of its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent.
2
Willis, Barry, ed. 1994. Distance Education: Strategies and Tools. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, p. 11.
3
Australia has been particularly successful at integrating distance learning with the tertiary system. As a result, it is common for students to
take a mix of on-campus and distance courses. For an analysis of distance education in Australia, see Evans, Terry and Daryl Nation. 1989.
Critical Reflections on Distance Education. New York: Falmer Press.
4
Murphy, Paud and Abdelwahed Zhiri, eds. 1992. Distance Education in Anglophone Africa: Experience with Secondary Education and
Teacher Training. EDI Development Policy Case Series No. 9. Washington, DC: World Bank, p. 31.
5
For a discussion of how a chosen technology strategy can best be implemented, see Daniel, John S. 1996. Mega-Universities and
Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education. London: Kogan Page Ltd, pp. 154-158.
6
“Despite the wealth of experiences both locally and from around the world on which this country can draw in planning and implementing
technology-enhanced learning, it appears that we are repeating many of the mistakes that have been made in such initiatives. Thus, South
Africa does not yet appear to be ‘leapfrogging’ mistakes made around the world as was hoped would happen, but seems rather to be emulat-
ing those mistakes.” South African Institute for Distance Education. 1999. “Distance Education and Educational Technology Choices in
South Africa.” http://www.saide.org.za.
7
Rumble Greville. 1997. The Costs and Economics of Open and Distance Learning. London: Kogan Page, p. 90.
8
See also Arlene Krebs, The Distance Learning Funding $ourcebook (New York: Kendall Hunt Publishing, 1998).
9
For example, 14 of North America’s largest research universities are working together to market their distance education courses through
a central directory on the World Wide Web that lists all of their on-line programs. Also, the U.K. Open University has established an affili-
ated ‘United States Open University’ that offers the Open University’s proven approaches to an American market.
10
Willis, p. 79
The new millennium with globalization, the new view of the Academic Infrastructure.
economic role of education, and telecommunication innova- Academic infrastructure has
tion poses a serious challenge to tertiary education institu- become one of the most chal-
tions. (See Salmi's Higher Education: Facing the Chal- lenging institutional issues. This
lenges of the twenty-first Century, in this Issue.) Alternative infrastructure includes library
organizations to the university will take over many of its resources, laboratories, special
roles if it does not adapt. The institutional challenge is to multi-media or distance learning
simultaneously become dramatically better at current opera- facilities, and academic information systems. The good news
tions, and innovate. This article presents some concrete man- is that technologically based infrastructure is becoming
agement responses to this challenge: cheaper, but the bad news is that there is increasing demand
for it. Too many universities, still, have insufficient library
Strategic and Long-Range Plan- resources. Innovations including CD-ROM based journals,
ning to Enhance A Vision. A digital books and Internet updates now are more widely
modern tertiary institution needs an available. On the other hand, hard copy texts are still too
integrated Strategic Planning Proc- costly, but many are available in cheap versions in violation
ess. Such a process needs to be of intellectual copyright. International copyright discussions
both externally and internally ori- continue at an accelerated pace, and there is hope that new
ented and needs to have simultane- paradigms for sharing the cost of intellectual authorship will
ously a ten, five, and three-year time frame. Externally, the emerge soon. For technology intensive structures like labo-
process needs to link to the economic development vision for ratories and multi-media facilities, institutions need to create
the country and its needs, and internally to the strengths and partnerships and alliances with the private sector to keep
capacities of existing personnel and facilities–strengths that these facilities up to date. In some instances, institutions
can support consistent quality. A key outcome of the process may wish to make use of private facilities, in exchange for
must be a shared understanding of the basic directions that technical services, in order to overcome the problems of
the institution should pursue. There are available many in- costly obsolescence.
expensive tools to facilitate this process, which can be com-
pleted within 12 to 18 months, and produce annual, rolling Technological Support. Many
updates. More universities need to approach their future with emerging institutions view tech-
the skills required of a national enterprise that has environ- nology as a one-time investment
mental, competitive, and resource constraints. – the result is that the technology
does not operate reliably enough
to become a part of the institu-
Faculty Development. tional framework. As technology becomes cheaper and more
Worldwide, faculty development is a key issue. The disci- widespread, organizational, procedural, and cost issues need
plines are moving so rapidly that faculty struggle to stay up- to be seriously considered.
to-date, and in some countries, faculty training stopped when ♦ First, for a modern institution: all students and faculty
they graduated. Faculty development requires incentives for should have convenient and affordable access to per-
improvement, time to study and reflect, and honors for those sonal computers with a core set of software, and network
who improve. Many universities are using the Internet pro- connections within the institution and through the wider
ductively to upgrade faculty skills with minimal cost–while Internet. The phasing of this access should take into con-
at the same time keeping them within the university commu- sideration the clusters of academic and administrative
nity. This is particularly true in academic disciplines like the activities that need support first.
physical sciences, computer science, mathematics, and medi- ♦ Second, the institution, centrally, needs to commit to a
cine–which seem to have embraced the concepts of multiple core set of Information Technology (IT) standards which
connectivity and sharing. Increasingly, institutions are will be reliably supported, and then let other elements
sharing their experiences of faculty development with others develop with separate funds or interest.
via the Internet.
In 1995, a groundbreaking framework for the development of ing an integrated MIS package which would have then been
the Argentine higher education system was created on the offered to the universities as a turnkey product prepared by
basis of a new Higher Education Law and a new Administra- the Ministry of Higher Education, the information system
tive Law. Among the key measures proposed by the new was divided into separate modules and each module was de-
laws were the introduction of internal and external evaluation veloped by a different team of specialists from two to three
mechanisms, including a national accreditation system, and universities working together with the central project team.
increased autonomy for the public universities in the area of A number of universities, for example Rio Cuarto Univer-
human and financial resources management. To sustain this sity, played a leadership role in software development and
comprehensive reform, a University Information System adaptation. Five modules were prepared on the basis of this
(Sistema de Información Universitaria – SIU) was put in decentralized approach:
place with the dual purpose of serving the oversight and
monitoring needs of the national authorities (Ministry of • A personnel management module (recruitment,
Education and Council of Rectors) and meeting the manage- legal and administrative decisions, salaries, pen-
ment needs of the universities. Resources to finance the de- sion, etc.)
sign and implementation of this integrated national manage- • An academic management module (registration,
ment information system came in part from a World Bank courses, examinations, classrooms, etc.)
loan in support of the higher education reform. • A student management module (follow up of
newcomers, continuing students and graduates,
SIU was developed by the Argentinean universities them- etc.)
selves, in partnership with and with funding from the Minis- • A financial management module (accounting,
try of Higher Education. At the outset of the experience in budgeting, payments, cash flow, cost analysis,
1995, the Ministry was faced with distrust and rejection by etc.)
most universities viewing with suspicion any attempt to im- • An infrastructure management module (build-
pose change from the center. For historical reasons, Argen- ings, laboratories, workshops, equipment, etc.)
tinean universities have always been very protective of their
legal “autonomy,” which in practice has meant almost total But the fact of relying on a decentralized approach brought
independence from the Ministry. Thus, when the academic about a number of unexpected challenges in view of the lim-
community became aware of the Ministry’s intention to in- ited institutional capacity of some universities, the geo-
troduce a management information system (MIS), the initial graphical distance between them, and the wide range of or-
reaction was very negative. The project was perceived as a ganizational structures and management practices across
World Bank attack on university autonomy. On top of the institutions. To overcome these difficulties, a committee of
political resistance, the quality and reliability of the statistical users was formed for each module, with representatives from
data routinely produced by the various universities left much up to 8 universities and the SIU technical unit in the Minis-
to be desired. try. The role of these committees was to propose areas of
priority to the software developers and to facilitate the ex-
In view of this, the project implementation team opted for a change of information and experiences among universities as
decentralized and participatory approach. Instead of design- the modules were prepared and gradually put in place in a
This article presents examples of software that may be relevant to some of the major players in higher education: students,
parents, teachers and university administrators.
For Students
There are many software providers in this category, as well there are several categories of college preparatory software. One
category is the college entrance exam preparatory software, and one of the best-known software providers in this field is the
Princeton Review: Princeton Review has three products available: Princeton Review: Inside the GRE, GMAT & LSAT;
Princeton Review: Inside the SAT, ACT and PSAT 2000 Edition; and Princeton Review: Inside the SAT, ACT and PSAT
Deluxe 2000 Edition. Prices range from US$19.95 to US$39.95. All three products provide step-by-step methods to study and
improve scores for these exams, and the Deluxe edition includes a college admissions package as well. The software can be
purchased online at: http://new.shoptlc.com.
Another useful category of software for the college bound student, or even the student already in college, is the subject specific
tutorial software. One such provider is M&M Software, and its college product list includes tutorial software for logic,
calculus, statistics, and grammar. M&M Software provides a multitude of educational software, and utilizes shareware and
public domain features. Shareware is the ability to download software and evaluate it before paying the full purchase price.
Public domain software is software that is available for free. Only the logic disk is available for evaluation from among
M&M's college products. The other college products are in the US$ 5 price range, with an option for bulk disk purchases,
which decreases the price to around US$ 3. The products can be purchased at the company's website: www.mm-soft.com
And lastly, for the non-English speaking student, the English Plus+ website offers help. Among other software, English Plus+
provides relief in vocabulary, grammar and spelling for US$25, which can be ordered online at http://www.englishplus.com.
For Parents
Every parent's concern when sending their kids to college is how to pay for it. Think Ahead, Inc. developed the College Aid
CalculatorTM, which is available for either purchase or download on http://www.collegeaidcalculator.com. College Aid
Calculator provides parents "with an early estimate of your EFC (Expected Family Contribution), so you'll know how much
you might pay for your child's education. CAC estimates any number of years into the future, lets you ask any What If?
question, has a Savings / Loan planning module and many other features to assist you. The software includes a comprehensive
searchable Guide book to answer your college financial aid questions."
Blackboard Inc. offers a line of products called Blackboard CourseInfoTM and Blackboard CourseInfo Enterprise EditionTM .
These are server software products that "enable departments and institutions to create course and campus environments on the
Web." Blackboard can host the course or install it on local servers. The products enable institutions to maintain a private
institutional gateway to courses and other campus services as well as enable educators to enhance in-class instruction and/or
deliver distance learning by bringing their course materials, class discussions, assignments and quizzes to the Web.
CaNexus Web Design developed a valuable tool for teachers and professors. The product is called EVE and is designed to help
find essays and papers plagiarized from web-based sources. EVE uses a wizard-driven interface. It processes documents in
plain text format and returns links to Web pages from which students may have "borrowed" information. CaNexus claims EVE
is powerful enough to find plagiarized material without overwhelming the professor with false links. ZDNet evaluated the
product and stated: "Does it work? We grabbed a paper from a random Internet cheat site and put the program through its
paces. Sure enough, it found the paper -- on another site even." The product is available for download and free trial on
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/software/home/ under "Teaching Tools." If you decide to keep the product, it will cost you about
US$35.
For Administrators
What are the likely types of functions a university would be most interested in streamlining? Usually they include recruitment,
alumni and development, business office and administration, registrar and student information, and financial aid. Scan
Business Systems, Inc. has developed a Java-based software solution called Campus Café that covers all of the areas critical to
running an efficient higher education institution. The software is recommended for institutions with limited information
systems departments, or those with limited access to the resources needed to address expanded demand for administrative
software. SCAN provides on-site implementation, training, and support services to complement their software solution.
Campus Café can be customized to fit a school's individual needs. More information about Campus Café is available at http://
www.scansoftware.com.
Precision Computer Service is the national distributor of Surpass library automation software. Surpass is a comprehensive suite
of applications designed to automate the day-to-day functions of libraries. Surpass Central is the core administration portion of
the Surpass system. It includes features for editing and importing MARC records and maintaining patron records (including
photo IDs), a report generator, full-featured and versatile circulation control, and physical inventory control. Other available
modules are Surpass Safari, an on-line, public-access card catalog program, and Surpass Shuttle which provides support for
using portable barcode readers for physical inventory. The full version is available for download on a 10-day free trial and an
additional 60 days trial is available with free registration at http://www.precisionservice.com. Surpass central and Surpass
Safari cost US$875, and Surpass Shuttle is priced at US$300. These prices are for quantity one. There are product discounts
for bulk purchases. Precision Computer Service also provides the hardware needed to use the additional modules.
New visions and challenges for higher education in a world of changing technology and new information and communications
systems was a major focus of The World Conference on Higher Education (October 1998). The site has the principal working
documents as well as the Declaration and Framework for Priority Action. This includes the thematic debates, a synthesis of
the regional conference results and links to other UNESCO sites concerned with higher education, such as the European Center
for Higher Education (CEPES) http://www.cepes.ro/.
The Boston College Center for International Higher Education (CIHE) provides service to colleges and universities
worldwide. The Center provides information and analysis for those involved in managing higher education internationally
through publications, conferences, and the maintenance of a database of individuals and institutions. The Center is especially
concerned with creating dialogue and cooperation among academic institutions in the industrialized and developing countries.
The CIHE site includes links to a wealth of other on-line resources on higher education internationally, including the Journal
on International Higher Education and the work-in-progress on the African Higher Education Project, a comprehensive refer-
ence guide and handbook initiative.
Readers can download Higher Education in the 21st Century: Global Challenge and National Response, co-published with the
Institute of International Education (IIE) and edited by Philip G. Altbach and Patti McGill Peterson.
The ARIADNE project of the European Union is an example of regional cooperation to address the challenges of tool devel-
opment and standardization. ARIADNE is a research and technology development (RTD) project under the "Telematics for
Education and Training" sector of the 4th Framework Program for R&D of the European Union. The project focuses on the
development of tools and methodologies for producing, managing and reusing computer-based pedagogical elements and
telematics-supported training curricula.
ARIADNE relies on a system of interconnected knowledge pools (the KPS) in institutions and industries across Europe. Pro-
totypes of the tools and basic methodologies for maintaining and exploiting the KPS, in all forms of classical, continuing, open
and distance education or training have been developed and tested in ARIADNE I, stressing the value of share and reuse.
ARIADNE II's scope is large-scale demonstrations to build evidence on usability, exploitability and general usefulness of these
tools and methodologies. The demonstrations cover various situations: Isolated Distance Learners; Resource Centre Learners;
Academic Workplace Learners and Corporate & Public Service Learners.
The tools are expected to assist: Authors creating new pedagogic material; Faculty orTrainers indexing their pedagogic
documents and storing them into the KPS Repository; Pedagogic Engineers creating or modifying courses, using the curricu-
lum editor, alone or in collaboration; Course Managers, administering their course with the ad-hoc functions of the
ARIADNE system; Knowledge Pool Administrators, using the KPS administrative and technical function set; and finally
Learners following KPS-based curricula.
The NDLTD (Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations) is an international consortium of research universi-
ties committed to improving graduate education by developing digital libraries of theses and dissertations. The consortium
connects to an international network of specialized libraries for Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). See
http://www.theses.org/
The NDLTD began with initial meetings at the University of Michigan and led to an initiative by Virginia Tech University
which, with support from the Southeast Universities Research Association (SURA), has grown to include more than 60 coop-
erating institutions in the United States and internationally. As a part of the Monticello Electronic Library project, Virginia
Tech also coordinates development of a distributed digital library system for ETDs from all participating institutions.
The NDLTD uses Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) and the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) for
representation and archiving. Virginia Tech is developing tools for students to submit ETDs both as SGML and PDF docu-
ments. For the SGML version, SGML constructs can refer to non-text objects, and those objects would be stored in widely ac-
cepted standard representations (e.g., JPEG for color images, MPEG for video). SGML documents are more easily archived,
more easily searchable, more reusable (e.g., to copy an entry in a bibliography, or to test a new hypothesis using the data and
model in a spreadsheet), and therefore are more valuable to scholars.
See http://etd.eng.usf.edu/Conference/tmembers.htm for the upcoming Third International Symposium on Electronic Theses
and Dissertations. This site includes much information on other universities and repository libraries working with such new
media.
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is a non-profit organization of United States colleges and universities
serving as the national advocate for voluntary self-regulation through accreditation. It includes links
As new institutional forms and new types of multi-university collaboration emerge in the international environment, facilitated
by new technical possibilities for communication and exchange, it may soon be necessary to consider new mechanisms and
criteria for maintaining quality and recognition of good practices. Note that CHEA is concerned with the recognition of ac-
crediting bodies, with the actual accreditation of universities and higher education programs being the responsibility of the re-
spective associations.
Deakin University offers a unique, fully online Master of Arts in Science and Technology Studies MA(STS).
Deakin has an international reputation as Australia’s premier off-campus university. This MA degree program, available to
students around the world, is designed to be of interest both to students with backgrounds in the arts and those with science
backgrounds. It states its goals in a refreshingly open manner, offering both to stretch the thinking of the participants and to
help them get through the “technofear” of attempting such learning in a new environment. “Any successful course of study
ought to change the way one sees and experiences the world. If you undertake our MA course, you should hope for nothing
less than that.”
The program is described as “Investigating the major issues of science and technology demands in reference to many academic
disciplines, especially history, philosophy and sociology of science. This program offers students an opportunity to conduct
such investigation, within a professional training structure of directed reading and disciplined writing. Using the very latest
innovations in Web interactivity and presentation, the MA(STS) gives students a complete ‘structured learning environment’,
allowing streamlined library and web research, and online communication between students, staff and administrators.”
The CyberCampus website invites the reader to role-play the “game” of running a university, just as simulators
already work for learning flight, programming oil refineries, and envisioning battlefields. The developers hope that the Cyber-
Campus project will help educators better manage the university. "In the spirit of Maxis Software's SimCity, CyberCampus
will be a 'Sim U'--a virtual alma mater of Malthusian forces, invisible hands, and stakeholders. The player is the president, and
the objective is to survive. You can spend for teaching, research, diversity in students and faculty, leaky roofs, division 1-A
sports programs, or larger development offices and fancier reunions. "
A simulation engine that models five broad areas drives the game: resource allocation and finance; academic operations; en-
rollment management; physical plant activities; and performance indicators. William Massy developed the designs covering
these areas and the University of Pennsylvania's Institute for Research in Higher Education extracted the needed data from sec-
ondary sources and converted them to forms useful for analysis. Sources include IPEDS, the College Board, and the High
School and Beyond survey. The website provides the technical documents and data sets for the model.
Note: Beta-testing was underway during 1999 and the product is expected to be available soon. Readers may in any case want
to explore the technical documents and impressive database created for the model. The developers continue to seek collabora-
tors and feedback on the prototype.
When the first computer was introduced, it seemed rather map that can be zoomed, reduced and scrolled, and play back
normal to us that it would fill up an entire room, and a sound file with its sound viewer. And let's not forget the
sometimes more. Since then,computers have rapidly shrunk feature all computers must have - games!
in size as technology progresses. In fact, what used to sit on
home computers can now be carried on laptops, hand held What are its features?
computers, or even cell phones. The term mobile computing
takes on a new meaning every day. Seiko seems to believe The Ruputer comes in two colors: black and clear. It's a
that although laptop computers and compact mobile water-resistant shell that houses a 16-bit CPU that runs on
terminals have become smaller and lighter, they are still Windows. The latest model, the Rupter Pro4 has 4MB of
inconvenient in terms of mobility and immediacy. Since flash memory. It runs on two coin-type batteries that have a
they still have to be carried around in a briefcase or pocket, 4-month life assuming a display of one hour per day. The
they are not very accessible, and tend to be left behind. And display is 102 x 64 dot matrix LCD on which you can view
to solve that problem, Seiko came out with the world's first 40 full-size characters or 80 half-size characters. Seiko has
wearable PC - the Ruputer. Seiko terms the Ruputers, also included a serial port and an infrared port that can be
"wrist-type mobile information terminals that provide used to transfer data back and forth between the Ruputer and
superior mobility and outstanding performance." a PC. All of this weighs approximately 67 grams.
(www.ruputer.com) In other words, the Ruputer is a wrist
PC. How do you get one?
What can it do? Until the middle of November 1999, Ruputer was only
available in Japan using the Japanese version of Windows.
Seiko first introduced the Ruputer in early 1998, and has GlobalCom USA, Inc. unveiled its English version in
brought out two upgrades since. So what can this little wrist November under the brand name of Matsucom onHand. The
PC do? Well, everything. Aside from being a basic time onHand PC is upgraded from the Japanese Ruputer. The
piece that shows local as well as international time, the interface seems to be improved, processor speed is about two
Ruputer comes with a bevy of pre-installed applications times faster than Ruputer, communication speed between
including: file management, PIM (personal information onHand and a PC is faster, the applications have all been
management) tools, clock function, accessories, viewers, and upgraded, an Expense Memo application has been added, and
games. Its PIM tools alone rival any Palm Pilot and are CompanionLink (the software that allows onHand to talk to
compatible with most PIM applications available on the your PC) has been bundled. OnHand also comes with a
market today. They include a scheduler, address book, "To serial port docking station and built-in power management so
Do” list, memo book, general book used to store information you can save on battery power. Best of all, the onHand costs
such as PIN numbers, and a family memo book used to store only about $250. You can purchase it online at
names and birthdays of family members. Its accessories www.onhandpc.com.
include a calculator, timer, and chronograph that measures
time in 1/100-second units. You can manage files with its More information about Ruputer and onHand PC at:
filer, display text files up to 80 characters at a time, display a www.ruputer.com/english/ and www.onhandpc.com
It is relatively socially acceptable for a person to talk aloud types of dictionaries: active and back up. The active
to oneself, but it becomes a serious issue when that person dictionary stores frequently used words and related
answers oneself back. Thankfully, speech recognition can information in your computer's memory (RAM) for
help avert that. Now adays, it is possible to sit ALONE in immediate use. The back up dictionary stores the less
your office in front of your computer, talk to yourself, and frequently used words and phrases.
there's actually someone listening - or should I say
SOMETHING! And at times it can also talk back. Any speech recognition software requires training. As the
user trains the software by speaking to it, it creates a user-
Yes, your computer listens and can do as you say. It's called specific voice file that contains the user's voice qualities and
speech recognition. This is "the ability for a machine or pronunciations, patters of word usage, and any preferred
software program to recognize and carry out voice vocabulary. Some software on the market today allow for
commands or take dictation. Speech recognition involves the multiple users therefore creating voice files for each
ability to match a voice pattern against a provided or individual user. Correcting the software is also part of
acquired vocabulary." (www.whatis.com/speechre.htm) training it for better accuracy.
[The above feature is also referred to by the term "voice To use speech recognition software, you need a computer,
recognition", though erroneously. Voice recognition is one microphone, and sound card. The older, discrete speech
of the characteristics used in Biometrics to measure and technology can operate on older machines usually requiring
verify an individual's identity. (See Biometrics article, this not more than a Pentium machine with 32 MB of RAM and a
issue.)] 16-bit sound card. The newer continuous speech technology
requires at least a Pentium III machine with 128 MB of RAM
Breaking the Sound Barrier and a 32-bit sound card.
There are two kinds of speech recognition software: discrete
speech and continuous speech. Discrete speech is the older Question Before You Purchase
technology and requires the speaker to speak one word at a When you are looking to purchase speech recognition
time. Continuous speech, also known as natural speech, software, there are several things you should consider.
allows the speaker to speak at a more normal pace. When
you speak into a microphone, your voice is sent to the What do you want to do with it? Right now, the possibilities
computer as an analog signal. The software converts your are somewhat limited. You can do dictation, or application
voice to a digital signal, correcting for volume, pitch, control - meaning you can control any of your applications
speaking speed, etc. The software then uses acoustics and through speech rather than via the keyboard, or mouse pad.
word context information to guess what you are trying to say. Some software also includes Web surfing capabilities.
The computer then types what it thinks you said on the
screen. If you correct a misrecognized word, the software Based on usage, you also want to know the ages for which
will modify the acoustical and language models for better voice files were developed and if the software uses
accuracy the next time. Voice recognition software uses two synthesized speech read back of written work called text-to-
The Center for Open Distance Education for CODECS has trained more than 5,000
Civil Society - CODECS has brought to “Knowledge is power” managers, each of whom graduated from
Romania the most flexible and accessible – Francis Bacon two management courses on average, that
management education, by using The Open means more than 10,000 registrations.
University (OU) distance learning system. The story is quite (Exhibit 1)
a long one and it is still going on. But let’s go back in the
1990s to see how it was all started.
In the early 1990s, 25 Romanians enrolled in The Effective Exhibit 1: Student Enrolments
Manager, with one of the Open University Business School’s
founders Professor Brian Lund as their tutor. Many of the Year Number of Students
original 25 students did not quite know that they were about
1993 81
to discover a new way of learning. The teaching was done by
specially written text, BBC videos and tapes, supported by 1994 510
tutors who did not lecture like the professors they had at the 1995 1405
University but who helped them understand the text by
1996 2188
involving them in activities that increased their
understanding. They also realized they were learning from 1997 2555
one another. 1998 3777
1999 1640
It was the time of new business in Romania and those
students in that first group understood and made that
possible. In that way a group of enthusiastic people, eager to
cope with new challenges, set up CODECS. It was neither Romanian managers have learnt a great deal and are
trade nor production, but a business school for busy people. developing themselves quite rapidly in the six years that the
program has been running. However, we believe that the
CODECS and the Open University recognized the huge need unique distance learning network introduced by CODECS
for Romanian managers to acquire skills and qualifications and the Open University is not just a drop of water in a
that would make them equal with their foreign counterparts. desert. Many of the managers, trained by CODECS through
At the same time CODECS sensed that Romanian business the 12 regional centers, are now outstanding practitioners
people could not afford the time to go back to the university. who have become tutors in the system in order to share their
Therefore, it made the university go to managers. CODECS experience with thousands of new students.
set up the only education learning network in Romania (12
regional centers throughout the country) and successfully The best thing about the program is that students do not leave
transferred the British know-how to Romania. their job while they acquire very specific management skills,
plus they get recognition for each step. First, they get the
Today, six years after we have registered the first Romanian Professional Certificate in Management, and then they can
students at an Open University Management course, we can go up to the Professional Diploma in Management and at the
see the substantial impact among managers of all levels. end of the road the Master of Business Administration degree
They had gained the techniques and management tools that awaits them.
allowed them to start to become effective and efficient in
their work. Besides, they could understand what was The interactive course materials include specially written
happening in their organization and could talk the same texts, BBC-produced audio and video, course software and
language as their European or American partners. They computer conferencing. Tutors run local seminars and
benefited from the British know how and experience and provide detailed feedback, as well as grades for written
were getting at the end of each stage OU degrees, assignments. The unique on-line conferencing system
internationally recognized. enables all MBA students to “meet” their tutors, their course
team and each other via their keyboards. Students find that
networking and learning with others provides exceptional
Pomp and Circumstance in Colonial America2 - During the posing and the display at the granting of whatever degrees
Colonial period in the Americas, Lima, the Capital of the are given is also imposing. (For the granting of degrees)
Viceroyalty of Peru, was one of the richest cities in the New they invite the city's nobility as an escort, and meet at the
World, controlling the silver trade from the Andean region to house of the Doctor-to-be in a blare of trumpets, flageolets,
Spain. One of the initial presents of the Spanish Crown to and bugles, with a banner which hangs from a window of the
the Viceroyalty was the University of San Marcos, founded house over a canopy on crimson velvet cushions and has the
in May 12, 1551. Antonio Espinoza, who visited the region arms of the University and of the graduating Doctor. These
in the early 1600, left us a description of the ceremony sur- arms are likewise set up in the theater erected in the Cathe-
rounding the commencement of a new doctor into the Uni- dral under the royal arms; they remind and notify the invited
versity’s rolls: guests and doctors, who form an escort the evening before.
The nobility follow the banner, then the Beadles with their
silver maces, then the Masters and Doctors with their insig-
nia, in order of age, closing with the Dean of the faculty and
the graduating Doctor. In this order they repair to the Rec-
tor's house, where the members of the Circuit Court await
them. With the Rector in their center, they continue in the
procession, in order of age. And in this same order the fol-
lowing day they parade till they arrive at the Cathedral,
where the theater and the stage have been decorated and pro-
vided with seats. Mass is said for them, and at its close after
leaving the Cathedral, the newest Doctor of the faculty deliv-
ers his burlesque invective, and the Chancellor gives him his
degree, just as is done at Salamanca."