This article presents an interview with Paul Avon, the former executive director of the Canadian Virtual College Consortium. Avon has spent over fifteen years in the distance learning (DL) field managing the production and delivery of online learning at TVOntario, Humber College, the Sri Lankan National Online Distance Education Service, and the…

There is surprisingly little analysis of the employment and earnings impact on students of taking and completing Internet-based programs and of how it compares with earnings outcomes for graduates of face-to-face universities. This paper analyzes a follow-up survey of students who began attending the virtual Internet-based Open University of…

Because the globalization of traditional research universities has so far been largely an elite phenomenon, for-profit higher education has become the kind of high-growth worldwide industry that would attract entrepreneurs. The for-profit sector, by contrast, has targeted a vast and vastly different student market: non-elite learners, often poorly…

In the last decade, an important debate about the characteristics of today's students has arisen due to their intensive experience as users of ICT. The main belief is that frequent use of technologies in everyday life implies competent users able to transfer their digital skills to learning activities. However, empirical studies developed in…

A recent phenomenon in higher education is the emergence of the virtual university. Some observers have attributed its emergence to globalization and technological innovation. This dissertation study is about one particular instance of the virtual university phenomenon, the African Virtual University (AVU). The AVU initiative was launched with…

A highly touted feature of the so-called global "revolution" in higher education is the trend to use information technology to reach a broader clientele. Although there is evidence that students may be learning the material in on-line courses as well as in traditional face-to-face universities, how well students learn content is not the…

Technologically-mediated learning environments are an increasingly common component of university experience. In this paper, the authors consider how the interrelated domains of policy contexts, new learning cultures and the consumption of information and communication technologies might be explored using the concept of technography. Understood…

Very often, when using a chat tool where more than one participant is talking simultaneously, it is difficult to follow the conversation, read all the different messages and work out who is talking to whom about what. This problem has been dubbed "Chat Confusion." This article investigates this problem in debate sessions in an online university…

Discussion of a recent Australian report on technology in higher education, entitled "Learning for Life" and known as the West Report, finds unconvincing its claims about the imminent threat of "virtual universities" and the educational possibilities opening up through new communication and information technologies. An…

This paper reports the results of a study on strategic planning and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and describes the level of quality awareness in web-based teaching at the University of Helsinki. Questionnaire survey data obtained from deans and institutional leaders, ICT support staff, teachers and…

The arrival of the Internet has been seen to portend the rise of the virtual university, global competition, and the end of campus education. The emerging economics of electronic commerce (eCommerce) allows for a measured understanding of the implications of the new technologies for higher education and even how educational innovation should be…

The intersection of globalisation and information technology influences ethical positions and notions of responsibility within businesses and in distance education for school students. As the spatial and temporal distance between student and teacher increases, and is mediated by computers, there have been changes to the ways in which individuals…

Reviews trends in the use of ICT (information and communication technology) in Japanese higher education institutions. Highlights include recent trends in national policy; educational policy; use of communications satellites; broadcasting; Internet use; videoconferencing; issues concerning virtual universities; and use of multimedia. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of the development of distance education in Switzerland focuses on a history of the Swiss Virtual Campus and an explanation of the role of the Educational Technologies Unit of the University of Geneva (TECFA). Topics include the integration of information technologies, teacher training, and the management of metadata. Contains 35…

The phenomenal growth of distance-learning programs and the possibility of a virtual university have increased concerns about how to ensure that higher education programs delivered via telecommunications are of good quality. The Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications has formulated guidelines, presented here, for…