Describes the virtual university as a response to a growing demand for knowledge and skills in unconventional higher education. Discusses technology, cooperation and collaboration, traditional universities and the World Wide Web, content, pedagogy, delivery, digital technologies, and globalization. (Author/LRW)

Discusses how in addition to federal regulations, student financial aid officers must understand state regulations concerning distance and Internet learning. A state challenge to the right of the institution to enroll distance learning students could deprive those students of access to Title IV benefits; if the issue is ignored, the challenge…

This paper considers endeavors to disseminate distance higher education in the Arab region. In particular, three different structures are examined: distance education programs provided by traditional universities, open or distance education universities offering only programs from a distance, and a virtual university. Shortcomings of these…

This article examines the relative perceived importance of 19 instructor actions in online courses according to both instructors and students. The instructor actions were culled from guidelines in the online learning literature base and then reviewed and rated by 14 experts. Thirty-two online instructors and 170 students from their classes at a…

This article describes WebCampus.Stevens, the online graduate education and corporate training unit of Stevens Institute of Technology, which delivers one of the largest and most effective asynchronous learning network (ALN) and blended programs of any college or university in the New York metropolitan region. Under a newly awarded Sloan…

The Eduventures survey examined next-generation demand for online postsecondary education, assessing online experience, delivery mode and marketing channels preferences, and perceptions of price, quality and location, identifying key takeaways in each area.

Since its unveiling in 2003, professors and college students have flocked to the virtual world of Second Life. Professors use Second Life to hold distance-education classes, saying that communication among students becomes livelier when they assume digital personae. Anthropologists and sociologists see the virtual world as a laboratory for…

One institution's attempts to implement an ambitious wholly online learning policy is examined in the Australian higher education setting. The conditions that led to a diversity of models of wholly online unit development are considered, along with teachers' design intents in establishing their online teaching and learning environments. The…

Encouraging continuous improvement in the quality, scale and breadth of online education, the Sloan Consortium invites practitioners to share effective practices. This report synthesizes effective practices submitted by Sloan-C members to the online collection at http://www.sloanconsortium.org/effective as of November 2010. The synthesis includes…

This study explores factors that predict learner satisfaction and transfer of learning in an online educational program at a multinational corporation, established to improve organizational learning by providing training in technical skills. A mixed-methods design was used, selecting both quantitative methods (utilizing survey research) and…

Much attention has been focused on the accountability, student learning outcomes, transfer of credit, and illegal file sharing provisions of the two related bills that have moved through the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to amend and extend the provisions of the 1965 Higher Education Act (S. 1642 and H.R. 4137). One of the…

As the growth of online programs continues to rapidly accelerate, concern over retention is increasing. Models for understanding student persistence in the face-to-face environment are well established, however, the many of the variables in these constructs are not present in the online environment or they manifest in significantly different ways.…

This article proposes that the transformation of higher education, through technology, to the "virtual university" would be disastrous but that the same technology can be used to provide wider access to higher education. Distance education can substitute for or supplement on-campus education where physical plant capacity is exhausted and demand is…

The three-year-old Council for Higher Education Accreditation, created by college presidents, is addressing such challenges as persuading accrediting agencies to work together, fending off federal efforts to place more controls on accreditors, working to resolve conflicts between universities and accrediting agencies, and considering the…

Provides a background to the establishment of virtual universities in Korea and presents a framework for course development. Highlights include the use of distance, or open education; reasons for rapid changes in higher education; course objectives; team building; and future possibilities. (Contains 33 references.) (LRW)