A few months ago, I participated in an online symposium on Intellectual Property in Cyberspace at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. This was my first brush with distributed learning and it left me wondering about the campus of the 21st century.
Will it be as Bill Gates says a campus with no boundaries where learning isn't limited by walls, the contents of a library's shelves, or the credentials of one university's faculty? I think that it will. Already, a virtual university such as West Governors University (WGU) exemplifies the concept somewhat. Through this virtual university, it is possible to obtain a degree from any of the institutions that are affiliated with the WGU. Another novelty is the emphasis on demonstrating the set of competencies required for a particular program rather than completing a given number of credit hours.
In the campus of the 21st century, content will definitely be king. In my online course at the Berkman Center, I marveled at the richness of the virtual library and the many links that took us exploring module after module, fascinating articles, court cases, legal primers and other interesting readings.
I thought that all academic institutions have a wonderful opportunity here to build new curricula from the ground up, especially designed for delivery over the Internet. A vista of possibilities exists through partnerships between nonprofit and commercial entities, and among educational institutions. Just imagine a course divided in several modules, each developed by renowned experts in their fields, that incorporates multimedia and real-time interactive technologies, and figures a capability to adjust to a learner's needs as well as availability anywhere and anytime.
Well, technology is here and more is just around the corner. Broadband technology will ease many hurdles and facilitate the creation of 3-D virtual environments. Collaborative technologies such as live chats, shared whiteboard, threaded discussion forums, shared applications, collective browsing, and audio and video conferencing are already used for distance learning and training. Also, voice recognition technology appears to be ready for mainstream applications with products such as IBM's ViaVoice and Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred from Dragon Systems. And, Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) capable of generating appropriate instructional interactions at run time are just a few years away. In addition, technologies to facilitate licensing and protect content are making their appearance on the market.
Several commercial software products are available to help educators develop and manage online courses. These products typically provide a template of a blank course Website, offering a choice of collaborative synchronous and asynchronous technologies that an instructor can incorporate in his/her content. Some also incorporate management and administrative tools such as registration, customization of libraries, automated grading, and tracking of student's progress. Examples include Lotus Learning Space, which is used by the New Jersey Institute of Technology in its WebMaster 2000 certification program, and WebCT which was developed in the University of British Columbia and reportedly in use by 751 institutions in 40 countries.
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