Virtual university

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Virtual University and Virtual University referred to initiatives that an Internet- based higher education offer.

At the end of the 1990s, efforts began in German-speaking countries to implement some successful examples from the USA in their own projects. The projects were financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) at the federal level in Germany, as well as the education ministries of the federal states, but also by individual universities.

features

Some of these organizations are actually virtual in that they exist only as a loose association of universities, institutes or departments that collectively offer a number of courses over the Internet. Others, however, are real organizations in the name of the applicable laws and call themselves virtual because they only appear on the Internet.

The attribute “virtual” has an organizational dimension, as in the terms “virtual organization” or “virtual company”, as well as a dimension that relates to the teaching media used, such as the Internet. Studying as such is by no means “virtual” . Students who take so-called virtual courses work just as “real” as lecturers who prepare and teach these courses in order to obtain their degree .

The term “ e-learning ” (also known as e-teaching) now encompasses a whole range of offers: from teaching and learning materials for individual courses offered on the Internet to complete courses that are offered as distance learning online. When learning independently of time and place, the questions of certification, i. H. the award of credit points or degrees has not yet been fully answered. Since you have to ensure that a service has actually been performed, examinations are currently also usually held face-to-face in virtual universities. In the case of virtual teaching, communication with teachers and fellow students is usually medalized, i. H. through email , chat , forum or video conference . A learning portal or learning room system is often used to support teaching in individual courses.

Efforts are being made to map these offers, but due to the large number of offers, it is not easy to get an overview. In the meantime, many universities have set themselves offers for virtual teaching or blended learning (the use of virtual elements in a classroom event, e.g. the use of chats or forums parallel to the course) as a goal. Related work areas are the digital library , content management systems and learning portals .

Education

When studying at a virtual university, there are no buildings or campuses to go to, as the study takes place online. In most cases, all you need is a computer and an internet connection. Through this connection, the students can access the virtual university and then attend lectures, solve assignments, discuss case studies, write tests, ask questions, etc. Likewise, they communicate with their lecturers, tutors or administrative staff and the like via the Internet.

Some virtual universities give their students a lot of freedom. So you can decide for yourself when and how quickly or slowly you want to learn. This can have both advantages and disadvantages, and students may feel left alone if they are not part of a supervised schedule. To avoid this effect, other virtual universities use the same type of time management as traditional universities: the programs are divided into semesters, courses are taught on a weekly basis, homework is given every week, etc.

The teaching methods of many virtual study programs are mainly based on text documents, but multimedia technologies are also becoming increasingly popular. The range of teaching methods in virtual teaching includes courses based on hypertext, videos, audio clips and animated materials.

advantages

Generally speaking, there are more virtual programs in computer science, engineering, and the natural sciences than there are in the humanities. Virtual programs are suitable for people who appreciate flexibility. "Study anywhere at any time" is a popular slogan, but flexibility can be limited by schedules or application deadlines. For example, students who work full- or part-time can study in the evening or on weekends without having to be on campus at specific class times.

In the public sector, expectations were very high at the beginning of saving money through virtual teaching and virtual universities. Significant cost savings could not be realized, however, because the effort to create a virtual course was underestimated.

E-Campus and E-University

E-Campus and E-University are key words in the E-namespace, which denote the virtualization of university sub-areas. The e-campus represents an intermediate stage on the way to the e-university.

While electronic learning is limited exclusively to learning programs and learning management , E-Campus also increasingly includes administrative tasks. This includes the administration of students, rooms, lectures and exams as well as important information such as addresses, information on events and timetables. On the one hand, this makes it possible to simplify and sometimes rationalize the course of studies and, on the other hand, to bind students in their practical semester closer to the university even during their absence via a corresponding access. Another goal is to simplify the IT infrastructure by combining several applications, optimizing work processes and avoiding media disruptions. In addition to the administrative tasks and the support of the course operation, learning communities are supported in the form of collaboration within virtual exercise rooms or via synchronous and asynchronous forms of communication, as well as wikis and blogs .

The E-University represents the final stage of virtualization and thus the complete virtual mirroring of the real university area . This includes the entire university administration from student administration and room planning to financial administration and the examination office, as well as all courses, various electronic forms of communication and social campus life. Face-to-face seminars are still part of blended learning concepts, but their administration is only handled via a corresponding portal.

The proponents of the E-University also speak of a clearing up of “institutionalized knowledge hierarchies”. In the area of knowledge management , e-universities provide support in the search and organization of study material, lectures and other offers. The independence of time and space plays an essential role.

Software for implementing the goals of the E-Campus and the E-University includes commercial products such as Clix-Campus as well as open source solutions such as the combination of ILIAS , Stud.IP , Moodle , and Docebo .

See also

literature

  • Kerres, M. (2001): Multimedia and Telemedia Learning Environments. Conception and development. 2nd edition Oldenbourg, Munich
  • Schulmeister, R. (2003): Learning platforms for virtual learning. Evaluation and didactics. Oldenbourg, Munich
  • Federal-State Commission for Educational Planning and Research Funding (2002): Use of New Media in the University: Strategy Paper. Decision of June 17, 2002. Bonn.
  • Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2002): Networking information - activating knowledge: strategic position paper ... on the future of scientific information in Germany.
  • An extensive list of references can be found under [1] .

Web links

Overview portals

Examples of virtual universities

Examples of the E-Campus

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Case study in which the use of a virtual learning portal is explained using an example