The Emerging Electronic University
Patamaporn Yenbamrung

Context:
This article describes the characteristics of several electronic universities. These universities use various education models, including on-off campus, off-campus, and consortium models.

Source:
Yenbamrung, Petamaporn. 1992. The Emerging Electronic University: Distance Education for the Twenty-first Century. 16th World Conference of the International Council for Distance Education. Bangkok: ICDE, pp. 317-21.

Copyright:
Reproduced with permission.

The concept of the electronic university

The electronic university is a relatively new concept which is not well defined in the literature, although the term has been used widely for some time. For example, it has been used since the late 1980s as an identifier¹ in the online version of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database. Apparently, the concept of the electronic university was introduced during the mid-1980s when some colleges and universities, mainly in the US, attempted to make use of networked computer and telecommunication technologies to reach adult learners at a distance.

How does the concept of the electronic university differ from that of distance education? In fact, the concepts of the electronic university and distance education appear to be closely related to each other as well as to the collateral concepts of distance teaching, distance learning, telecourse, home study, independent study, external studies and open universities.

The concept of distance education, unlike that of the electronic university, has been in existence for over 100 years (Verduin and Clark, 1991); however, attempts to define the term were not made until the late l960s (Keegan, 1990). Several definitions and characteristics of distance education were proposed by individual scholars, namely Moore (1973), Holmberg (1977), and Zigerell (1984). In addition, some authorities and institutions, such as UNESCO and ERIC (UNESCO, 1979; Houston, 1990), also provide definitions of distance education. For example, in a recent book Verduin and Clark (1991) define it as 'formal instruction in which a majority of the teaching function occurs while educator and learner are at a distance from one another' (13).

Aside from correspondence-based education, the oldest form of distance education, electronically based distance education utilizes a multimedia approach, incorporating different types of information technologies along with print materials to deliver course contents to students. This author views the electronic university as a type of distance education which provides higher education through many types of electronic transmission (cable, microwave, satellite, fiber optics, etc.).

No matter how the electronic university and distance education are defined, the following characteristics seem to be their shared elements (Rumble, 1986; Keegan, 1990):

• relatively geographically dispersed student populations
• heterogeneous student employment conditions
• spatial separation of teacher and student
• frequent two-way communication and occasional meetings with faculty and peers for didactic and socialisation purposes
• student independence, including the individualisation of learning
• use of various forms of electronic media (e.g. radio, TV, telephone, and computer) as well as print materials as ways of course delivery
• influence of formal educational requirements
• development of education that serves a great number of students
• use of existing infrastructure resources as part of the system (e.g. broadcast services, national/regional computer network centres, libraries, local study centres, and local resource persons).

Electronic university models

There are currently a great number of electronic universities and/or distance education institutions in the world. However, these institutions can be divided broadly by organizational structure into three models: (1) an on-off-campus model, (2) an off-campus model (these models adapted from Rumble, 1986; Reddy, 1988) and (3) a consortium model.

An on-off campus model represents an institution which offers both traditional and electronic university and/or distance education systems simultaneously. In many cases, courses, teaching facilities, and examinations taken by on-campus students are also taken by off-campus counterparts. Thus, it is assumed that off-campus and on-campus students should meet the same criteria. Examples of this model are the external studies programs offered by Australian universities (e.g. Deakin University, Murdoch University, the University of New England and several others); extension courses offered by many American universities (e.g. California State University at Chico, Nova University, the Stanford Instructional Television network, the University of South Carolina, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Wisconsin at Madison); and distance education programs in such countries as Fiji, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Zambia.

An off-campus model, unlike the first model, represents an institution which teaches only at a distance and does not maintain a traditional campus site. These institutions have their own academic policies and award their own degrees (Reddy, 1988). Electronic universities and/or distance education institutions of this type are found in many parts of the world. Although the main characteristics of these institutions are similar, they are different from one another in several respects. The establishment of each institution is fundamentally based on the peculiar conditions of its own country. In other words, each institution has its own 'national' characteristics (Reddy, 1988). Among institutions of this group, the Open University of the United Kingdom (UKOU) is the leader. Many other countries around the world (e.g. Canada, China, Costa Rica, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, The Netherlands, and Venezuela) have followed the UKOU approach by adapting it to their o wn situations. In the United States, there are relatively few institutions that offer courses only at a distance. This is probably because of the existing, extensive network of post-secondary institutions throughout the country (Daniel, 1988).

The third type is a consortium model representing an organization which consists of a network of participating electronic universities. Through consortia, universities can share resources and facilities in order to provide their educational services.

One example is the National Technological University (NTU), a consortium of over 40 American engineering schools within traditional universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University (Barron, 1991). NTU, established in 1986 and headquartered at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado, offers graduate courses in various branches of applied science and technology from its participating universities through live or videotaped satellite transmissions to various corporate sites across the United States (Mays, 1988; Barron, 1991).

Another interesting example of the consortium model is an international institution, named the Global University (GU). This institution proposes 'the formation of a worldwide electronic network, an educational partnership of universities and businesses; of governmental, nongovernmental, and community organisations; of students, workers, and individual citizens' (Utsumi, Rossman and Rosen, 1988:57).

This university now seeks to create a Global/Pacific University Consortium (GPU) around the Pacific Rim so as to provide a technology package, at a nominal cost, for colleges or universities to use for accessing educational resources via satellite (Utsumi et al., 1989). The GPU thus makes it possible for members to share some assets. As a result, schools lacking financial resources may still be able to provide their educational services by accessing such shared assets. Through this type of consortium, students anywhere in the world can access some of the world's finest educational resources, without having to leave their homeland (Utsumi et al., 1989).

Table 1 compares some existing electronic universities and/or distance education institutions with regard to type of organisational structure (model), location, year founded, instructional delivery system, areas of study, and levels of degrees.

ISIM = The International School of Information Resources Management
NOVA (off) = Nova University - off-campus programs
NTU = National Technological University
STOU = Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University
UAJ = The University of the Air of Japan
UKOU = The Open University of the United Kingdom

The electronic university and the post-industrial society

In today's post-industrial society, the concepts of the electronic university and distance education are becoming a standard component in the provision of education worldwide in response to the growing need for greater student autonomy and the increasing lack of suitability of traditional on-campus educational programs (Watkins, 1991). In the US, by the year 2000, adult part-time students are expected to account for about 60% of all university enrolments ('On-Line Teaching', 1991). The adult students are typically employed and in need of retraining or updating their knowledge and skills, they typically cannot afford to give up their job in order to pursue their degree or certificate as full-time students. Electronic university and distance education systems are a viable solution for adult students, since these systems allow students to continue working and pursuing their education simultaneously.

Nonetheless, the growing popularity of electronic universities and distance education institutions should not be interpreted to mean that traditional universities are outmoded. What this popularity of electronic education does suggest is that traditional universities may not appear to be responsive to the needs of non-traditional students and to changing socioeconomic conditions. However, some traditional universities may be expected to evolve from their present status to expand their capacity to serve more off-campus students through electronic media. Other traditional universities may continue operating in traditional on-campus modes of instruction. Additionally, computers and telecommunications technologies will continue playing an important role in providing capabilities for multiple functions (e.g. education, library access, research, and management) to link distance education students with their colleagues, institutions, libraries, and other needed resources (Lyman, 1991; Waterhouse, 1991).

P. S.: In the industrial age, we go to school. In the post-industrial age, school can come to us.

Notes