Virtual Learning: virtually here?

Virtual education is hot. It's even trendy. But beyond the hype, what exactly is it? The truth in this case may not be out there, but within the electronic pages of a study published in June 1999 by The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and sponsored by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) in London.

The Development of Virtual Education: A global perspective tries to go where no one has gone before in creating an authoritative, global study of virtual education through a series of expert-authored regional papers. The impetus was a need for the Commonwealth at large to be updated on the educational use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and for subsequent change to educational structures. All regional reports were in by February 1999 and the study team members met in March 1999 at COL's Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Brunei Darussalam to review their efforts and to identify a global perspective.

A virtual education institution is defined in the report as an organisation that, directly or indirectly, uses ICTs to provide educational services; this includes traditional agencies such as universities or non-educational organisations that distribute virtual educational services. Not many agencies to date are fully virtual from administration to instruction, but there is a global trend to expand virtual services in educational institutions as well as in the corporate sector.

Pedagogical concerns exist, such as the absence of human interaction, and there are legal considerations, such as copyright infringement. But the consensus is that virtual learning is a solid direction that education is taking, not a fad. It is profoundly affecting access to education; online distance learning is less onerous than a correspondence course. It has affected the way people learn; community tele-learning centres, which provide access to ICTs, are how some countries cope with technological disparities.

The most important factors driving virtual learning are increasingly affordable ICTs, such as personal computers and Internet access, and their ability to provide flexible, niche learning to a lifelong learners' market hungry for educational opportunities. However, the development of ICT infrastructure needs to be more closely linked with educational considerations; a critical "haves" and "have nots" access to learning is developing in some parts of the world.

A crucial proposal is for ICT development planning to take educational access into consideration. Legislative incentives can be introduced to guarantee a portion of telecommunication capacity for educational purposes. Traditional institutions need to start thinking "out of the box" to be fully effective in the virtual marketplace; for example, offering courses online but insisting on "hard copy" communication may be counter-productive.

Feedback from the report, which is also available in limited quantities in print, has been very positive: "Excellent work ... The report has raised very interesting and important issues that need to be considered when looking at creating virtual education," commented Professor Kader Asmal, Minister of Education for South Africa, in a letter to COL dated 15 November 1999.

COL has now embarked on a follow-up study, on trends identified in the initial report. Also, through its Information Resource Centre and a recent Knowledge Management Roundtable, COL is identifying ways to consolidate its role as a catalyst for open and distance learning.

Get ready to expand your mental frontiers; virtual learning is a mouse click away, on a PC near you!

- Grace Chin