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Perspectives on the educational market: universities between virtual campus and education brokers
(2001)
Nowadays information and communication technologies are affecting many aspects of our daily life. Sitting at our home computer we can order products, book flights, transfer money, buy and sell stocks and take online classes of educational institutions at the other end of the world. Maybe one day we will be able to pick any graduate business course at any institution that we like and combine credits of several online universities. Major changes are happening on the educational market. How will the educational market look like in 10 or 20 years? Which path will the traditional universities go from now on and where will they end? And: what are the factors that influence this shift? These are the questions which are addressed in this paper. Some of the analysis presented in this paper is based on papers published by the German Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Heinz Nixdorf Stiftung (Encarnacao/Leidhold/Reuter 2000) and on some English authors (i.e. Daniel 1998) and it summarizes some of their ideas.
This paper addresses the task of designing an online course. Which considerations have to be made? Many factors have to be regarded: technical options, the didactical design, the institution, the subject of the courses and the students. This task becomes even more difficult when we get aware that these factors are very much independent and that the decision in one field cannot be made without considering the others aspects. The didactical design of an online course has to be implemented based on technical option in order to shape and support the teaching and learning process. Different internet media can be uses such as web pages, email, discussion boards and chats as well as specialized software packages. These media types are characterized by certain functionalities which are appropriate for certain learning methods. What are the factors which influence this choice? Besides the aspect of synchronization the technical equipment at the learners' place and their media competence is essential. Additionally CD ROMs can be used as a media for data transmission as well as a supportive function for the learning process. The didactical design of a CD ROM can support different learning methods and provide additional learning material which can be used according to the students' demands. In this paper some examples are given as how to implement different didactical elements with different technical features. The learning process does not have to take place on the level of the individual learner but should integrate social interaction in different social forms. learning can take place on different levels such the individual learner, small groups, and plenary settings. But:: group learning processes have to be properly planned and pre-structured in the didactical design of online courses and need sufficient technical support in order to work properly.