ONLINE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION: Liberating the Student?

摘要

Throughout the world, universities are in the process of mixing Virtual' and 'traditional' forms of course delivery in order to facilitate their move toward total 'virtual' learning environments. In the context of Australia, which provides the focus of this article, the move to online education is presented as inevitable in the face of increasing technological advances in information-communication technologies (ICTs) and the forces of globalization. A review of higher-education financing and policy, Learning for Life, for instance, cites technological developments (i.e. digital media, the Internet) as key determinants of change in the wider society and consequently in the Australian higher education system. The report argues that communication and information technologies will 'lower costs, improve access, and improve the quality of educational outcomes' in university education (Flew, 1998, p. 20). The report states: We are convinced that technologies offer significant opportunities to higher education institutions to enhance quality, accessibility and cost effectiveness of higher education teaching and research (West, 1998, p. 60).