The Association of European Universities has published a report (CRE DOC: November 1996) "Restructuring the University: University and the Challenge of New Technologies". The message, as you can see below, of report is clear: The world is not the same tomorrow. Universities have to rethink they aims and objectives. New Technologies is one of the main strategic issue for universities. The time to act is now.
The rapid development of new technologies has implications for the provision of higher education. The new possibilities of Digital Technology like Internet and World Wide Web are already and will be largely applied the traditional markets of universities, that is, regular students. In addition opportunities in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) create new markets, while the principle of lifelong learning extends the age groups to which the university can offer education. Thus, the potential created by new technologies for teaching and learning requires a considerable rethinking of the universities aim and objectives, and a fundamental restructuring of the ways in which it delivers those objectives.
The development of new technologies does not bring with it a miracle solution to the range of problems most universities are now confronting. Multimedia and Networks should not be a diversion for universities from other questions that will determine their future. Technological progress should be exploited by higher education institutions to further their strategic objectives.
This presentation will offer models, examples and research results of how different universities have utilised WWW as an effective learning environment. As we know, today will be history of tomorrow. That is why I will also look ahead to those research projects which are creating tomorrow - like digital paper, agents and immersive environments on the Net - to get a hint of the future.
email: jarmo.viteli@uta.fi URL: http://www.uta.fi/hyper/