Helder Lameiras Sousa, June 12, 1997
Department of Informatic Engineering
University of Coimbra
PORTUGAL
Universities
Online
Helder Lameiras Sousa, June 12, 1997
Department of Informatic Engineering
University of Coimbra
PORTUGAL
Index
Summary
" The Reality of Virtualidade "
What are Universidades Online?
Universities OnLine's Need
The Revolution of the education system
The Method
As they Work
Image of a VEE (Virtual Educational Environment)
Conclusion
Bibliography
Enclosures
Article of " Journal of Virtual Reality in Education "
Contains a series of MOOs to work in the educational
ambit.
Notices: The article dates of
1995 but most of presented MOOs continues in operation.
Também is elucidativo with relationship
to the amount and diversity of MOOs that one can find.
With the growing evolution of the Internet and of the services that stick her, the teaching is also to create rootses, in the net that ties the world. Of those initiatives they appear the universities online, teaching spaces completely revolutionaries in the way of to teach and to learn.
With the growing disillusion sensation that the conventional universities provoke to students and companies, and still the people's impossibility with employments and family responsibilities obtain superior formation, the universities online appears as an alternative one quite interesting.
But the one what is universities online? ... How do they work? ... Will they be like this the universities of the future?.
It is goal of this work to give answer to these and other subjects, on universities online, that will in my opinion " give a lot to speak " in a close future! ".
The removal of the real world that the conventional universities provoke in its students, contrasts with the approach that the student has in the universities online.
The universities today, a little for everyone and in a quite evident way in Portugal, they live in a parallel dimension, completely desfazadas of the world actual.
With the universities online the student studies and he researches in the Internet, traveling the real world, interage with him, learns how to move in a world in that more and more will be necessary " to live ". Although many still see the Internet as virtual, the truth is that the reality of today and of the future, it goes by the Internet.
Unlike a lot of people can imagine, universities online is not mere teaching centers at the distance, available in the Internet, that send material for the student, and this does it study comfortably in its house in its free times.
Universities online are true virtual teaching centers, in that the students participate in seminars, presentation sessions and discussion, they deal with the formal matters, they speak to the teachers in they cabinets, they frequent conviviality rooms, libraries, etc... Everything that hopes to find in a conventional university, can be found in an university online.
But as it is possible to acquire knowledge when the responsibilities in the work and at home they do impede us of frequenting the classes?
With the opening of the Internet to everyone, the amount of available information to the citizens increased the such level that practically everybody the themes (for not saying everybody) they are embraced. Like this being, we could be said " we want to learn, we are going to the Internet and it is already..." . But the things are not like this so simple.
To the rhythm that the information grows in the Internet (práticamente in an exponential way) it is already today (and it will be more and more) difficult to find information correcta and trustworthy. The volume of information is such that when we sought a theme in a search motor, they can appear in the thousands of possible entrances, of the which a high percentagem is " pure garbage ".
Even if get efectuar a good research and to acquire a good knowledge level in a certain subject; As we will prove that to the Society? ; As to convince the companies of our capacities in that theme? .
He/she becomes like this necessary the existence of knowledge centers, that analyze and filter the available information, transforming it in Knowing, that diffuse it and supply means of proving to the Society the acquired capacities, nomeadamente diplomas and certificates of national and international recognition.
The universities online comes to close all these " holes ", analyzing, filtering and disponibilizando knowledge, and you form of acquiring in an atmosphere académico. The problem of proving to the society the acquired knowledge is also resolved, because these universities are recognized by the society, and they are in its majority " been godfather " by conventional universities of great international prestige.
Another aspect that reinforces the need of universities online, mainly in a country as Portugal, with a considerable delay in almost everybody the themes of the actualidade, it is the facto of they supply formation actualizada. Because in fact it is incomportável for most of the people to move her to the foreigner for they get that formation when they don't find it in its country.
The Revolution of the education
system
The characteristic more revolutionary of the universities online, is without
a doubt its education system, that is completely different from the conventional
education system.
For we understand the differences better, we will enunciate some
characteristics of the conventional educational system:
Comparing these characteristics with the objectivos of the universities
online can conclude that the difference is considerable and in my opinion,
quite healthy. Let us see:
The material is supplied in format in format hipertexto, for form the
encorajar the student to do researches for in addition it is it supplied.
Everybody the study themes are discussed later on in seminars online in real
time, where it is requested the students a critical analysis on the theme,
with base in its researches.
In the student's case not to have opportunity to participate in these seminars can consult the whole discussion, once all the sessions are filed in rooms (virtual) own for the effect, to which he/she/it can drive. Later on he/she can send its critical analysis for email, so that the teacher analyzes it and give its opinion.
When inviting the student to participate activamente in the discussion of the several themes, it tries to develop in the individual exploration capacities, of analysis, of critic and of self-confidence, abilities these that are not developed in the conventional education system due to the student's passive carácter.
The facto of all the discussions be efectuadas in text, the capacities of the student's communication are quite motivated and developed, therefore writing is learned how to speak, but not always the opposite is true.
So that the universities online gets to supply the students a virtual
university middle they fall back upon the concept of VEE (Virtual Education
Environment). VEEs tries to combine the ambient académico of an
university and the ray of acção of the Internet in an atmosphere
of collaboration and investigation among all the intervenients.
In this it sets the students they attend the classes, they consult the libraries, they deal with the administrative matters, of clerkship, they still can (and they owe) to fraternize and to discuss with the colleagues and teachers.
This interactividade is gotten through programs MOO (Multi-user Object Oriented). They are usually programs based on text, that allow several people to link at the same time to the same virtual space and interactuam in him through text and programmable objectos.
Originally developed by players interactivos, under the form of MUDs
(Multi-User Dungeons). They were games based on text for several players
in simultaneous, in the Internet. These programs woke up interest in the
educational field, originating MOOs, being its main characteristics:
Everything that is still commonly based on text. Like this any subject that it can be represented in text, can be discussed easily by the group.
They are in development phase Web/MOOs, that allow the interacção of graphs, sound, animation and hipertexto links through WebObjects (objectos in code HTML). But everything this should be efectuado without removing any importance to the text base of the I MILL, therefore this is considered a trunfo for the development of the capacity of the student's communication.
Image of a VEE (Virtual Educational
Environment)
Set Virtual of Education
In the quality of conclusion, I don't know if the universities online
will be of facto the universities of the future, but they will
have with certainty an impact elevated in the society.
With the amadurecimento of the teaching online, the people can have a continuous formation along its life, they won't just because need estagnar " its knowledge level they don't have time of attending classes, or because he/she doesn't have access to the information that you need.
If the conventional universities don't suffer great modifications at level of its structure and of its methods they got even to lose land for the conventional universities.
I Read to the some time an article of A. Dias of Figueiredo that reflect in a managerial way the state actual of the University:
" How long he/she would survive, without entering in failure, a company that rejected 35% of its matter systematically it excels, desrespeitasse in 25% its delivery periods and it maintained unsatisfied 50% of its customers (...) ?" ... It is " necessary to reinvent the University "
Because perhaps the Universities Online are the beginning of the such
necessary reinvenção of the University...
Last modified: 23-01-1998