Virtual University? Educational Environments of the Future

Edited by Henk J van der Molen

Portland Press Ltd, £75
ISBN 1 85578 145 X

The driving force behind change in learning environments is money. The use of the internet for learning is no exception. While that money currently comes in the form of research grants, entrepreneurs have realised that, in tomorrow's world, online learning may be the biggest web industry yet. This has spawned growing inter? est in the new concept of “virtual” universities and medical schools. In 1999, European experts met in Stockholm to discuss how this concept would change the world. This book is a record of the proceedings.

In principle the idea sounds simple. Everyone can benefit from the most respected academics and the best tutors. Logistical costs such as travel, space, and materials are reduced. Tuition could be avail? able at any time, and the easily updatable content would be consistent. The authors are quick to highlight the need for radical change in direction if electronic learning is to succeed. Huge investments are required. Lec? ture notes on the web are not enough. But, eventually, the model could work.

Industries involved in continuous train? ing are the most likely to adopt virtual learning in the short term. Traditional universities provide more than just knowl? edge. Students benefit from a support network of peers and tutors that may be dif? ficult to retain online. Medical training requires real patient contact in order to be effective. Industry, however, wants to deliver information to its staff when and where they need it. The health service fits into this category too. Health professionals will increasingly rely on updating knowledge and skills (using advanced simulation) this way. It is not yet clear how to deliver this type of information effectively. But the authors succeed in giving us a taste of things to come, tempered with a realism about the scale of the task.

Unfortunately, not everyone will benefit. Poor countries would undoubtedly gain the most from this type of innovation. But these are the very countries without the infrastruc? ture to access such information reliably. The fact that this subject is not mentioned in this book is telling. One sentence in the summary chapter puts it like this: “Pressures are likely to be for time rather than for financial resources.” In an age where information technology should liberate knowledge, it seems as if knowledge may still remain the domain of the wealthy.

Jason O'Neale Roach final year medical student, Guy's, King's, and St Thomas's Hospitals Medical School


studentBMJ 2001;09:399-442 November ISSN 0966-6494