A framework for online learning: The virtual-U

Much of the online post-secondary education available in North America and Europe has been created piecemeal. This situation arose because educators b egan adopting computer networking in the mid-1970s, soon after the inventio n of packet-switched networks (1969) and e-mail and computer conferencing ( 1971) for exchange of scientific information. In late 1993, the author set out to help design a system using the Internee that would encourage the adoption of a collaborative learning approach. Sh e and her colleagues also wanted to develop embedded tools to meet the need s of both instructors and students. The goal of their system, now known as the Virtual-U (http://www.vu.vlei. c om), was to provide a flexible framework to support advanced pedagogies bas ed on active learning, collaboration, multiple perspectives, and knowledge building. With two years of field trials serving more than 8,000 students and hosting 300 courses from 14 institutions, the Virutal-U provides a flexible yet we ll-organized framework for online, collaborative education. It brings toget her a multidisciplinary research team of educators, HCI specialists, engine ers, computer scientists, and database and instructional designers, fulfill ing the promise of integrated online learning.