This fortnight: a university on the Net.

By Vivek Bhatia

You've often heard that the Net is a great tool for learning. I'm sure you've also heard how the Net keeps you in touch with most of the information that exists in this world, and, therefore, changes the way you perceive knowledge and learning. But how about real, formal education? I have often caught myself asking this question: "Can I go to a regular college on the Internet and get a degree?"

I scoured the Net for days, looking for a real on-line college that offered structured classes and awarded meaningful degrees. And at the end of my search, I had exactly one name: the on-line campus of the Arizona (US)-based University of Phoenix (UOP), at www.UOPhx.edu.

My search proved fruitful as this virtual institution turned out to be as good as any real college. The most interesting part is that the UOP's on-line campus is not an Internet-inspired concoction. This college has been functioning for eight years now; the UOP was founded in 1976 at Phoenix, Arizona, as an institution for providing continuing education to working adults. It received accreditation in 1978, and now operates through 11 physical campuses in the US.

In 1989, the UOP started offering its courses on-line. Since the Internet was not widely accessible then, the on-line campus operated through telephone lines. At its campuses, the UOP had banks of modems to take incoming calls from the students' modems. The students' pcs ran a customised software package called Alexware which handled the lessons. But now, the UOP's on-line classes are also conducted over the Net.

So, how does this on-line university work? At the UOP, everything works through Alex, the university's computer conferencing system. To begin with, students go through a campus-orientation course that familiarises them with the system. Teaching is structured through classes that typically last a week. Before each class, the university ships electronic text books and a guide, explaining assignments, reading lists, and course objectives to the students.

Typically, on the first day of the week, the instructor sends introductory information on the week's topic, and confirms the assignments such as reading from the textbook, completing a case study, or preparing a paper on the topic you're studying. The instructor also posts a short lecture, or elaborates on the material, and provides discussion questions related to the topic. Throughout the week, students work on the readings and the assignments on their own--just as they would in a traditional classroom setting. The computer conferencing system is used during this time to participate in class discussions, and ask questions as well as receive feedback. When their assignments are due, the students send them to the on-line instructor, who grades their work and sends them back.

As the UOP is careful to point out, the courses are neither self-paced nor open-ended. There are beginning and closing dates for each course, as well as deadlines. The teaching process is asynchronous: the students do not have to log on at the same time. The classroom is essentially a mailing list to which each student, and the instructor, can send messages. It is possible to have a private conversation with the faculty, or with other students. A copy of each message is sent to the entire class by the system. This traffic of messages develops like a discussion in a class. Students and faculty can also send messages that go to just one other person, or any small group--the equivalent of an informal discussion outside the class.

The admission criteria for the UOP are similar to that of other American universities except that the UOP uses the services of an accredited educational evaluation service that conforms to the standards set by the US National Council on the Evaluation of Foreign Credentials. Indian students have to submit their Test Of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) grades as well.

The UOP is inexpensive when compared to the costs of going abroad for an education, but it still costs a large amount of money. For example, the courses for undergraduates cost an average of $365 per semester while those for post-graduates are $460 per semester. The software itself costs $117 while the application fee is $58. Nevertheless, you do end up saving an average of $20,000 per year, which you would have spent if you actually studied in the US of A. Well, that's not too bad a saving for getting a high-quality education. Or is it?