One of the basic requirements for education in the 21st century will be
to prepare learners for participation in a networked, knowledge-based
economy in which knowledge will be the most critical resource for
social and economic development. Students will need new and different
knowledge resources, skills, roles, and opportunities. All levels of
education will be affected, as lifelong learning becomes not only a
personal interest but a social and economic imperative in building a
knowledge society. New communication technologies such as computer
networking enable new approaches to and opportunities for teaching and
learning. Networking can be used to enhance face-to-face classroom
activities as well as to support entirely online course delivery,
expanding access to quality education.
The past decade of research in network learning has demonstrated important benefits: both increased access as well as enhanced opportunities for active student participation in collaborative learning and knowledge building. However, the use of new technology does not by itself guarantee improved educational outcomes. There is a critical need for rethinking education, with especial focus on the need for new designs for learning as well as new designs for the technological environments that can support enhanced cognitive as well as socio-affective activities. These ideas will be discussed and illustrated in the context of the ongoing Virtual-U developments at SFU.
The Virtual-U is one of the first multimedia networked environments in the world that is specifically customized for course delivery and course enhancement. The goal of development on the Virtual-U is to allow students access to learning experiences with a richness in content and simulation that has never been achieved in conventional classroom; thus Virtual-U, is customizing the WWW, to become an educational environment that can support active collaborative learning and knowledge construction and that provides special tools for learners and educators.
Linda Harasim is Associate Professor, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University. She holds a PhD in educational theory from the University of Toronto and has been active for over a decade in researching educational and organizational applications of computer networking. She has designed, implemented, and evaluated networking applications in Canada, the U.S., and Latin America. She edited Online Education: Perspectives on a New Environment (Praeger, 1990), Global Networks: Computers and International Communication (MIT Press, 1993) and is the senior author in the recently published Learning Networks: A Field Guide to Teaching and Learning Online (MIT Press, 1995). She has published many articles on computer communications and has presented her research at numerous international meetings. She conducts much of her teaching and her project work online and teaches about topics related to design and application of network learning environments. She is the project leader for the Virtual-U, one of the first multimedia network systems especially customized for course delivery and course enhancement. She is also the leader of the TeleLearning Research Network, which was awarded the Networks of Centers of Excellence in July 1995. The TeleLearning Research Network links 150 researchers in education, cognitive psychology, social science, computer and engineering science from 29 universities across Canada in the design of new pedagogies and technologies for advanced networked workstations.
