Virtual University - Coursework

Coursework

Providing access to higher education for all students, especially adult learners, is made easier by the fact that most virtual universities have no entry requirements for their undergraduate courses. Entry requirements are needed for the courses that are aimed at postgraduates or those who work in specific jobs.

Studying in a virtual university has essential differences from studying in a brick and mortar university. There are no buildings and no campus to go to because students receive learning materials over the Internet. In most cases, only a personal computer and an Internet connection is needed. Course materials can include printed material, books, audio and video cassettes, TV programmes, CD-ROM/software, and web sites. Support is offered to learners from the professor or a tutor online through e-mails if they are having problems with the course.

Taking courses on-line means that students will be learning in their own time by reading course material, working on course activities, writing assignments and perhaps working with other students through interactive teleconferences. Online learning can be an isolating experience since the student spends the majority of their time working by themselves. Some learners do not mind this kind of solo learning, but others find it a major stumbling block to successful completion of courses. Because of the potential difficulty of maintaining the schedule needed to be successful when learning online, some virtual universities apply the same type of time management as traditional schools. Many courses operate to a timetable, which the student receives with the course materials. These may include the planned activities for each week of the course and due dates for the assignments. If the course has an exam, the students will be informed where they have to go to write it.

An example of a university that maintains a tight schedule is the Virtual Global University (VGU) in Germany. VGU offers a graduate program “International Master of Business Informatics” (MBI) – a master program in information technology and management that takes an average of four semesters to complete (for full-time students). Each course has a lecture or a virtual class meeting every week. Afterwards, students get a homework assignment; for example, they have to solve an exercise, elaborate on some problem, discuss a case study, or take a test. Lecturers give them immediate feedback, and one week later, the same happens again.