Making the numbers
According to Sheng-Yang Chiu, chief technology officer of the soon-to-be-launched Universitas Global online university, there is currently a global shortfall of roughly 32 million university places, almost 70 percent of which are based in Asia.
Due to take in its first students in early 2003, the Universitas Global online university aims to capture a proportion of this audience.
Initially the institution will only offer post-graduate courses focusing on business and technology studies, using material developed in conjunction with 17 participating universities.
"The gap between the demand for tertiary education and the supply of classes and courses is widening," Chiu says. "There is no way you can narrow that gap using traditional universities."
The training materials are all tailored to the Universitas Global system, and designed to offer classes to students in different geographies and time zones.
"We are offering students collaboration of an asynchronous nature so the student can post questions or respond to information when it is most appropriate for them," Chiu says.
Participating universities have also agreed to underwrite the quality of the courses, and recognise subjects taken through the Universitas system.
According to Chiu, the University will come into competition with universities from around the region, due to the availability of its offerings and affordability of its courses.
"We fully expect that a good number of our students will be young middle managers that need a part time program, so they can log into their classes after they have arrived home and got the kids into bed," Chiu says. "We expect most working adults to undertake our courses on a part time basis."
A masters of business administration will consist of 18 subjects, cost somewhere between US$10000 and US$15000, and can be completed in a time frame which suits the student.
With content being designed in three centres around the world and the recognition of other institutions established, Chiu says the group's main challenge lies in gaining the recognition of corporate institutions from around the world.
"We are coming in at the tail end of the first generation of e-learning experiments, so we are trying to learn from the experience of others and our own experiences," Chiu says. "We are no longer asking question like 'what would a classroom look like online?' we are looking at technologies which take advantage of the interactive features the Internet provides."
This will never work! After all, the internet is only used for porn and games... At least, that's what Alston tells us. Could it be that he has no idea what he's talking about?