Smart and Flexible Campus: Technology Enabled University Education

In recent years, university educators have moved from singular reliance upon the didactic lecture hall format to a composite system that uses a full array of course development, delivery, maintenance and management tools. This paper briefly introduces such as system by discussing the concept of a “smart and flexible campus education”. The system offers an integrated series of educational tools that facilitate students’ communication and collaboration along with a number of facilities for students’ study aid and class management. The application of two widely used technologies, namely dynamic web-based instruction and real-time streaming, in providing support for “smart and flexible campus” education is demonstrated. It is shown that the usage of technology enabled methods in university campuses results in a model that works equally well for distance students and learners in virtual campuses. In effect, the “smart and flexible campus” education leads to a convergence of traditional and virtual educational programs.