Space , Place and the Virtual University : The Virtual University is the University Made

With the rapidly increasing sophistication, and decreasing cost, of virtual courses, the hegemony provided by geography has disappeared. With increasing numbers of ‘on-campus’ students enrolling in their institution’s virtual courses on the internet, the move towards courses offered by other institutions is only a `mouse click’ away. This is true whether the `other’ institution is located in Djibouti or is part of a multi-campus system such as in California or New York. (Abeles, 1999: 10) The virtual university has emerged as a potent vision for the future of higher education, utilising new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to radically restructure higher educational provision. What is envisaged in this scenario is a “university without walls”. Freed from the confines of the campus and its region, the university becomes a ‘virtual’ institution consisting of little more than global connections of potential students (recruitment), learners and teachers (students and staff), employers (the careers function) and alumni, in terms of teaching and learning, and researchers, research funders and research users, in terms of the institution’s research mission, all held together by ICT applications. The vision is one of flexible ever changing organisations