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will work in close collaboration with provincial universities, the TeleLearning Research Network and
CANARIE to identify needed, practical and feasible research projects.
In addition, other provincial and out-of-province institutions in both the public and private sector will be
participating in using the virtual campus environment. Templates and other online tools as well as the online
environment will be made accessible for development and delivery purposes.
Virtual Campus Activities
Programs offered by the Virtual Campus will take full advantage of the on-line features available, as well as
relying on more traditional media like print, fax etc. Traditional college programs contain the following
elements: content delivery, interaction with teachers and students, skills development, and practice. Face-toface
lecture is the principal mode for delivery of content. Asking questions is the main form of student-teacher
interaction. Skills development is hands-on, as is any meaningful practice by the students. The WWW,
combined with on line access to Computer Based Training courseware, a workbook, and a textbook can
provide a more effective platform for delivering program content. The online environment can also be used to
facilitate student teacher interactions, and in some programs provide hands-on experience and opportunities
for skill practice.
The following activities are presently being used by learners on the WWW:
1. Listen to, read, or watch a video of lectures
2. Ask question of the teacher and of individual students
3. Participate in certain experiments or simulation of experiments
4. Deliver student presentations.
5. Provide access to online courseware
6. On line student support programs
7. Library searches, and journal browsing
8. Work on projects with other students
9. Undertake statistical analyses
10. Social chitchat
11. Group discussions among students
Web software is now becoming available to support all these activities. The NBCC can also make effective use
of existing software, hardware and telecommunications environments. For example:
1. Gopher, Telnet and FTP; (now possible through the Web browser)
2. Email and Usenet groups, chat lines and keyboard conferencing;
3. An 800 number for just-in-time individual aid to students;
4. Courseware made available on -line and downloadable;
5. Remote support using software for screen sharing, audio and video conferencing.
Virtual Campus Features
This new online learning environment can be used effectively for the delivery of nearly all content materials.
This has the additional benefit of transferring much of the responsibility for learning from the teacher to the
students. Employers faced with a rapidly changing working environment are increasingly demanding the skill
of 'knowing how to learn' from their employees. In addition, teachers liberated from lecturing can more
effectively concentrate on giving students more individual attention and spend more time on skill training and
monitoring.
The Virtual Campus is distributed. All physical campuses will be available for delivery and reception of
courses as will all TeleEducation NB sites. Staff at all campuses will have the opportunity to participate in the
development and delivery of programmes, and will be expected to facilitate. The Virtual Campus must work
closely together with the different campuses, TeleEducation NB (the delivery network), and the Center to
determine the best mix of centralized coordination and campus independence. The goal in implementing
policies and initiatives will be to take advantage of the on-line environment to determine the optimum mix of
central guidance and coordination while maximizing the benefits of local control and independence.