The Electronic Virtual University in Your Future

Council of Scientific Society Presidents

Douglas Van HouwelingPresident & CEO -- UCAID

Overview Developments in Information

Technology Applications Implications for Research &

Education Implications for the University How Fast Will Change Come?

Developments in Information Technology

Computation•VLSI progress will continue•Everything will have a computer

in it•Challenge:

Even the smallest systems will be extremely complex

Developments in Information Technology

Storage•Density will continue to increase•Challenge:

Bigger but not faster Archival systems

Developments in Information Technology

Communication•Faster improvements in

price/performance than computation and storage

•Challenges: Uneven access Speed of light latency Mobility

Developments in Information Technology

Software•Increasingly interoperable•Better human factors•Challenge

Reliability Expense

Developments in Information Technology

Systems•Distributed•Built of heterogeneous

components Challenge

•Complexity•Reliability

Applications:Many Disciplines and Contexts

Sciences Arts Humanities Health care Business/Law Administration …

Instruction Collaboration Streaming video Distributed

computation Data mining Virtual reality Digital libraries …

Application Attributes

Interactive research collaboration and instruction

Real-time access to remote scientific instruments

Images courtesy of theUniversity of Michigan

Attributes, cont.

Large-scale, multi-site computation and database processing

Shared virtual reality

Any combination of the above

Images courtesy of Old Dominion Universityand University of Illinois-Chicago

Implications for Research & Education

Scholarly Collaboration• Same time <--> Different time• Same place<-->Different place• In a shared information space• Ubiquitously and routinely accessible

Implications for Research & Education

Tomorrow’s Student/Learner• Increasingly adult• More diverse• Part time• Less degree oriented, more focused

on adding competence• More to contribute

Rapid increase in demand

Implications for Research & Education

Distributed Learning Environments• Respond to learner demand• Global opportunity• Highly individualized• Require support for distributed communities• Even campus-based learning environments

will need to include global resources• Will each learner assemble his/her own

virtual university?

Implications for the University

Integration of Research and Education• The same tools and infrastructure will

support distributed research/creation/discovery

• Adult learners could be more engaged• Will students pay to participate in

research?

Implications for the University Other Providers

• Primarily captive corporate or for-profit “institutions”

• Focused on student needs, not institutional priorities

• Global from the beginning• Emphasis on intellectual capital, not facilities• Will higher education institutions be split:

campus-based for young undergraduates geographically distributed for advanced

degrees and adults

Implications for the University

The Changing Role of Faculty• Exploding opportunities for diverse

affiliations• Colleagues and students will be

increasingly less local• Will universities support faculty with

multiple institutional affiliations?• Will the best faculty members each

create their own virtual university?

How Fast Will Change Come? The technology will support the

distributed university by 2005 Other providers are rapidly expanding

market share Institutional change is most rapid in the

non-research sector of higher education The faculty will drive change, and seek

out institutional settings which give them the greatest opportunity

More Info ...

www.Internet2.edu DVH@Internet2.edu Doug Van Houweling

Internet2 3025 Boardwalk Suite 100 Ann Arbor, MI 48108 +1.734.913.4250