Has Tele-Learning Come of Age?

Abstract

Tele-learning is an increasingly popular idea but it may not be as new as many people think. Some 20 years ago The Open University in the UK, facing financial problems not unlike the problems facing many universities today, began to develop a system which aimed to allow a tutor to communicate with students over the telephone line allowing both to draw on their TV screens whilst viewing the work of the other. The system, called Cyclops, was never used seriously by the Open University. There are many reasons for this, some political, some technological and some financial. It was an idea too far ahead of its time.In many ways the design goals of Cyclops have now been achieved, not by the Open University but by Microsoft and its satellite companies, in the current set of tele-communication software such as NetMeeting that come free with many PCs. In this paper we look at the current state of such hardware and software and examine the opportunities and opportunities cost of using tele-learning.