The landmark end of the first term has just arrived at Spain’s first virtual university campus, whose administrative centre is based in Barcelona. The Open University of Catalonia, UOC, backed by the autonomous regional government and aided by the latest telecommunications technology provided by Telefonica de Espana SA (CI No 2,737), finally received 2,100 applications for the 200 places on offer in its first academic year, which started in October. Two pilot groups are following courses in educational psychology and business studies, but the only time they will see one of their teachers will be when they take an examination. Students and teaching staff are interconnected by means of electronic mail, the Internet or via one of the regional centres, of which there are currently three, with more to be set up around Catalonia. Most of the students reach the virtual campus by means of the public siwtched telephone network, although a group of 40 are already enjoying the benefits of ISDN.
Little luxuries
The teachers use their university’s local network to gain access to the Scientific Ring metropolitan area network, from where they can reach the campus. Francesc Noguera, computing manager at the University, explained: For the moment, with only 200 students, we can allow ourselves little luxuries and we have 30 phone lines plus a router-connected primary rate ISDN B-channel. This year, with 1,500 students, and in 1997, when there could be 3,000, we will have to rely more heavily on ISDN. In order to avoid the high costs of using the public switched network from more distant parts of Catalonia, the University has negotiated special facilities with Telefonica for its students to pay local call rates only. This represents a saving of around $245 a month in some cases. Further down the road it is planned to make use of Telefonica’s recently-launched InfoVia computer network access service. For the moment the minimum equipment required of students is an 80386 computer with 4Mb RAM, an external modem capable of 14,400bps and a printer, or a Mac. A Power Mac 603E is recommended, but an LC is sufficient, with a 28,800bps modem. For the next academic year SoundBlaster and CD-ROM will be obligatory. The University has negotiated with manufacturers and distributors, so that equipment with preinstalled software is available at reduced prices. The students’ software kit comprises Microsoft Works with database, word processor and spreadsheet, First Class electronic mail, Acrobat and connectivity programmes. This kit and the course modules, which include floppy disks, CDs, audio and video material, are delivered to the students’ homes and their cost is covered by the matriculation fee, on a par with that charged by other public universities. The campus’s communications structure is based on an Ethernet network, with NetWare 4.1. The First Class electronic mail server is installed on a 110MHz Power Mac 8100, which is connected to a RAID offering 4Gb. A Mac 7100 with 4Gb serves as back-up. Sun Microsystems Inc SparcStation 20 machines provide access to the Internet and to an internal Web used to circulate information among students and teaching staff. It would seem that Catalonia has a deep-rooted tradition in remote learning; 80 years ago the educational authorities of the time came up with the idea of meeting Catalan industry’s demand for qualified electricians by setting up a training programme by correspondence. Today’s students no longer have to wait for the post. Future courses planned include Law, Humanities, Computer Systems Engineering, English and Catalan, and it is hoped that one day 15,000 students will be taking advantage of the virtual campus.
