The impact of E-learning programs on the internationalization of the university

Abstract

The University, a 13th century medieval educational construct initially developed in France, Italy, and England, but later exported to virtually every part of the globe, has from its inception possessed an integrated international character. Even in medieval times when students travelled long distances to attend University courses in Paris, London, and Bologna, their membership within the Institution was divided into "nations," an organizational scheme which first helped establish, and then permanently affix, the Institution's international character. As the University grew in those early years,internationalization was strengthened by the Institution's implementation of universally recognized, transportable "degrees" which allowed graduating scholars from one institution to later teach at another. This "cross-seeding" approach of degree awarding within the medieval University was a fully developed feature of the Institution within the first generation of its founding, and this essential characteristic has remained unchanged within the Institution for some 800 years. The University is still widely regarded to this day as an inherently "international" institution, drawing together both faculty and students from all parts of the world to gather at a single location to carry on the university's mission of learning and research.The emergence of web based-based e-learning in the late 20th century brought about a historic potential for internationalization within the University. It seems apparent, and perhaps obvious, that the ability for students and teachers from multiple geographic locations to simultaneously participate in university courses clearly increases the level of international interaction within the institution. But has this historic shift towards web based e-learning actually increased internationalization within the University by allowing greater cross national student and faculty participation, or has it rather decreased internationalization by eliminating the traditional requirement for face to face meetings within classrooms, where the effects of direct human interaction might be most keenly felt? In this chapter, we examine the impact of web based e-learning on university internationalization. We discuss the historic origins of internationalization within the medieval University, and describe how this model of student and teacher participation was spread throughout and beyond Europe. We then examine the historic shift in University student structures by describing the emergence and impact of web based elearning technology. We close by describing the issues and questions surrounding how web based e-learning may affect internationalization of the University as it exists in the 21st century. © 2011 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.