IF YOU think communicating over the Internet is slow in the Antipodes, you
should try Beijing. By 7 am, data transmissions between the Chinese capital and
the outside world have slowed to a crawl.
But what is only a minor inconvenience for most, becomes a major stumbling
block if your business is distance education. And that鈥檚 the very market on
which many universities are pinning their hopes for an increasing chunk of their
revenues. To get around the problem, three Australian universities have teamed
up with NextEd, a specialist in setting up electronic infrastructure.
Estimates put the Asian market for higher education at around A$6
billion a year, and growing at between 15 and 25 per cent a year. But
Internet-based learning generates less than 5 per cent of that business.
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Lacking the resources to tackle this market alone, universities have joined
together with venture capitalists. Over the past three years, there has been an
explosion of private investment in Internet-based learning. NextEd, a Hong Kong
based company run by an Australian venture capitalist, Terry Hilsberg is a case
in point.
NextEd grew out of a study Hilsberg produced in 1997 for the West Committee,
a government-commissioned review of higher education. It currently offers
courses from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), the Australian
Catholic University (ACU), and Monash.
USQ was one of the founding investors in NextEd. Jim Taylor, who directs
USQ鈥檚 distance education centre believes that 鈥渨orking with a commercial company
will help us move more quickly, because in the new, electronic environment
organisations have to be fast, flexible and fluid, and that鈥檚 typically not the
way universities are described鈥�.
Hilsberg agrees. 鈥淭he ability to put all the bits together is something that
a new provider can do because we鈥檙e starting from scratch. The problem with
universities is that they often have huge investments in legacy systems, none of
which are compatible with each other.鈥�
Hilsberg was in Beijing earlier this month to set up a mirror site. This is a
powerful computer that will replicate the contents of courses found on NextEd鈥檚
existing network of servers, located in cities such as Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur
and Singapore. The effect will be to minimise download time for NextEd鈥檚
students in homes all over China.
But although having hardware on the ground is vital, it is not the whole
story. People often think, says Hilsberg, that Internet-based education consists
simply of servers sitting in one country and students sitting in another, but
that鈥檚 a mistake. 鈥淵ou still need some physical interaction between the
students, and between students and physical plant, such as laboratories.鈥�
In 1999, its first year in business, NextEd attracted 350 students in 15
degree courses. In the interim, the company has recruited eight more
universities worldwide, and according to Hilsberg, about 400 courses are in
production. For the academic year beginning in August, NextEd has enrolled 2600
students.
On price, at the lower end of the MBA market, Australian universities compete
very successfully against American schools which are much better known. But
NextEd鈥檚 partners also have their specialities. ACU, for example, commands a
near-monopoly in Asia for courses related to Catholic theology, such as
administration of nursing or schools.
USQ is a world leader in distance education, a field in which it has more
than 20 years鈥� experience. Last year it was voted best 鈥渄ual mode鈥� university in
the world by the Oslo-based International Council for Open and Distance
Learning. About 75 per cent of USQ鈥檚 20 000 students study off-campus. Now
Europeans and Americans are signing up with NextEd to take one of USQ鈥檚 most
successful courses鈥攁 master鈥檚 degree in online education, online.