Among the institutions characterized as universities were The Middle East Technical 

University [93], The Brigham University [112], and The University of California (UC), 

Berkeley Extension [127]. 

The Middle East Technical University [93] (

http://www.ii.metu.edu.tr/metuonline

) reports to 

have 1000 students and 13 courses in the subject areas: MIS, Physics, Computer science, 

Biology, Environment science, and history. Additional courses are also being developed. The 

courses are in English. The University, especially the President supports the online courses to 

the full extent. 

The Brigham University [112] (

http://coned.byu.edu/is/index.html

) has 26 courses in: 

Accounting, Arts, Literature, Management, Humanities, Political Science, Religion, 

Mathematics, and Social Sciences. One personal enrichment, 7 high school, and 18 university 

courses are offered. All courses are web based. Once registered, participants also receive a 

CD ROM with multimedia resources for the particular course, the course instructor also 

guides the participants to other course related web sites and there is a bulletin board for 

discussion. All assignments (except the exam) can be completed online and participants have 

access to BYU s Independent Study s Grade Check system which allows participants to check 

their grades and progress. 

The University of California (UC), Berkeley Extension [127] 

(

http://www.unex.berkeley.edu:4243/

) has 800 students and 47 courses in: Arts and 

Humanities, Business, Library and Information Science, Computer Science, Education, 

Natural and Health Sciences. UC Extension Online is a collaboration between University of 

California Berkeley Extension and the Center for Media and Independent Learning (CMIL). 

Online courses involve one to one interaction with the instructor, group interaction with other 

students and instructor and sometimes online group activities. Features of an online course 

include a course message board, chat room, online syllabus and links to online resources. In 

addition there are lecture notes which may be online or in print. Students will require access to 

the Internet and a web browser together with an ichat plug in. Other recommended plug ins 

are: Real Video/Audio Player, Macromedia ShockWave, and Acrobat Reader. 

Case Study 12: University. The University of Exeter 

This case study is a transcript of an interview written by Robin Mason. 

The University of Exeter is a large, established research university and one of its specialties is 

teacher training. A wide range of Web courses is currently offered: Business Studies courses, 

ICT courses, Library and Teacher Education courses. The most impressive offering is the 

Virtual Study Centre, a consortium with Finland, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and 

the UK. 

Some courses are entirely Web based, such as the Librarians course; others use paper and CD 

ROMs, such as the Teacher Education courses. Across the range of courses offered, all aspects 

of the Web are exploited: sound, video, Java and all kinds of interactivity. Similarly, all types 

of communication are supported: student student, student to institution, and students' 

individual work online. Furthermore, external examiners, researchers and policy makers also 

have appropriate access. All forms of tutoring are supported: human, machine and group 

tutoring. A number of courses use peer tutoring. 

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