News Release

'Reassessing the virtual university' focus of international conference

Meeting Announcement

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Va., September 14, 2000 -- Later this month, Roanoke, Virginia, the former railway center and manufacturing town, will become a mecca to hundreds of people looking toward building new "virtual universities" or creating virtual programs within an already existing college or university.

The new interactive possibilities of Internet-based communications are making these innovations very real. The conference will discuss the pluses and minuses of building such new educational institutions.

Learning 2000: Reassessing the Virtual University, a Virginia Tech conference to be held at Hotel Roanoke Sept. 28-Oct. 1, features presenters from around the world, including Europe, South America, Australia, Asia, and North America and throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Keynote speakers include Mark Poster, University of California, Irvine; Kathleen Hayles, UCLA; Michael Joyce, Vassar College; Stuart Moulthrop, University of Baltimore; Carole Barone from Educause; and Keith Fulton from AOL.

Virginia Tech has been a leader in laying the foundations for online learning environments since 1993, making it uniquely positioned as a site to assess the benefits and costs of virtual university instruction. The Learning 2000 conference also will continue the debate about the merits of online teaching and distance education that began with Virginia Tech's Learning Online '98 conference.

Topics to be covered include Social Issues and the Virtual University, Learning System Vendors and the Virtual University, Philosophical Approaches to the Virtual University, The Library and the Virtual University, Supporting Distance Learning, Legal Issues for the Virtual University, a variety of Best Practices sessions describing current work in the field, and many others.

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For information about the conference, speakers, schedule, and registration, visit http://www.cddc.vt.edu/learning. Information is also available by calling the Virginia Tech Office of Continuing Education at 540-231-7887.

Add'l Faculty Contact: Tim Luke at twluke@vt.edu 540-231-6633

PR Contact: Sally Harris 540-231-6759 slharris@vt.edu



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