Sir John Daniel worries that online learning would exacerbate inequalities of opportunity between the rich and the poor.

The strength of online technology lies in communication and accessing reference resources rather than transmitting course content, according to Sir John Daniel, Vice-Chancellor of the UK Open University (UKOU).

Sir John's comments were part of a public lecture entitled 'Inventing the Online University' that he delivered on 4 December last year at the newly established OUHK Island Learning Centre.

Well known as a leading thinker on the educational applications of information technology, Sir John reported on the experience of the UKOU -- the world's largest online learning community -- and shared his views on how to build up an effective and exciting online university.

He pointed out that students needed active learning that was efficient and enjoyable in a supportive environment, which could be achieved when course designers used technology effectively.

Taking an introductory computing course at the UKOU as an example, Sir John noted that although students were enthusiastic about the online interactive tools, they still preferred to print out materials.

According to Sir John, aside from course materials on the Web and on CD-ROM, Internet conferencing is one of the major teaching applications of online technology at the UKOU, where its growth has been phenomenal. He cautioned, however, that while too much conferencing could become a distraction for students, this could be avoided by faculty effectively moderating its use.

Another area of concern for Sir John is student workload. Incorporating new technology in a course always led to an increase in student workload, and uncontrolled workload would simply drive students away from a wonderful course, he said.

Sir John stressed that online learning was only a means to an end. 'For us, the purpose is to be an Open University, defining ourselves by what we do for people, not an e-university defining ourselves in terms of the technologies we use,' he concluded.

UKOU (www.open.ac.uk) -- online facts

• 110,000 out of 180,000 students are online
• students exchange 150,000 email messages each day
• 20,000 students check their academic records online every week
• 30% of course reservations are made online
• 12,000 students opted for electronic mailings of administrative materials
• 60,000 students have validated email addresses on file
• 12,000 students registered for the OpenLibr@ry project
• electronic library pages receive 126,000 hits a month