Cambridge teaching for adult learners enters cyberspace

Adult learners are to be given the chance to study everything from climate change to ancient Rome online with the University of Cambridge, starting this month.

The new initiative will allow mature students to learn part-time and at their own pace and continue their studies from anywhere in the world. They will also be able to receive guidance from academics and swap notes with their fellow students by computer in a custom-designed "Virtual Learning Environment".

The courses are being run by the University's Institute of Continuing Education based at Madingley Hall, Cambridge. The Institute already provides a flourishing programme of over 600 courses to more than 10,000 students from around the world, but this is its first foray into cyberspace.

Instead of always paying a weekly visit to Cambridge for the duration of their course, students will now be able to study some subject modules online. Dedicated tutors will be online regularly throughout the module for consultation.

Other existing courses are also being given a new electronic dimension, which will enable extra interaction between tutors and fellow-students. Participants can put together a programme of free-standing courses to work towards accreditation in the form of a Certificate of Higher Education.

Dr Lynne Harrison, associate director of eLearning, said: "The idea is to give people greater flexibility of learning. Normally tutors and students meet once a week for 10 to 20 weeks. Now we will be able to extend that exchange beyond the classroom.

"A lot of people think of online learning as being somehow remote and lonely, but one of the reasons we are going down this route is because it offers part-time students the chance to learn in a less-remote manner. This Virtual Learning Environment will give them the opportunity to interact with one another on a much more regular basis than before."

Each subject will have its own support area on the eLearning website, known as the Virtual Learning Environment. Students taking courses that are fully online will be able to progress at their own pace.