Global virtual university: an experiment between the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Digital Communities of Japan

The ongoing educational collaboration between the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW) and the Digital Communities Information Technology Promotion Center, on behalf of four Japanese universities, has mirrored the changing perceptions of distance learning and the technologies used to delivery the instruction. In October 1997, the Digital Communities initiated a `public experiment´ to use information technology to achieve an information revolution within several Japanese prefectures. One component of this ambitious project, a virtual university experiment, was brought to the attention of the UNCW administration by North Carolina´s Office of the Governor. After a series of reciprocal exploratory discussions and site visits by Japanese and American educators and government officials, UNCW, Mie University, Mie Prefectural College of Nursing, Iwate Prefectural University and the University of Tokyo announced the construction and implementation of a two-phase virtual university project at the international forum entitled “Information Big Bang Starting From the Local Communities”