Can you think of a classroom where there is no blackboard or desks? Do you

believe that you can be a student without a printed book or a writing pad or even

pen/pencil? Are you not thrilled to imagine that you have asked a question and

your tutor is answering it while flying in a Boeing from Dubai to Dhaka? These

are all possible in a 'virtual campus' in the system of e-learning. No kidding! For

quite a long time, educationists have been utilizing the advantages of computer

technology. The social networking services have a huge potential to help

educationists in this sector. They have access to millions of people worldwide.

Educationists have noticed that a large number of social network users come

from young generation who especially belong to student community. So side by

side with computer assisted teaching-learning software, online education

programmes are evolving fairly rapidly to assist conventional education system.

Is that e-learning?

We may confuse distant education or computer-based learning or computer-

assisted training or even online education programmes with e-learning. But we

should be cautious about the mix-up. What happens in

an online education programme? Maybe you get some

materials online from your tutor. Maybe you submit

your assignrnent through email. Or even you may take

your test online. But there must be some conventional

campus, a department/institute from where your

certificate will come. But in e-learning, as said by

global e-leaming guru Dr Badrul H Khan* , every step,

such as registration, admission, classroom entry and

exit, class work, attendance, discussion with course

mates. feedback, exams and finally certification must take place electronically

through computer and the Internet technology in a virtual campus.

Everything is digitised and conducted by a system called Learning Management

System (LMS). So online education programmes blend various components of

e-learning.

The revolutionary concept of e-learning is already in its practice phase in many

parts of the world. Professor Khan has developed a framework and important

literatures on e-learning which have been praised by pundits worldwide

He is especially enthusiastic about the prospect of e-learning in Bangladesh.

How would you feel if Bangladesh contemplates establishing South Asia's first

virtual university? Won't it be a pioneering step for us in the world of e-learning?

Letts keep our fingers crossed.

*Born in Bangladesh and graduated in the United States, Dr Badrul H Khan

was a Professor at George Washington University and the University Of Texas,

USA. He is one Of thc celebrated theorists in the field of e-learning.