Joint Efforts to Develop Long-Distance EducationUniversities Union 21, composed of 18 outstanding world universities including China's Beijing University and Fudan University, set up a joint venture with the Britain-based News Corporation recently, in a bid to explore the long-distance education market and play a key role in higher education.By employing new information technology and teaching methods, the joint venture will provide higher-education level courses for degrees to its students around the world. The joint venture will adopt an education quality guarantee system provided by Universities Union 21, and the first courses will begin next year. James MacManus, chief executive officer of TSL, a cooperation partner in the joint venture, said that cooperation with Universities Union 21 will have a great influence on the world's higher education market. Allen Gilbert, president of the University of Melbourne and director of Universities Union 21, stressed that he and all members of the union are anticipating cooperating with News Corporation, which will provide more choices for people in higher education. "For some people, on-line education is a good way to enter the knowledge and information based economic era," said Gilbert. |
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