The virtual challenge to international cooperation in higher education

The IT revolution is reshaping higher education. Already, there are predictions of the death of the “brick-and-mortar” university, soon to be replaced by online “click” or “virtual” institutions. Even if this expectation should turn out to be exaggerated, the IT drive will eventually bring about major changes. One affected area could be the internationalisation of higher education. Will online learning replace traditional international activities in the future, such as study or teaching in another country? And will it be necessary to internationalise the content and format of curricula in the future if students can tap into programmes from all over the globe via the Internet? International experts explored these and related questions in a seminar the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and the Norwegian Centre for International University Cooperation (SIU) held in the summer of 2001. This publication presents the seminar’s major outcomes.