However, there are many areas, including the creation and the delivery of educational materials and management of instructional processes, where virtual education meets harsh technological realities. While the applications and the networks still have a lot of development to go through, we clearly have enough functionality in each of these components to work with now. Future developments, such as Internet 2 and the DSL technologies that will permit high speed network access to the home, will enable new educational tools such as desktop videoconferencing. Middleware is the layer above the base delivery systems, transforming crude tools into scalable and user-effective environments. Authentication is the process of a user establishing their identity and getting electronic credentials.
Authorization then establishes what that authenticated user is permitted to do.
That authorization may be established by the category of user or as a function of more specific data. Localization refers to the customization of a workstation to fit that authenticated user's preferences. This would include bringing one's bookmarks, e-mail aliases, and personal files to whatever information appliance the user may currently be using. With middleware, we can effectively license educational databases and information repositories to students regardless of location, permit itinerant students to enjoy the pleasures of the custom desktop faculty and staff have, and facilitate management of the instructional processes. As this column has recently noted, the academic community is beginning to work in a more concerted fashion to build middleware on campuses and interoperability between campuses, but true solutions will not be immediate.