Each of these qualities presents an opportunity for improving and expanding the virtual campus. There are several noteworthy parallels between the development of higher education on the Internet and the history of economic development. The rush of universities and companies to stake out Web space is similar to the land rushes in many countries in the nineteenth century seeking to populate expanding geography. The radical reductions in operating costs enabled by the railroad in comparable to the economic impact of e-commerce. The initial rampant fragmentation of utility industries like electricity and telephone and their eventual consolidation is very much like the online education entrepreneurs.
Universities become central to facilitating career shifts and employment transitions.
Liberal arts colleges seek to prepare perpetual learners and graduate learning as a gateway to perpetual collaboration. Daily learning sustains teams of workers as higher and corporate education is integrated into the office and the factory. Network scholarship begins before college as universities expand relationships with the K-12 community. Public confidence increasingly demands routine and ongoing professional credentialing through continuing education and testing. New learning communities focus on student productivity, student learning styles and student learning.