However, as has often been observed, higher education has been slow to come to terms with the idea of the global society.
Many educators do not seem to be concerned that global forces outside the education sector - business circles, technological advances, and other government priorities - are determining the shape of the future electronic university.
In some cases, colleges and universities have enthusiastically accepted the improvements and understood that they permit them to expand the quantity and scope of their services.
Perhaps it is precise because of this kind of attitude that some donors have warned and said that "unless universities take the lead and influence their course, it is the people who are less competent in it.
The student has the choice to consult the teaching material and to communicate when and where he wants.Communication in the virtual classroom is done using several dialogue tools, namely electronic mail (E-mail), list servers, WWW, file transfer protocol, remote connection (Rlogin ), and relay-chat or "webchat" from the Internet.
The lecturer becomes, in the effect, an educational facilitator, and online education is ideally suited to this type of flexibility.Better chances of making the right choiceCurrently, distance education is often the last resort for students who do not have the opportunity to pursue formal studies: this is the case for the primary education diploma issued by the University of Botswana through a distance education program, which gives more than 9,000 primary school teachers the opportunity to upgrade their qualifications.