Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
translation into Braille (because new 3D printers are now capable of printing in
Braille), although that is perhaps outside the current possibilities.
For those in wheelchairs who prefer that their avatars also have wheelchairs,
the classrooms and buildings of the virtual university would all be accessible to
wheelchairs and also clearly identified verbally for the blind.
As with real universities, students would be able to interact with one another
and would also be able to participate in special interest groups or Wiki sites on
topics such as static analysis, inspections, requirements engineering, and dozens
of others.
Because quantitative information is sadly lacking in real universities, the vir-
tual university would have licenses from all major benchmark groups and would
have working versions of a variety of planning and estimating tools, testing tools,
and many others.
Unlike real universities, a virtual university would be operational 24 hours a
day, 365 days per year. Of course, live instructors would take normal holidays and
vacations, but the library and the recorded course materials would always be avail-
able.
Because topics of interest change fairly often, a virtual university could include
a student center where students from many countries and many fields could in-
teract with one another in order to exchange information and find out what tech-
niques are being used successfully and which ones are difficult to master.
As with real universities, there would be many special interest groups or people
who are all interested in the same topics. One service that the virtual university
could provide would be access to local and national information from many coun-
tries such as the United States, China, Brazil, Japan, India, and many others. For
example, each country might have its own bulletin board that could be used to
announce courses and webinars that are located in the various cities of the home
countries of the students.
Another service that the university might provide is a daily summary of we-
binars on selected topics such as testing, requirements engineering, and new tools
and methods. Currently, there are so many webinars offered that it is not easy even
to keep track of them.
In the student center, there could be a virtual bulletin board. Vendors of tools or
services might place ads, and students with interests in special topics might start
looking for “birds of a feather” groups.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search