The main reason, writes Tony Bates, is that "no higher education system, including Canada's, is moving fast enough to cope adequately with the challenges of a digital society. Universities and colleges in Canada are changing, but not fast enough." So we should "establish five new regional universities-colleges that are designed from scratch as possible prototypes for the higher education institution of the future, but also designed to maximise the impact they have on existing institutions." But he intends them to be blended institutions with physical campuses; for example, Ontario's would be in Waterloo and Toronto. That would be a mistake - if there is to be a physical campus, then it needs to be a network of smaller campuses, serving the entire geographical region. Otherwise, if you're not within commuting distance of these virtual universities, they may as well not exist. (p.s. if anybody wants to actually fund these to get them up and running, send me an email; I'm on board).
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