Teaching and Learning on the Internet: A New Model of University, the International Telematic University UNINETTUNO

The convergence of telecommunications and computer science, the realization of computer-based networks and the integration of languages, by overcoming space and time constraints, gave rise to the globalization process and to the development of the knowledge society. We are facing a true revolution that is based on the multiplication of knowledge and its corresponding applications, but also on the knowledge codification, memorization and knowledge transfer. The challenges that educational institutions, and the University in particular, are called to face are linked to the fact that classrooms or lecture halls are no longer the only places where one can follow study courses: anybody from anywhere, if he has the required technological equipment and the appropriate materials can build his own environment to carry on his own educational and self-learning process. This is the reason why we need to identify new models of university and psycho-pedagogic theories allowing for the development of new Internet-based teaching and learning models by carrying on research work. This paper describes the university model proposed by International Telematic University UNINETTUNO, rapidly become acknowledged at an international level.