Linking Higher Education via the Internet - Cooperation with Regional Education Systems

Linking Higher Education via the Internet ” Cooperation with Regional Education Systems

In May 2000, the Bavarian government launched Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern (VMB), ^[6] a virtual university intended to include the best online courses offered by all Bavarian higher educational institutions on one central Web site. To launch the site, employees of Bavaria's universities worked as volunteers. It was not until August of 2000 that two full-time employees were recruited into the organization. Regardless of the technical difficulties during and after the launch, 504 students signed up for courses in the first term of operation, at a time when the organization still had no employees . For the second term, more than 1,055 first term students registered for 1,200 courses. Driven by strategic partnerships with industry players such as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens as well as with virtual university networks outside of Bavaria and Germany, Bavaria wishes to increase the competitiveness of its own universities while leveraging the intellectual capital of the region.