Virtual Education Seriously Considered

Fawzi Al-Balooshi

Department of Computer Science, University of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bahrain

Abstract: In recent years the use of computers and related technologies for education purposes has increased exponentially. Organizations from different sectors started to invest in educational software for learning, so did universities and other academic institutions. Research in this area has increased to explore the benefits that are possible through the use of computers to promote education. This paper explores the current practice in using educational software including the use of intelligent tutoring systems, virtual environments, technologies that can be used to develop educational software, authoring tools that can make the development of educational software a task for non-experts, and necessary evaluation procedures to ensure the educational benefits resulting from such software use.

 Keywords: Virtual education, computer-based instruction, intelligent tutoring, authoring tools, evaluation. 

Received April 10, 2003; accepted June 15, 2003