© HP

Exploring a distant learning site on the internet: www.athena.edu

Athena College and University is a distant learning site on the internet. Studies are completely web-based. No face to face learning is needed. No exchange of physical material. College preparation and MBA studies are main subjects.

 
 
 
 
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Booklet about Hp’s evaluation of the Athena.edu site - 1 -

General presentation on the web

Graphical interface and arrangement of the information are satisfactory. You get in short time the most important information. As guest you can explore the Multi User Dimension (MUD)-environment. This MUD uses the «Pueblo» standard that allows multimedia.

 
 
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Information on the web about the quality of the institution

The information provided is absolutely inadequate. It looks like a project under construction. The list of the members of the stuff gives no verifiable information. It seems as if none of them has any practical experience or qualified degree in fields related to business administration. There are no students lists available. There is no testimonial of former students. Athena University works together with «L'Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Pau» in the field of Master of Business Administration (MBA) but this institution has no experience in teaching Business Administration.
The price of $ 21 000 for three semester of part time studies is rather high. I would expect more professionalism for that much money.

 
 
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Possibility to test the distant learning environment

Athena lists the usual distant learning tools also known at TECFA:

  • E-mail and List-Servers for asynchronous communication
  • Multi User Dimension (MUD) for synchronous communication
  • Groupeware

The only place made available to visitors is the MUD. This MUD uses the «Pueblo» standard that allows multimedia. There was some demonstration area that shows multimedia: picture gallery, map and national hymn of Germany. Only what you could see was not very convincing. It stays even far behind old DOS-Applications like «PC-Globe».

The MUD is set up as the acropolis of Athen. This is a bad idea. A virtual campus should resemble a real campus so one can find his way through it easily.

 
 
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Conclusion

I appreciate the idea of 100% online campus. Besides of tutors dedicated to the web I would expect a professional stuff. People that are theoretical experts in the field and/or experienced professionals.

 
 
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