A New Learning Model for the Information and Knowledge Society: The Case of the UOC

Abstract

When it was created in 1995, the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) served only 200 students and offered two degrees. Today, it has expanded its activities to serve over 20,000 students and 16 official degrees. UOC also offers more than 250 continuing education courses for those wishing to pursue learning opportunities outside of UOC’s official degree programs. As an innovative university, UOC offers a new way of experiencing educa-tion, one that is capable of providing answers to an emerging global and universal knowledge society. Today’s rapidly changing world requires revised learning models that al-low the widest possible access to knowledge throughout life, in a contin-uous, comfortable, and simple manner, irrespective of the geographical constraints. Capitalising on the intensive use of new information tech-nologies, UOC is proactively breaking the barriers of space and time by offering an educational model of distance education based on the use of