Levine predicted that there would continue to be traditional campuses in the future where students live and attend classes, but that they would compete with virtual universities that only exist online.

CNN: Web brings radical changes to higher education

In addition to a regional virtual library network to which universities will be linked, the project will set up a cyber institute giving professors on-line access to training courses.

UNESCO: Education

For-profit institutions and lesser-known public universities are offering much cheaper virtual classrooms.

FORBES: School For Scandal

The Platform was developed with a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) framework by the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa within the Africa Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) Consortium comprising of 11 African universities.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

It is hoped the e-university will meet the challenge of US universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford in California, which offer virtual degrees.

BBC: Universities told to catch the e-wave