The Virtual Campus is an innovative, student-focused online learning environment that provides access to a full range of student services, social networking and a classroom platform. Designed by Career Education Corporation (CEC) for CECs online schools, American Intercontinental University (AIU), Colorado Technical University (CTU) and International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT), the Virtual Campus combines the accessibility, flexibility and convenience of distance learning classes with the feel of traditional campus life. The platforms features offer students not only a better way to learn, but via the Virtual Commons  a social-networking extension of the Virtual Campus  a rich, engaging, social experience.

While many colleges and universities offer virtual classrooms  typically through off-the-shelf programs such as BlackboardTM  CEC has taken online learning to an entirely new level through the development of the Virtual Campus. Unlike most online or hybrid learning platforms, which offer little more than traditional classroom courses presented on a computer screen, CECs Virtual Campus delivers an online learning community. Additionally, the Virtual Campus is integrated with the course development system, the student information system and back office work flow sites, all of which result in exceptional scalability and service for students.

Without ever leaving the Virtual Campus, students attend classes; visit the online library; meet face-to-face with instructors; access grades and assignments; attend labs; access tutoring help and financial aid services; participate in clubs, group assignments and private tutoring sessions; and access a wide variety of other support services. Additionally, the Virtual Campus seamlessly integrates best-in-class software applications (e.g., Turnitin, Adobe Connect, mobile applications, podcasting) into the university, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and user-friendly nature of the programs. 

By clicking on the Virtual Commons feature, students can friend other students and form bonds via virtual discussion groups and clubs and, at-times, physical meetings, similar to the activities one would typically find at the student union or the commons area at a traditional brick and mortar university. Interestingly, internal empirical data shows that students who are the most active social networkers in the Virtual Commons achieve higher grade point averages and are more likely to graduate than other students.

Unlike some institutions just beginning to explore a unified online learning experience, CEC is far ahead of industry trends. In fact, the Virtual Campus was developed seven years ago; with the Facebook-like and MySpace-like Virtual Commons feature added three years ago. The Virtual Campus is the first and best of its kind, as it reinforces the university community within the university environment itself, rather than outside it. No other school or university has harnessed the power of social networks in the manner that CEC has, or has achieved such significant results or praise from its users. On top of this, the iPhone-friendly capabilities were launched one month after Apple released the device.

Since its launch, more than a half million students have benefited from the Virtual Campus and the Virtual Commons, enabling them to attend classes from their homes or offices, or even via a cell phone. In fact, CEC, via the Virtual Campus, has many students in the military and on active duty in Afghanistan, Iraq and other distant locales studying for their associate, bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. 

Selecting the right types of technology was essential to the success of the Virtual Campus. During the initial conceptualization, planning and development of the Virtual Campus, CEC conducted extensive research to determine the types of features and solutions that could be seamlessly integrated into the online student experience, bearing in mind its goal to create a complete campus experience through a user-friendly and engaging interface. This led to a best-in-breed use of technology  a blending of applications and programs designed mostly internally by CECs development team, with some assistance from third-party developers. 

One of the best examples of a tightly integrated technology utilized by Virtual Campus is Adobe Acrobat Connect (formerly known as Macromedia Breeze). To find the best-suited live interaction platform for the Virtual Campus, CEC performed a build-versus-buy decision process by evaluating multiple products, as well as building an internal proof of concept (POC) to validate the decision. Adobe Connect was chosen for its feature-set capabilities and extensive application programming interface (API), which allowed for snug integration, as well as ease-of-use and low requirements for its users. Using Adobe Acrobat Connect, students and faculty are able to instantly communicate and collaborate in real time, just as in a traditional classroom setting. In addition to a fully developed course with all necessary content, Adobe Acrobat Connect allows faculty to stream any content or application existing on their computer directly to students in online meeting rooms. It also encourages students to hold discussions in small groups through the softwares break-out sessions feature, increases face-to-face interaction through online conferencing and achieves sessions so they are available at the students fingertips. 

CECs developers have built several other key technologies into the Virtual Campus, including the anti-plagiarism software Turnitin, mobile learning applications accessed through cell phones and other mobile devices, podcasting of lectures and a wide variety of proprietary third-party library databases. To ensure academic integrity, the Virtual Campus also leverages a third-party originality verification service to automatically assess every homework assignment.  Students test their own assignments before turning them in, thus creating more accountability on the learner side. Like Adobe Acrobat Connect, all of these features co-exist with the native learning management system and are accessed through a single Web interface, thereby contributing to a user-friendly and enhanced online student experience.

While CEC was able to integrate some third-party solutions when developing the Virtual Campus, other solutions had to be developed from the ground-up. For example, while instant messaging existed when the Virtual Campus was launched, there were no tools that met CECs requirements for an online chat component. As a result, CEC's development team designed its own integrated online chat program, Live Interaction System (LIS), with unique features that increase interaction among students and between students and faculty. LIS automatically logs users into the online chatting feature when they enter the Virtual Campus, so they are immediately able to see which of their friends, fellow classmates and professors are available for interaction. Students can also join different departments or hang out in various areas of the Virtual Campus, meeting new students along the way. This technology has undoubtedly increased human connections at the university, and provided another opportunity for students to converse, discuss their studies and increase the likelihood of their academic success.

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While online education is not uncommon, the Virtual Campus offers many real and unique advantages to its users. More than just an online campus, the Virtual Campus closely replicates the full student experience found at a traditional brick-and-mortar school. From the initial inquiry regarding degree and curriculum information through career services following graduation, the Virtual Campus allows students to access a wide range of services, including an online library, learning laboratories, financial aid assistance, 24-hour tech support and life-long career services. This level of instant service and support is completely unprecedented in the industry and has yet to be replicated. 

The Virtual Campus also offers a one-stop-shopping experience by aggregating all academic and support resources at a single site. Other online schools force students to adapt to different Web conferencing programs, log onto various IM systems to reach their contacts and navigate away from their studies to reach Facebook or MySpace to converse with friends. Never having to leave the Virtual Campus has created a true student-centered, user-friendly experience. It has also played a key role in students success, especially for those with busy lifestyles that require 24/7 anytime, anyplace accessibility to their studies, their colleagues and support groups.

Since it was established, more than a half million students have participated in activities and classes on the Virtual Campus, and many students acknowledge the technology platform as a learning tool that has played an instrumental role in their success. Faculty also have a customized view of the Virtual Campus, allowing them to monitor student progress, identify emerging issues and scan student work to ensure academic honesty.

Below are a few student testimonials that represent the influence that the Virtual Campus has had in their academic achievement:

I find this college to be very user-friendly. Virtual Campus is easy to maneuver, and the instructors are awesome. I love attending, watching and listening to my archived classes, instead of driving to an on-campus facility. I am a working professional, and with my hours, it can be very difficult to make an actual class, but Virtual Campus has motivated me to complete my educational goals. Every instructor is unique in their own way, and I have learned so much. I never knew online learning could be so much fun. Everyone around me sees how well I am doing, and now, they all want to attend this school! 

Virtual Campus is very easy to use. I have made more friends while attending this college than in my entire school days. The instructors are awesome, and the live chats make the classes easier to understand. The course material and textbooks are easy to read and understand. 

The most important reason I enjoy the school is for the convenience of attending an online campus.  I enjoy the ease of navigating through the class, library and other areas of Virtual Campus.

When the Virtual Campus was first launched in 2001, it was the first and only platform to offer one-stop-shopping to online students. Some online institutions have attempted to recreate the Virtual Campus or to build similar solutions but have been unable to replicate the combination of features that make the Virtual Campus distinct and exceptional when compared to all other platforms on the market. 

First, the Virtual Campus, through its Virtual Commons feature, is a true community. Wildly popular social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are among the most-visited sites for college and university students wishing to connect with one another. In fact, Facebook was initially created for student use. Unfortunately, students have to leave their classroom in order to interact with their friends on these sites, oftentimes not returning to the classroom in a timely fashion. The Virtual Campus, offering a built-in social networking feature, solves the dilemma, helping students to stay focused and on track. Through the in-house network, students can share information of both a personal and academic nature, encouraging the formation of bonds that help to support students as they work to balance school, life and many times work. The Virtual Commons also includes an extensive network of faculty-moderated clubs and special interest groups with passions ranging from poetry to entrepreneurship. Leveraging such contacts can improve student academic success, as well as facilitate career success after graduation.

Second, blending online classroom learning with online support services provides virtual students with an experience similar to their on-the-ground peers. At a traditional brick-and-mortar university, students can stand in the middle of a college campus and see classroom buildings, the administration office, a bookstore, etc. Yet, at most online schools, online education means online classrooms, period. The Virtual Campus, in contrast, provides seamless access to tutoring facilities, labs, advising, financial aid and more. It is a full-service experience built around the student.

Third, incorporating key software applications with internally built programs ensures that students have on-site access to all of the tools needed to complete assignments and projects. Rather than sending them outside of the universitys online environment, the Virtual Campus brings best-in-class applications into the university, preventing wandering eyes and minds from losing focus by drifting to off-campus Web sites. With programs like Adobe Acrobat Connect, mobile learning applications and podcasts of lectures, students have everything they need to succeed within one streamlined platform. Moreover, many of the existing programs brought into the Virtual Campus can be tailored to meet the needs of users and synergize with CECs online learning platform, making them easier to use for students and faculty alike.

The integration of the student-facing technology in the Virtual Campus with course development, the student information system and workflow sites (i.e., back-office technology) are unprecedented in online education. No other online school has harnessed the power of social networks, combined with key academic tools, to give virtual students an experience that rivals that of their on-the-ground peers. The Virtual Campus, with its distinctive approach, has proven that online education  if properly designed around todays students  can offer a rich, engaging, social experience.

There were many challenges CEC faced, yet successfully confronted, when designing and executing the Virtual Campus. 

When the first iteration of the Virtual Campus was developed seven years ago, online learning technology was in relatively unchartered territory. While most higher-education universities had identified a target segment of students requiring a unique learning platform  those with limited/inflexible time for learning and/or transportation constraints  no schools had gone beyond simply making classroom presentations available for review online. As a result, the company had to invest in upfront research to identify the industrys leading and most promising solutions that could be combined to offer a full-service, virtual university experience. Following in-depth review of the programs and components available to create on online campus, CEC quickly learned that some off-the-shelf solutions were adequate to meet certain needs but others were not, requiring original development of the solutions that finally made it into the Virtual Campus.

Moreover, being a new education concept, CEC faced the inevitable issue of promoting online learning and degrees as a valid and credible option for students hoping to find career success following graduation. While the innovative nature of the programs and the credentials of its faculty provided a good foundation to begin attracting students, the company would eventually need to prove the platforms success by documenting and sharing information on the outcomes of its students. Such a need required a two-step process: 1) Ensuring students had access to career resources and job-placement assistance in order to put their education to use, and 2) following up with students to determine how their degrees and knowledge were being put to work. On the front end, CEC incorporated career-services programs directly into the Virtual Campus platform. Not only are these services available prior to and immediately following graduation, but the Virtual Campus alumni have life-long access to job-placement support. On the back end, select CEC personnel are tapped with the responsibility of continually securing updated information from graduates, including immediate feedback regarding the quality of the education they received and, down the road, how their degrees are helping to facilitate career success.

Another, more tangible issue faced during the time of its development: CEC was growing rapidly and wanted to build an infrastructure that allowed the platform to scale with the growth. As such, an effort to build a brand-new data center to house the technology operations was put in motion. The result was a 13,000-square-foot data center not far from the companys corporate headquarters. So, in addition to developing the Virtual Campus platform, CEC was also required to move its existing technology operations into the highly redundant and scalable data-center facility. Undertaking both actions required a tremendous amount of coordination, leading to the hiring of additional staff and IT leadership to ensure the success of CECs cutting-edge online learning program (see below). 

Since their initial inception, for-profit schools have faced an uphill battle in garnering credibility and validity among their non-profit peers. Despite having award-winning programs that produce some of the worlds top talent, schools like CEC have had to prove their worth in order to succeed. For this reason, CEC has always strived to be a leader in higher education, developing new and creative ways to integrate emerging technologies or learning platforms into existing curriculum. Company leadership understands the need to demonstrate our excellence through innovation, which is why plans for the Virtual Campus were met with overwhelming support. Our executive team saw the value in providing students with travel constraints or limited time  a large segment of CECs student base  with an easy-to-access option for education that offered the same resources as on-the-ground campus programs. 

However, support in theory was one thing; actually having the resources to implement a new initiative was an entirely separate issue. Managing the ongoing needs of CECs academic institutions was (and still is) a full-time job for the existing IT team, meaning resources would need to be brought in or reallocated to ensure success in the development of Virtual Campus. To confront this challenge, the project team worked with CEC leadership to identify how to best reallocate personnel resources to assist the IT department and expand its staffing. By working together toward a viable solution, the CEC team was able to focus on the strategic vision and dedicate the optimal amount of resources and attention to make the Virtual Campus a success.

Exceeded

The Virtual Campus has had a major impact on the global online education community, as well as a profound and direct impact on the lives of its users. The Virtual Campus is viewed by the higher education industry as a model for online education, and other universities have strived to build platforms with features and benefits already available on the Virtual Campus. 

While this achievement is significant, perhaps more important is the impact the Virtual Campus has had on its users. Once part of an isolated community with little-to-no interaction with fellow classmates, the Virtual Campus has created an environment in which online students are wholeheartedly connected to the university. At any time, students can connect with one another. Students, miles apart and in different time zones, have successfully created lasting ties with others  from friendships, to mentor/mentee relationships, to students and faculty who have discovered job leads or interview opportunities. The CEC team works constantly to update and improve the Virtual Campus and to enhance the role it plays in students lives. As a result, the Virtual Campus proves that 24/7 access and service is achievable and scalable and, in fact, is significantly more robust than what students typically experience at a traditional university. 

The Virtual Campus has been met with overwhelming praise. While the first edition of the platform required a few additional tweaks in order to maximize effectiveness, all users quickly jumped on-board and began utilizing the new technology.

Each year, more than 40,000 students connect as a result of the Virtual Campus and the Virtual Commons, and that number is expected to increase dramatically as more and more students take advantage of online education. In fact, at the industry level, the online education market is expected to grow from $11.8 billion in 2008 to more than $26 billion in 2013 (source: Eduventures).
 
Additionally, as an increased number of working professionals at all levels seek to enhance their credentials and improve their career opportunities, CEC will remain at the forefront of online higher education, and the Virtual Campus will play a prominent role. Research that CEC contracted revealed that when both students and graduates employers were asked whether or not their respective university used the latest technology, respondents replied in the affirmative for CECs platform nearly three-to-one compared to key competitors.