Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests, all of whom have busy schedules, for taking time to come before the joint committee and facilitating the change in our timetable. Online learning is an exciting area.

On current Government policy and strategies, what action should the Government take in the next year or two to assist third level institutions in achieving their objectives of developing online learning? A number of established Irish universities have placed themselves at the cutting edge of online learning. In what areas will online learning reduce costs for educational institutions? Does it create challenges in terms of external competition from newer universities or international educational institutions which may have lower overheads than the established universities represented here? While the latter have strong track records, their starting position is one of providing in-house learning.

All the speakers noted that students arriving at university are already online learners. I do not believe online learning is being captured in the second level education system. As pioneers of online learning in third level institutions, I am interested in hearing the views of the witnesses on the strengths and weakness of second level education and what needs to be done at second level to make the most of the developing potential of online learning.