In recent years, the powerful social, cultural and economic changes wrought by digital technology have led many to forecast the end of the university as we know it. This book, for the first time, employs extensive research and case studies to explain why these predictions, even if perhaps somewhat premature, are on solid ground. "The Digital Revolution and the Coming of the Postmodern University" shows how the Internet, high-speed electronic communications, and personal computers necessitate a radical rethinking of what is meant by 'higher education'. The book calls into question both the traditionalist's skepticism about the benefits of new technology and the corporate e-learning advocate's failure to grasp that education is more than what happens on a computer screen. The author provides concrete data and models for more democratic, restructured systems of instruction that not only take advantage of advanced learning technologies, but promote the globalization of higher education. This is an essential read for anyone concerned about the future of higher education.

Preface 1. Higher Education and the Postmodern Condition 2. The Third Knowledge Revolution and the Coming of the Hyperuniversity 3. From Medieval Caravan to Information Superhighway: The New Epistemology of Learning 4. The Internet Protocol and the Emergence of a Digital Learning Architecture 5. Beyond Education: The Age of Transaction and the 'Scene' of Digital Learning 6. Hypertextuality and the New Terrain of Liberal Learning 7. Postmodernist Premises 8. The Global University 9. Knowledge