[originaltext]JM: I first encountered Parker Rossman’s work in the early 1990s

JM: I first encountered Parker Rossman’s work in the early 1990s via his groundbreaking book, The Emerging Worldwide Electronic University: Information Age Global Higher Education (Rossman,1992). When I saw that his current project is a freely accessible online book-in-progress on the future of lifelong and higher education, I asked if he would allow Technology Source readers to learn about and participate in the project. He graciously consented to this interview.
   Parker, I note on your Web site that you have three book-length volumes concerning the future of higher education: Volume I, The Future of Higher (Lifelong) Education and Virtual Space; Volume Ⅱ, Research On Global Crises, Still Primitive; and Volume III, Future Learning and Teaching.
   What struck me in particular was your note asking readers to contact you if they saw errors, or if they could contribute Web site URLs or in terms of information that were pertinent to the material. As these notes indicate, you clearly regard this to be a work in progress. Certainly this is a great way to develop the manuscripts relatively quickly. What do you expect to accomplish via this technique?
PR: My objectives are to examine the ways in which a global virtual education system can come into existence and to raise questions about needed research on learning, teaching, and overcoming the problems (such as hunger, bad health, war, and revolution) that stand in the way of providing education for everyone in the world. I realize that education for all is impossible, but perhaps only in the sense that the United States, out of necessity, accomplished what was "impossible" after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I assume that H. G. Wells was right when he said that civilization is in a race between education and disaster. So I am willing to be audacious--as someone retired and with no axe to grind--and to initiate a project that might at least stimulate thought and discussion.
   For 30 years or more I have been studying the university, higher education, and academia in the developing world. In the 1980s I began to see the emergence and potential of a global virtual university; this insight culminated in a book that was widely read and used and that led to my being invited to lecture in various countries. The next year Praeger published it as a paperback in their Contributions to the Study of Education series, Developing world delegates to the 1997 UNESCO conference on higher education in Paris complained that it was too expensive for them. So I said that I would put a sequel online, free to anyone in the world. I asked that, in return, they send me feedback and suggested links. And I have now accomplished this.
JM: Doesn’t your online manuscript deal with far more than higher education? Your classification is a bit confusing to me, because each volume looks like a book. Why not say that you have three books on the Web?
PR: It must be one book if it is to be holistic. It should introduce all of the needs and problems that must be dealt with at once as we enter a time of lifelong education. "Education for all" must include programs for prekindergarten children, for primary and secondary school age learners, and for college students. It also must include continuing educational programs that foster job skills, career planning, and hobbies as well as special interest programs for senior citizens. Instead of talking about a "global university", the time has come to explore possibilities for a global virtual education system.
JM: Then why do you keep speaking of the "future of the university"?
PR: It is also my assumption that the university, however it changes, will continue to be the major research center for all education. It will be a crucial focus of educational vision and the gathering place of scholars and educators. There will continue to be residential campuses for those who can afford them, and higher education institutions will continue to be the springboard for online education for all-all places, all ages, all needs, lifelong, in the world.
JM: What kinds of constructive criticism or negative feedback are you getting?
PR: Well, the list is long. I try to cover too much. Some information is out of date. Web URLs disappear, which limits my ability to link to the latest research as a means of avoiding excessive detail in the text. Also, different readers come with expectations that are not met. In discussing technology, for instance, how can we address those who are technological experts and those in the developing world whose knowledge is still limited? My project seems out of focus in that it struggles with the nature and future of the university in a time of lifelong education, and with the added problem of how to’ provide education for everyone in the world.
JM: Are you encouraged that others are getting involved?
PR: Recognizing the perils in my experiment, I must be prepared for all kinds of criticism, even antagonism. Perhaps now that I am retired, I am better prepared to face antagonism and scorn than those who have jobs and careers-to consider. However, I see the whole project as an initial effort that might later be enlarged to be more useful to those who need to discuss current problems and future issues. I see it as nothing definitive, but as an outline on which to hang all kinds of ideas and topics that might stimulate discussion, imagination, and conversation.
JM: Parker, via this interview and the subsequent web cast, many more people will learn of this creative, exciting, and valuable project. Be prepared for a flood of eager volunteers!