ETHWorld - Implementation of a Virtual Campus Infrastructure and E-Learning at ETH Zurich

Abstract

ETH World is a strategic initiative for establishing a new virtual campus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich. ETH World will provide services in the areas of research, teaching, learning and infrastructure for the established disciplines in technology and natural science at ETH. The initiative aims to develop the excellence of ETH Zurich, making use of the new facilities and infrastructure instruments and methods that technological development offers. It is an integral part of the university, supporting its academic planning, infrastructure and financing processes. In its first part this paper describes the background of ETH World and an international conceptual competition organized in 2000 to seek ideas for the “infostructure” of this new academic environment. Some results of the competition are presented along with other projects that have been launched as building blocks of ETH World. The second part looks in some detail at e-learning as one of the focal points of ETH World, presenting two cases studies in architecture and control engineering education.