Mission Statement of the EnviroComp Institute on Distance Education

Since the mid 1990s, Members of The EnviroComp Institute have discussed and investigated the issue of graduate and undergraduate Distance Education (DE) and Remote Learning (RL), and the opportunities provided by the Internet Revolution. We believe that DE and RL represent the best device to spread advanced education (especially scientific and technological education) to a larger number of people, particularly in the developing countries.

Our vision for the future is a world in which students will be able to choose between 1) a traditional education in University Campuses and classrooms, with all the human and cultural interactions that this choice provides (and the related costs), and 2) an alternative DE/RL experience in which teaching courses, interactions, tests, and graduations are provided through the Internet in a very cost-effective manner. The second approach is particularly suitable and advantageous for students with limited financial resources in emerging countries. Our vision is actually a system in which, eventually, ALL DE/RL education will be provided FREE on the Internet!

The EnviroComp Institute aims at developing a prototype of this DE/RL system using environmental sciences as a basis. Our goal is to find financial sponsorships and voluntary support (e.g., in kind time from teachers) to develop courses in environmental sciences (e.g., atmospheric physics and chemistry; statistical data analysis; environmental engineering; surface and groundwater hydrology; earth sciences; etc.). This prototype will then be used to expand the concept to other scientific/engineering disciplines and, later, to non scientific studies.