AIMING to eventually offer all its courses online, the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) is set to pilot test the Web-enabled curriculum this first week of September.

"I think the traditional classroom is very teacher-centered, but with these online courses, we can now be student-centered. In fact, this is also an advantage for students because now they don't have to deal with the eccentricities of teachers," said Divina Diokno, senior program manager at AIJC.

AIJC has partnered with Eduquest Inc., an IBM Philippines-affiliated solutions provider which aims to enhance education through the use of information technology. As part of its tie-up with Eduquest, AIJC will avail of courseware and tools such as Lotus' LearningSpace. According to Diokno, Eduquest trained 10 AIJC staffers for five days to familiarize them with the IT solutions.

"We wanted to already put all the courses online, but we don't have time. We still have to see if the system is really easy to use. Initially, we'll only have three courses online," she said.

AIJC has actually been offering a distance learning program for its graduate courses since 1995, and in fact has developed self-learning modules since 1980. With the decision to leverage the Internet, however, Diokno expressed the hope that AIJC would be able to offer students a more convenient alternative without sacrificing standards.

Asked if IT itself is making an impact on journalism, Diokno said that basically the Internet is providing journalists with powerful tools in aid of reportage.

"You get to use the Internet for research. Also, these virtual libraries are updated regularly, so journalists don't have to physically go to libraries anymore," she said.

Marcelino Ballesteros, IBM Philippines' marketing communications manager and an AIJC instructor, added that the curriculum for such courses as Communication Resources Management also take into account the role that IT is now playing in journalism and broadcasting.

"Also, now that Eduquest is offering this solution at AIJC, we hope to get more of our working communicators in media to enroll," he said.

He noted that while the usual option for journalists who wish to continue their studies is to take a sabbatical and a study grant abroad, now they may avail of courses from the convenience of their homes or anywhere that they can browse the Web.

Eduquest president Alfred Tong also stressed the need to develop further the use of the Internet in schools, saying that we have barely scratched the surface.

"The PC world is about personal power. The Internet world is about creating communities, creating connections. I think that right now our Internet usage is still shallow. It is not yet getting to the level where communities are being created. We need to re-tool to reach out to larger communities," he said.

Asked, however, if education solutions providers like Eduquest and Net Curricula should work together to ensure that all Philippine schools would be linked in a larger community, Tong said that this kind of coordination among rivals would be unlikely.

"Creating a community is a marketing strategy. You have to sell the idea to the school. You have to sell the idea to the students. I don't think that kind of coordination would be normal. Even in America, you would see AOL fighting it out with Earthlink and other providers," he said.