World Wide Words

From the Turns of Phrase section

Webucation

Obviously enough, this is education provided over the World Wide Web, a concept also sometimes called e-education. Most of the new terms beginning with Web- have been short-lived, but this one shows signs of surviving. It refers to various ways of using the Internet to contribute to learning at a distance, in particular for bringing education to groups not previously well served. But it also includes school management systems, educational software, and ways to wire the classroom. Many companies in the educational field and many prestigious educational institutions are investigating the options for webucation. The idea is seen to have great potential, but there’s also a lot of work to be done making it a practical (and paying) proposition.

Webucation will be big, but will it be profitable? After all, the public has grown accustomed to getting information for free on the Web — it has on network TV.

Forbes Magazine, May 2000

“Webucation” is the great new market of the internet age and companies — from the giants of the media sector to dotcom start-ups — are clamouring to be in the right place at the right time.

Financial Times, Sep. 2000