In contrast to UNED the central Spanish open university, the Open University of Catalonia is the creation of one of the autonomous communities.

The constitutional structure of Spain consists of the central government plus the autonomous regions of Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castille la-Mancha, Castille-Leon, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navare, Valencia. These autonomous regions may undertake competence in education policy or the central Ministry for Education may be seized of this power. The situation at present is that certain regions have assumed this responsibility and others have not.

So the autonomous region of Catalonia founded a distance training university. It is configured as a public service, although run in accordance with private sector regulations. Because it is the creation of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia it has a particular focus on the Catalán language and cultural sensitivities.

The legal instrument of the UOC is that of a foundation consisting of representatives of of:

• the Council of the Chambers of Commerce of Catalonia
• The Catalan Savings Bank Federation
• Catalan Television and Catalan Radio
• The government of the autonomous region of Catalonia.

Originally, when the UOC was created in early 1995, it seemed clear that no other media besides the print-based modules could produce as many resources and fulfil so many needs with as little an investment. However, in less than two years the UOC has promoted and operated a shift on this assumption. With existing technologies and in the context of the virtual campus which characterises the UOC, it was just a matter of time to feel the need for a rapid transition.

This meant that the UOC was obliged to change the original didactic design of the first print based modules and prepare them for the virtual university format. In considering this the UOC had to build up a profile of the students enroled and construct the didactic structure accordingly.

The results of these efforts led to the establishment of the following typology of the materials of the UOC:

• Multimedia modules. These carry out the function that until now were the domain of the teaching modules. They guide the learning process of each instruction unit in a course and are the initial source of basic contents.
• Multimedia support materials. They support the multimedia modules in terms of allowing the student to undertake a theoretical or practical in-depth exploration, or both at the same time. At the moment, the following types of support materials are under development:
• Reference works; dictionaries compendiums, encyclopedia, formularies, etc.
• Simulators of experiments: these completely or partially simulate laboratory sessions
• Case studies; They are designed for problem-solving in practical cases from the standpoint of the working professional.

All the courses at the UOC consist of subjects that last one semester. Of these, some are compulsory (because of state-wide regulations), some are stipulated by the university, some are chose by the student from a set list and some are free choices. The subjects are then divided into modules, or sequential study units, corresponding to more specific learning objectives. Students may address their counsellors at any time using email. Each semester there are two weekends devoted to face-to-face meetings.

The actual virtual campus exists in the form of a communications network which covers and interconnects the entire region of Catalonia. It is thus intended that the virtual campus become an alternative to traditional correspondence education through the application of new information and communication technologies. Students are in permanent contact with the university services, professors and other students from their home.

The virtual campus gives them access to the internal databases of the university (virtual library, notice-board, team projects) and thus it is possible to make enquiries and carry out administrative formalities (registration, certification). Another great advantage is that the Virtual campus is always open any time of the day or night.

The first disciplines developed are Bachelor of Business Administration and Education Psychology. However the UOC has being adding to the range and level of its courses and considering its relative youth the present repertoire of courses is impressive:

1995-'96 Business studies ( degree level), Pedagogical Psychology (diploma)

1996-'97 Law (degree), Humanities (diploma)

1997-'98 Data systems engineering, Management systems engineering

1997-'98 Catalan language and literature (degree), Management studies (degree)

1998-'99 Statistics (diploma), English language and literature (degree)

2000-2001 Computer engineering

The UOC also offers courses to prepare students for university entrance. The qualifications offered by the UOC enjoy recognition nation-wide as they are officially recognized by the Spanish Ministry for Education and Science.

There are entrance requirements to be met before one may enrol in the courses offered by the UOC. These requirements are laid down by law for the different levels of qualification and no special status is accorded the UOC in derogating from these requirements.

Once registered, the student will receive a pack of multimedia teaching materials (written support, diskette, video, computer programmes, cassette tapes), containing: Aims and goals of the course, study materials, proposed exercises, proposals for activities to carry out during the semester and assessment criteria.

Obviously there are some drawbacks to having such a technical approach to the didactic strategy at the OAC students are required to have the following:

• personal computer
• printer
• modem
• television
• cassette player
• video cassette player.

19 full-time academic staff,

68 technical staff,

12 managerial,

35 involved in administration,

150 part-time academic staff are also involved in the running of the university.