Yang, the chancellor, says about 90 percent of the university's students own a computer.

The school will also start a partnership with Microsoft Research Asia in such areas as "man-machine integration" to enhance online learning.

Tang says the past four years have revealed the boons and banes of online instruction.

"When CCNU conducts the same course both online and in traditional classrooms, we find students who perform better in online courses are more capable of research and critical thinking but don't generally have as much basic knowledge on the subjects," he says.

Stanford University professor Andrew Ng, co-founder of the company Coursera, which provides more than 100 types of "massive open online courses", says Chinese students are his service’s fourth largest client base.

"Plus, their English is quite good, and (that) actually surprised me," Ng says.

Cousera is now used in 119 countries. Its Sina Weibo group has more than 850 members.

But Ng and Tang agree that virtual learning will never replace traditional classrooms.

"Many people ask me: ‘Since you have put the courses online, do you think it is still necessary to become a student at Stanford in the traditional sense?'" Ng says.

"I always believe that the courses will all become of free access for anyone willing to learn. This is an inevitable trend."

But being a Stanford student offers more, Ng says.

"It means that you will be able to learn with a group of people as smart as you. The point is not about what is being taught. It is, rather, about enlightening your wisdom," he says.

"This is never going to be replaced by online courses."

Contact the writer at zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn.