The 'new normal' for the university: the 'onlife' approach

The COVID19 pandemic has prompted every university to strengthen online relationship management for students, professors, researchers, and administrative officials. The heavy use of online activity appears to reduce students' perception of the difference between online universities and traditional universities. For this reason, students are searching for elements of differentiation to decide where to focus their efforts in the coming years. The aim of this paper is to use the ‘onlife’ concept to explain how a traditional university can integrate online and ‘onplace’ activities in order to create differentiation elements through pure online distance learning – the university. Places, policymakers, university staff and stakeholders, combining online activities with local culture, perspectives, case studies and ‘onplace’ experiences enrich the experience of students and professors, highlighting the distinction of online universities.