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By Larry B. Dendy
ldendy@uga.edu
While the World Wide Web can convey information and improve learning, it should never take the place of face-to-face “interchange and discussion” between teacher and student, President Michael F. Adams told a congressional panel.
Testifying in Washington, D.C., at the first hearing conducted by the Congressional Web-Based Education Commission, Adams described a number of ways UGA is using the Web for education, including wiring dormitory rooms for Web access, using the Internet for admissions applications, providing on-line courses, helping faculty members incorporate the Web in their courses, and electronically linking library resources.
But he warned the panel not to “over-extol” the value of the Internet and the Web. “The fundamental element of good teaching remains contact between a good teacher and a willing student,” he said.
The commission, formed by Congress in 1998, is investigating the Web’s potential for redefining learning and improving teaching in elementary, secondary and post-secondary classrooms. It will make recommendations on how to provide learners with full and equal access to the Web and other digital technologies.
Chaired by Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, the 14-member commission includes members appointed by the president, the secretary of education, the speaker of the House, the House minority leader, and the Senate majority and minority leaders. Rep. Johnny Isakson of Georgia serves on the commission.
Adams, who will chair the American Council on Education this year, said online courses, such as those UGA is developing for the University System of Georgia, particularly benefit non-traditional students by providing an entry portal to system schools, and streamlining admissions, enrollment and registration.
But online courses also require more discipline and motivation from students, eliminate student-faculty interaction and have greater costs in training, time and compensation, Adams said. And questions of appropriate standards and accreditation for distance learning and Web-based courses still must be resolved.
Describing the Web’s potential for buttressing library services, Adams told the commission about UGA’s new student-learning center, which will have an electronic teaching library on two floors, and the GALILEO system that electronically links library resources in Georgia. The university is also negotiating for electronic access to scholarly books and is converting older and rarer books to digital form.
“The virtual library may well be one of the most powerful tools the Internet age brings to college and university campuses,” he said.
One of the Internet’s dangers, Adams said, can be that students get “an ocean of data” but may not understand how to assess and evaluate its usefulness. “Our role is not only to teach students how to use the Internet--which we are doing through computer-literacy classes held in computer labs around campus and in dorms--but also to teach them how to use it well, how to use it effectively, how to discern the value of what they find there,” he said.
Adams said the public needs a way to “determine the credibility and value of institutions promising a degree over the Web.” Web-based education can improve learning, he said, but “we [should] not replace poor face-to-face education with poor Web-based education. . . . Under discussion should be financial aid, teacher loads, student services, student and faculty interaction, pedagogy and a whole range of issues.”
Others testifying before the commission included Secretary of Education Richard Riley, Secretary of Commerce William Daley and former Assistant Secretary of Commerce Larry Irving.
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