KOI ANUNTA

Internet introspection: Academics get self-reflexive

When the Internet was born from a military network, few academics or scholars saw this new technology as anything more than a tool for scientists and researchers. That trend has drastically changed over the last few years. As the Internet has permeated every aspect of our globalized, economically-driven culture, many more academics are looking at the effects of the Internet on society, culture and learning.

When I left you, I was but the learner . . .

Accompanying this trend is also a push towards on-line classes—many universities are offering entire programs of study on-line. These global campuses are now beginning to require their students to at first take a short course on the basics of how to learn on the Internet.

The latest manifestation of this trend can be seen on the World Campus of Pennsylvania State University, where the distance learning program requires all students to first take a short, introductory lesson on what it takes to be an online student entitled World Campus 101. The course is not part of the credited program, and is offered for free. However, the website for Penn State's World Campus recommends looking through the course to help "orient new and prospective students."

In other programs, such an introductory classes are offered for credit, or required. At the New School University in New York City, all students of online classes are required to participate in a one-week orientation that teaches how to post comments on a newsgroup or chat room, and how to upload and download course materials. At Pace University, also in New York City, some students take a two-week orientation to learn Internet basics.

Why is it so important that students take one-week or two-week orientation classes? After all,. if a person found the website of the online course, he probably knows something about using the Internet. The administrators in these courses claim that a different set of study skills is needed to complete an online course. Stephen J. Anspacher, associate provost for distance learning at the New School, said, "[Online students] are used to raising their hands if they want to say something in class. Well, that doesn't work in this environment."

The University of Illinois' online program has a short paper entitled "What makes a successful Online Student?" for the benefit of its students. According to this paper, the online student has to be willing to spend four to 15 hours per week on the course. Most importantly, the paper warns against the pitfalls of procrastination "The online learning process is normally accelerated and requires commitment on the student's part," the report said. "Staying up with the class and completing all work on time is vital. Once a student gets behind, it is almost impossible to catch up."

Given this stern stand stance on procrastination, most Yale students might not be able to take online classes. But we are not the target audience. Online courses are aimed at adults continuing their education while maintaining a job and a life—some of whom may have never had much experience with computers.

. . . Now I am the master

On the other side of this trend in Internet education lies the growth of traditional classroom courses that relate to how computers interact with and affect people and society. There several such classes in the Blue Book, including electrical engineering Professor Roman Kuc's The Digital Information Age and sociology Professor Scott Boorman's Technology and Society.

Though Kuc teaches his students the fundamentals of home-page building, which some consider a basic Internet skill, the class's goal is to show students why the Internet works the way it does as well as to show possible applications. "The goal of EE101 is to provide a sufficient understanding of the principles that allow students to recognize false prophets and to dream up creative uses of the Internet," Kuc said. As an example, Kuc cited a former EE101 student who is now researching uses of the Internet for senatorial elections.

However, what makes the Internet hard to understand—and use—is its ever-changing nature. The information superhighway keeps growing, gaining new exits and on-ramps. How can a professor teaching such a subject stay on top of things? For Kuc, the answer lies in first principles. "In preparing the course, I try to determine the major trends in the Internet and then work backwards to describe the fundamental principles that indicate why things are the way they are," Kuc said. "In many cases the principles are simple enough to comprehend, when presented concisely and illustrated with applications—at least I think so." So, even though the Internet is changing rapidly, the principles that limit the performance are still operative."

While Professor Kuc explains why the Internet is evolving the way it is, the online students at Penn State are simply learning how to use this new tool. Both phenomena seem to be part of the same trend—the growing status of the Internet as a valuable teaching tool and source of information. These trends also show how integral the Internet has become—and will be.

"Like it or not, we are living in an increasingly technological age, and liberal arts must include technology, or else the uninitiated will have to eat what is being served," Kuc said.

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