From: Mel Dubnick
Date: 4/22/99
Time: 8:14:35 AM
Remote Name: 24.218.44.187
Ed Harpham notes the difficulty of getting students on the web/internet, and a year or two ago I would readily agree.
But there has been a significant and rapid change on my campus (Rutgers-Newark) -- which is about as "commuter" and diverse (socioeconomically, as well as ethnically and racially) as any in the nation.
In Fall 1996 I had to spend several hours in the computer labs getting students to activate their accounts, and even more hours familiarizing them with the Internet and navigaiton. And that was in a freshman level course -- the situation was even worse at the graduate level!
This past year the experience has been quite the opposite. All my undergrads were familiar with the web and felt comfortable with new media. In my graduate course I had one student who did not have an account and felt uncomfortable with the media.
My sense is that the changes are coming much more rapidly than most of us anticipate -- and that the transformation of our teaching as well as our textbooks will be driven by a sharp upturn in demand for change from students.
Mel