There are many potential advantages to using the Internet, even when it is just to support rather than replace face-to-face college-level instruction. The combination of e-mail and the Web can provide the following benefits:
- Extension of class hours.
Outside of the scheduled class, students can ask questions of the instructor, confer with classmates, and follow up on posted class assignments or lecture notes. Students can access both course content and fellow students at their own convenience with respect to time and place. Even students who don't own their own Internet-connected home computer generally have access to one at the school computer lab, at the local library, or at a relative's or friend's house.
- Easy updating of course content.
Any syllabi or other documents posted on class Web sites can easily be revised or updated and these changes become instantly available to students. This also means the instructor can get by with less photocopying.
- Enhanced communication.
A well-designed course using Internet technologies can actually improve interaction between instructor and learner and among learners. The relative anonymity of the online environment can bring freedom from the restraints of social dynamics, status, and personal history. Students who are shy or have verbal challenges, or who simply need more time to think through responses can benefit from asynchronous e-mail communication. By its very nature, e-mail shifts attention from articulate speech to articulate writing. In the words of one college instructor, "What they know, they must communicate to me in words. They cannot sit passively in the back row twiddling their mental thumbs as the clock ticks away" (Philips, 1998). E-mail also presents an intimate but non-intrusive way for a student to contact faculty or teaching assistants for advice or clarification on a topic. Likewise, an instructor can easily e-mail a student to follow up about problems with an assignment or to recognize a student's positive contribution to a class discussion or project.
- Low distribution cost.
Given that most colleges now have computer labs, Web sites, and e-mail systems, the additional costs of creating an Internet-enhanced course are practically non-existent, except for the development time of the instructor. For the student, no special educational software or computer equipment is needed. Internet connections are readily available and Web browser programs like Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are both ubiquitous and free.
- Expanded content.
The Internet may be the largest and most diverse knowledge resource ever available to the average citizen. The class Web site can include links to sources of information that are potentially more current, more graphically rich, and more varied than anything that could be provided by a limited number of books or videotapes. Besides the abundant free content available, institutions can subscribe to additional, fee-based services such as encyclopedias and full-text periodical databases, which can be made accessible from all campus computers.
- Engaging and relevant experience
. Many students find using the Internet to be inherently interesting and motivating, leading in some cases to better comprehension of subject matter (Bothun, 1996). Students know that the Internet communication and research skills that they are acquiring will be useful, if not absolutely necessary, in tomorrow's high-performance workplaces.
- Marketing of courses
. If a college chooses to provide a readily accessible page of links to course Web pages, prospective students can look through the topics covered and the course requirements. This information can help them decide whether to take the course and what preparation they might need.
- Creation of student Web pages
. It is very easy to post original student work on or linked to the course Web site. Publishing their own work can give students new appreciation for some of the implications of creating a public document visible around the globe. Under these circumstances, "students take a keen interest in assuring high quality in their work both individually and collectively" (Mele, 1996, p. 1).
- Ongoing resource
. If a course Web site is improved and updated over time, it can continue to be a valuable resource for students long after the last class session. Internet-enhanced courses "provide an opportunity to empower students to reach beyond their individual experience and to see the activity of learning as something that extends beyond the classroom" (King, 1998, p. 8).