International Higher Education, Winter 2000
Technology: International Dimensions
The use of technology in higher education continues to expand rapidly and globally, offering new approaches to classroom teaching and learning as well as new ways for academics to connect with one another over long distances. Not long ago, international colleagues would see each other at the occasional conference, write letters, or rack up sizable long-distance phone bills. Today the Internet allows inexpensive, daily interaction between colleagues around the world. It is useful to take an occasional snapshot of the opportunities and challenges presented by these new technologies and their impact on academic life and work.
International
Collaboration
Putting together an international collection of essays has never been easier.
Book chapters can be solicited, reviewed, edited, designed, and printed as camera-ready
copy for the publisher--all using a standard desktop computer with an Internet
connection and a laser printer. The submission and review of proposals for academic
conferences can be conducted entirely over the World Wide Web or by sending
files as e-mail enclosures. Traditional of research collaboration--printing,
mailing, and waiting for a response--are being replaced by faster, more efficient
means of communication on a global scale. Listserv e-mail discussion groups
make possible the international sharing of research questions and findings,
sometimes leading to research partnerships between academics who discover their
shared interests on-line.
A New Cadre
of Publishers
With a cheap desktop PC, an Internet connection, and a web-hosting service,
anyone can now be a provider of information to the masses at amazingly low cost.
By developing and maintaining your own website, you can "publish" everything
from scholarly essays and research agendas to pictures of your family and more.
No more page limits, margin or font sizes to worry about. All you need is something
to say, a few website development tools, and an imaginative way of presenting
your information on the Internet. New web-based newsletters and journals are
cropping up throughout academe every month, as faculty worldwide learn to make
use of this mode of publishing their work. Much like the introduction of the
printing press years ago, the impact of the Internet on information distribution
has been enormous.
Access to Information
Worldwide
More websites means more information at our fingertips. In the United States,
students are turning increasingly to the web as a primary source of information
previously only obtainable at their school library. The same information available
to students in the United States is available to Internet-connected students
and scholars in other countries as well. A host of on-line translators are even
available to convert English-language websites into the language of choice.
Of particular interest, college and university libraries worldwide are offering
an increasing amount of information over the web. Students at a small rural
college with a poorly stocked library can now find virtually any reference resource
they need through the web. Information clearinghouses--like ERIC--and specific
research databases for disciplines in the sciences or humanities offer a vast
array of research opportunities for anyone with an adequate connection to the
Internet.
Gathering Research
Data
With the development and proper use of web-based surveys, a researcher can collect
data from an international population of subjects. For example, imagine a survey
of the academic profession in 14 geographically diverse countries. Using your
website, you can provide an on-line survey form to the faculty in these countries
that they fill out and submit directly into your database. No more mailing costs,
or data entry hassles, and the timespan involved in your research project has
been reduced dramatically.
International
Teaching and Learning Tools
Several free on-line services provide course website development and hosting
for faculty in all disciplines throughout the world. Faculty can offer on the
web their course syllabi, calendar of assignments and meetings, supplemental
readings, and other documents traditionally photocopied and distributed in class.
More importantly, the service also offers interactive features, allowing faculty
and students to create discussion forums on the Internet in which they and fellow
scholars and learners around the world can engage in problem solving. This on-line
interaction is effective for drawing out those students who usually do not speak
up in class. Through hyperlinks, an on-line course website can also direct students
to useful sources of information on the web.
Challenges
Despite the ways in which it adds an exciting new international dimension to
academic life and work, technology also presents several challenges and responsibilities.
Faculty are now faced with issues of information legitimacy and quality. After
spending the previous evening surfing the web, a student may come to class and
declare with absolute certainty that the Holocaust could never have happened.
How does the teacher deal with this situation and its impact on other students'
perceptions? For educators, this presents the new task of teaching students
how to judge information sources and to seek multiple perspectives on issues
before deciding for themselves what is fact and what is fantasy.
The new technologies also have other implications for the college teacher seeking new and inventive ways to encourage students to develop their thinking and analytic skills. Faculty also have to evaluate themselves and their colleagues in terms of the quality of information offered on-line within their disciplines. Rather than viewing the web as a potential "soap box," faculty could better serve the learning community by linking their websites to those of colleagues so that potential browsers might compare and contrast their differing arguments.
Increased access to information has also led to challenges in how we address issues of knowledge reproduction, copyright, distribution of research findings, and rewards for creativity. From "fair use" policies to institutional codes of conduct, the higher education community worldwide is grappling with a host of issues related to how we conduct ourselves on-line. Nevertheless, the impact of technology on academic life and work has been mostly positive. Each of us bears our own responsibility for ensuring the integrity of information transmitted through our computers--just as we take so seriously our responsibilities in ensuring the integrity of the information we provide each other in print. Our institutions of higher education have a clear mandate to provide training and professional development for faculty to make effective use of new technologies in research and teaching. How we respond to the challenges and opportunities of new technologies will have a considerable effect on the course of higher education in the next decade.
Author's note: The following are some recommended websites: