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Web-Based Education Commission Issues Report
The 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act charged the Web-Based Education Commission with examining the educational potential of the Internet. The commission, composed of policy makers, members of Congress, educators, and distance education providers, issued its report in December. Members heard testimony from leaders in the field of education, including AAUP general secretary Mary Burgan. The report concludes that Web-based education "holds extraordinary promise," and it encourages the new administration to "embrace an ‘e-learning’ agenda as a centerpiece of our nation’s federal education policy."
The report’s recommendations focus more on ways to remove barriers to Internet use in education than on how to determine when such use is appropriate. The report concedes, however, that the Internet "is not a panacea for every problem in education," and it encourages the public and private sectors to develop high-quality online educational content "that meets the highest standards of educational excellence."
The commission recommends that the federal government come up with priorities for the kinds of content to be developed, devise technical standards for the design of online courses, and review and possibly revise federal student-aid regulations that tie financial support to traditional classroom-based credit hours. One rule, for example, limits full financial-aid packages to full-time students (those taking at least twelve credit hours a semester). Distance education proponents argue that such regulations do not translate well to electronic classes.
The report also encourages education policy makers to increase cross-state regulatory cooperation in Web-based education and to develop common policies about course credits, faculty compensation, accreditation, licensing, student services, articulation, and programs to reach underrepresented student populations.
"The commission’s concern with access to Internet resources is laudable," says Mark Smith, the AAUP’s associate director of government relations. "But we believe it’s premature to recommend that ‘e-learning’ be a centerpiece of our nation’s educational policy. We don’t know yet how to protect the best in traditional education while incorporating the Internet’s new tools. It would be disastrous to end up with a two-tiered system of higher education in which elite students attend high-quality institutions with personalized instruction, and everyone else is relegated to a more passive Internet-based delivery system."
Right now, market forces, rather than the needs of students, are fueling the rapid development of distance education, Smith explains. "Standards for distance education should be developed by educators, not by hardware and software vendors who stand to gain financially from the adoption of their tools."
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