Using web technologies in formal & distance education

Abstract

Many people warn of the possible harmful effects of using technology in the classroom. Will children lose their ability to relate to other human beings? Will they become dependent on technology to learn? Will they find inappropriate materials? The same was probably said with the invention of the printing press, radio, and television. All of these can be used inappropriately, but all of them have given humanity unbounded access to information which can be turned into knowledge. Appropriately used-- interactively and with guidance-- they have become tools for the development of higher order thinking skills. Inappropriately used in the classroom, technology can be used to perpetuate old models of teaching and learning. Students can be "plugged into computers" to do drill and practice that is not so different from workbooks. Teachers can use multimedia technology to give more colorful, stimulating lectures. Both of these have their place, but such use does not begin to tap the power of these new tools. This paper looks at the reasons for adopting web technology in teaching. The fundamentals related formal, distance education and technologies used on the web have discussed. Under Life-long learning, web technologies are proposed to be used in distance education. And in the second part; Four main categories are proposed: educator effort, to append face to face teaching, to hearten collaborative learning, for institutional gain. Problems relating to each of these reasons are argued.