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There are four general ways in which education and training units can use the World Wide Web. Do your Web plans include them all?
"Internal information" refers to information that flows within the unit. This includes staff directories, organization charts, policy documents, newsletters, descriptions of the roles of staff and sub-units, announcements and internal forms. In larger units, making this information available to the people who need it can consume a significant fraction of the resources available to the unit. Memos, organization charts and policy documents have to be copied, distributed and filed, and replaced when they are superseded. There may be confusion arising from different document versions. And information and forms can move all too slowly within a unit, slowing responses to students and clients.
Putting this information on an internal Web site can have several benefits:
If the Web is used for internal information, it is often called the "Intranet." This is the fastest growing segment of the Web today (Fall 1996) as organizations try to become "nimble" -- fast on their feet.
All education and training units need to make information about costs, courses, curricula and certificates or degrees widely available to potential students. This information must be attractive and informative, and many copies must be printed and distributed. Frequently, there are multiple versions for different target groups. All of this consumes staff time and budget. How many of your brochures are actually read? How often do you send out the whole catalog when that specific person needs only two pages?
Marketing materials can easily go on the Web. Only an original is needed, and distribution costs are minimal. Links can easily take readers to the specific topics they need, and you can easily include a "search" feature. Registration information can be updated easily.
And we haven't even mentioned the best part yet; you get to "watch" your potential students read your information.
Your Web Server log can be analyzed to give you most of this information automatically. It does not have to be keyed in, it is already in a computerized format, and often one that can be imported directly into a spreadsheet or database.
The availability of this information is driving the expansion of the Web. This is why companies put large budgets into their Web site and why they are willing to give away software, to get this information that formerly had to be acquired by surveys.
Students often need help or advising for registering, want information about instructors and textbooks, want to see a syllabus, want to confirm class dates, need help in dealing with course problems, and so forth. In the case of education, rather than training, they often want to get this information outside of normal business hours. They may be unfamiliar with your unit's staff and procedures, and yet their satisfaction depends upon this information. And if you cancel or add sections (and who doesn't?), your students need this information right away.
The Web offers several ways to make this type of information available to your students.
You should also consider Web-based registration. Many commercial sites use a "market basket" feature, in which an on-line shopper scrolls through a catalog, selects items of interest and places them in his/her virtual market basket. The system also keeps track of total charges and number of items ordered. At any time, the shopper can review items in the basket, and add or delete items. When done, the shopper clicks a button to place the order. And "education shopping basket" could track course units, cost and dates committed to courses. This can be compared against a Plan or Work or a Training Plan for the individual.
Actual interactive instruction may be slow in coming to the Web, but there are many aspects of teaching and learning that can be implemented quickly.
We feel that it will take a long time to develop actual interactive instruction via the Web. However, this may not always be what a student needs. In many cases, a quick reminder, or an overview, or an example, will help the student past a particular difficulty. These items can be added as they show up in a computer conference, in e-mail exchanges, or through the grading of homework. And once it is developed for the first student, it is there on the Web for the benefit of all subsequent students.