The Wired Tower : Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education

Everyone agrees that the Internet is profoundly changing higher education -- but how? Which impacts are long-term and fundamental; which are transient and soon to be forgotten? In The Wired Tower, academics, leading government education figures, business thinkers and investment professionals come together to assess the realities of the Internet in higher education. In a series of previously unpublished essays edited by Blackboard, Inc., CEO Matthew Pittinsky, these experts consider every key issue related to the Internet in higher education. The essayists offer new insights into issues including: strengthening the relationships between campus and online learning; evaluating Web-based learning and ensuring quality standards; providing better support for students and faculty; new solutions for online course development, design, and delivery; the business opportunity that exists; the role of government in fostering this arena.

The Wired Tower makes sense of the changes that are being wrought by the Internet and related technologies, and explores which aspects of Internet-related change offer the greatest long-term promise in higher education, which are superficial, and which should be rejected.

Editor Matthew Pittinsky and his diverse contributors widen our perspective on the Internet, viewing it as the latest in a series of "macro-level" changes that have repeatedly transformed higher education and broadened access to it. Drilling down to implementation issues, they offer specific guidance on course redesign, and on the cost, policy, and staffing implications of the wired campus. Finally, Neil Postman offers an essential counterweight to technological optimism, posing skeptical questions academics should ask before buying into technological and business-based paradigms in higher education.

With original contributions from:

* Matthew Pittinsky, Chairman, Blackboard Inc. The key forces shaping the Internet's effects on higher education and how e-learning can reinforce traditional academic values * Arthur Levine, President, Columbia University Teacher's College What to preserve, what to change, and how the forces reshaping higher education can reinvigorate its historic mission * Greg Cappelli, Equity Analyst, Credit Suisse First Boston The education "industry:" market size, trends in Internet usage, economic/demographic pressures, and new for-profit institutions * Martin Irvine, Professor, Georgetown University Internet-based learning: an international perspective areview * Carol A. Twigg, Executive Director, Center for Academic Transformation The nitty-gritty of technology-driven course redesign, frameworks for improving quality and reducing cost * Donald Spicer, CIO, University of Maryland Supporting innovation on the wired campus: IT management challenges * Neil Postman, author, The End of Education; Chair, Department of Culture and Communication, NYU A skeptic's view: five crucial questions to ask before you adopt new technologies

The effects of the Internet on colleges and universities: revolution, evolution, or both?

• Wide-ranging perspectives on technology in higher education
• Viewpoints from leading academics, administrators, and business and investment professionals
• Five transformative Internet-based learning practices most likely to succeed
• Contributors include Neil Postman (author of The End of Education) and Arthur Levine, President, Columbia Teacher's College

The Internet is changing higher education—but how? Which changes are revolutionary—and which are evolutionary, arising from deeper changes? Now, The Wired Tower brings together today's leading thinkers and doers to assess the new realities of the Internet in higher education.

Blackboard Inc. Chairman Matthew Pittinsky identifies four key drivers of technology-related change in higher education: the renewed focus on teaching and learning, technology's movement from "back office" to "front office," the search for new funding, and the pressure and opportunity to ser provocative, skeptical contribution from leading social theorist Neil Postman, and concludes with a preview of the Internet-based learning trends likely to have the most profound impact.

The Wired Tower: Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education......Page 4 © 2003 Pearson Education, Inc.......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 12 CHAPTER 1 Transformation Through Evolution......Page 22 From Dot-Com to Dot-Edu......Page 23 The Roots of E-Learning......Page 26 The Potential for Great Change......Page 31 CHAPTER 2 Higher Education: A Revolution Externally, Evolution Internally......Page 34 The Coming Revolution......Page 39 The Coming Evolution......Page 46 Conclusions for the Nation......Page 58 CHAPTER 3 E-Learning in the Postsecondary Education Market: A View from Wall Street......Page 62 Increasing Enrollments Should Drive Growth......Page 66 Expenditures Support E-Learning Growth......Page 70 Distance Learning in Postsecondary Education......Page 74 Forces Driving Distance Learning......Page 79 Distance Learning Beneficial to Bricks-and-Mortar Education......Page 81 Online Communities in Postsecondary Education......Page 82 CHAPTER 4 The Emerging Global E-Education Industry......Page 86 Education Economics and the Growth of the Private Sector......Page 93 Marketplace Realities: World Participation in Postsecondary Education......Page 97 Readiness of the World Market......Page 99 Language Communities Online and Market Position of English Language Instruction......Page 101 Education and E-Learning as International Trade......Page 106 Barriers and Challenges to a Global E-Learning Industry: Infrastructure and Access Issues......Page 108 Case Studies......Page 114 Concluding Reflections......Page 125 Endnotes......Page 126 CHAPTER 5 Quality, Cost and Access: The Case for Redesign......Page 132 Endnotes......Page 164 CHAPTER 6 Where the Rubber Meets the Road: an On-Campus Perspective of a CIO......Page 166 People, Organizational Structure, Financial Resources, and Policies......Page 171 Technology Infrastructure......Page 180 Technology Standards......Page 188 Institutions That Go Beyond the Envelope......Page 192 Summary......Page 200 CHAPTER 7 Questioning Media......Page 202 What Problem Gets Solved by this New Technology?......Page 208 Whose Problem Is It?......Page 210 What New Problems Are Created After Solving an Old Problem?......Page 211 Who and What Might Be Harmed by a Technological Solution?......Page 212 Are Changes Gained and Lost with New Technologies?......Page 216 Who and What Acquire Power Due to Technological Change?......Page 218 Endnotes......Page 221 CHAPTER 8 Five Great Promises of E-Learning......Page 222 Prediction 1: Convergence of Modalities......Page 224 Prediction 2: New and More Sophisticated Academic Technologies......Page 227 Prediction 3: Data Mining......Page 231 Prediction 4: The Learner Profile......Page 234 Prediction 5: Ubiquitous Web Communities and Services......Page 236 Endnotes......Page 241 Index......Page 242 Annotation Online education: what's working, what isn't, and what's next.-- Important new statements on Internet-based learning from leading academics, education, and business experts.Everyone agrees that the Internet is profoundly changing higher education -- but how? Which impacts are long-term and fundamental; which are transient and soon to be forgotten? In The Wired Tower, academics, leading government education figures, business thinkers and investment professionals come together to assess the realities of the Internet in higher education. In a series of previously unpublished essays edited by Blackboard, Inc., CEO Matthew Pittinsky, these experts consider every key issue related to the Internet in higher education. The essayists offer new insights into issues including: strengthening the relationships between campus and online learning; evaluating Web-based learning and ensuring quality standards; providing better support for students and faculty; new solutions for online course development,design, and delivery; the business opportunity that exists; the role of government in fostering this arena This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version. The Wired Tower: Perspectives on the Impact of the Internet on Higher Education brings together leading thinkers and doers to assess the new realities of the Internet in higher education. Edited by Blackboard, Inc. Chairman Matthew Pittinsky, the book identifies key drivers of technology-related change, five transformative Internet-based learning practices most likely to succeed and explores every facet of Internet-related change. The book also includes original contributions from Neil Postman (The End of Education) and Arthur Levine, President, Columbia University Teacher's College. This guide makes sense of the changes that are being wrought by the Internet and related technologies, and explores which aspects of Internet-related change offering the greatest long-term promise in higher education. The New York Times Magazines highlighted an article on its cover entitled "Online U-How Entrepreneurs and Academic Radicals Are Breaking Down the Walls of the University."