February 2002 — Editorial
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Educating the Web Community
www.kids.state.mn.us) provides information about state government, special sites for children, homework help, advice to parents, etc. And Maryland's e-government initiative, eMaryland Marketplace (www.emarylandmarketplace.com), plans to have 50 percent of its services available over the Web by next year.The 2001 Digital State Survey (see below) by The Center for Digital Government, Government Technology magazine and The Progress & Freedom Foundation ranks the top 15 states on services offered electronically, including the Web.
Students generally see themselves as capable of finding information and are confident in using the computer effectively to communicate with others. But finding the right information is still a problem, as is being able to locate many of the resources and using them intelligently. Generally, there is little difficulty with e-learning, though the socialization that occurs from in-class learning is missing. At Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, the "Clipper Project," a five-year study funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, allows Lehigh-bound high school students to take introductory courses in calculus and economics online. It is becoming increasingly important to serve the nonresidential student and those who cannot attend for various reasons. However, the target audience is still the older working adult.
A recent study of approximately 1,000 students at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania compiled some interesting statistics on how they use the Web, including:
- More than 97 percent of study participants said they have used the Web for educational purposes, but often have difficulty in finding what they are looking for.
- 17 percent said they used the Internet for illegal assistance with class assignments.
- 38 percent said they have accessed pornographic Web sites.
- 62 percent said they have used Napster to download music.
- 15 percent said they support the idea of having universities limit students' access to controversial Web sites.
Conclusions
Students and faculty are expecting services from the Web to include registration information, class schedules, grades, homework assignments, etc. They also want to use the Web to identify significant research, but many lack the understanding of Internet structure and the proper use of browsers. In January 2000, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) published Information Literacy Standards for Higher Education for an information-literate student. The standards included preparation access, evaluation, assimilation, presentation and the ethical use of information. To accomplish the above, the Web community must be given the resources, ongoing professional development, quality software, unlimited Internet access and freedom to search the Web; though, online free speech is still debatable.
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court is to rule on the case of a middle school student who developed a personal Web site in 1998, which included derogatory statements about a teacher and the principal of the school.
