Evaluating the impact of Internet provision

Universities may invest millions of pounds in the provision of computer hardware without ever seriously considering the educational results such investment may deliver. Equally, academics may be committed to the use of IT in teaching and learning because it is expected of them (cf. Dearing, 1997), and rarely give serious consideration to the impact which the effective use of IT may have on student learning (Lauillard, 1993). The use of the WWW to deliver material in support of university teaching is still in its infancy, yet already two distinct approaches to its use can be seen.