Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ad Hoc Committee on Education Via Advanced Technologies

Final Report

Foreword

Greetings from President Vest

"Hello. I am Charles Vest, President of MIT. Welcome to the report of the MIT ad hoc Committee on Education Via Advanced Technologies. The technologies the committee looked at, primarily the World Wide Web, deal with information. They generate it, move it, store it, transform it, select it, and present it, all with great convenience. Now, we as educators deal with information. An important part of our job is to get the right information to the right people, in the right context, at the right time, and in the right form. Our challenge is to discover the best use of new technologies, those available today and those that will come in the future, in order to do our job as educators better."

[These greetings from President Vest are available in

Committee Recommendations

• immediate actions to facilitate widespread familiarity within MIT of these technologies;
• specific changes in MIT educational activities to take advantage of them;
• study of long-range opportunities.

About this Report

The Table of Contents, at the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) http://www-evat.mit.edu/report/, contains links to all pages in the report. These pages, in turn, contain references to each other, and to pages elsewhere on the Internet. If you read the report with a Web browser, you can take advantage of its linked references. However, in case you find it more convenient to read from a printed page than from a computer screen, printed copies of the report are also available.

In most writing, the reasoning in one section depends on concepts discussed in other sections. This report is no exception. Normally, in serial documents, the dependent sections are placed after the sections with the required concepts. In the present report, however, where the pages can be read in any order, the required concepts are indicated by active links, also known as hyperlinks, which are displayed underlined. If you, the reader, do not understand the ideas referenced, you can follow the link, read about the concepts, and then return. On the other hand, if you already understand the ideas, there is no need to follow the link. For example, if you do not know what a hyperlink is, click with your mouse on this underlined word and an explanation will appear. To return to the page you are now reading, click on the left arrow located near the top of the window of your Web browser (some browsers provide other ways of returning).

Accessing the Report

• On the Web: The master copy of the report is available on the World Wide Web at the URL http://www-evat.mit.edu/report/

  If your computer is connected to the Internet, you can go directly to the report (probably by using the mouse to point at the underlined word, and clicking once). The pages are mostly text, with only a few images, so they appear quickly even over a slow telephone line connection. If you want a printed copy of any page, you can print it from within the browser. When you are done, simply exit the browser.

• On your own computer: The report is available on floppy disk for Macintosh and Windows computers, whether or not connected to the Internet. You can read it on an airplane using your PowerBook! (Hyperlinks to other sites on the Web will work only if your computer is connected to the Internet.) To get a disk containing the report, contact the EVAT Committee support staff, Ms. Vera Sayzew [(617) 253-4624 or vera@eecs.mit.edu]. The disk explains how to view the report and, if you need a Web browser, get one.

  If you are now reading this page from such a local file, you can go directly to the report (probably by using the mouse to point at the underlined word, and clicking once). If you want a printed copy of any page, you can print it from within the browser. When you are done, simply exit the browser.

• On a friend's computer: If you do not have a computer available, ask a colleague or friend. The chances are that you can find a computer to use nearby.

• On another computer: If you are part of the MIT community and would like assistance in reading this document on the network, contact Ms. Suzana Lisanti, Facilitator for the Campus-Wide Information System, [(617) 253-0101 or lisanti@mit.edu].

• Hard copy: We do not recommend that you read this report only from printed pages, since you will miss the hyperlinks to other pages, both inside and outside this report. However, if you would like a printed copy for convenience, perhaps to be used in conjunction with electronic access, there are three ways of getting one:
  1. From within a Web browser, print any or all pages.
  2. If you are a member of the MIT community, ask the EVAT Committee support staff, Ms. Vera Sayzew [(617) 253-4624 or vera@eecs.mit.edu] for a printed copy.
  3. Request a printed copy to be sent via MIT internal mail.