The Web between lectures and self-managed learning

Lectures and self-directed study are all too often perceived by teachers and students as distinct educational activities. This paper describes how World Wide Web and ‘interactive meeting’ technologies are being used to help establish and maintain context and continuity for learning. The tools and their role in lecture preparation, presentation, and self-managed study are described. Initial trials have successfully demonstrated the potential of the system to improve the quality of both lectures and subsequent self-managed learning. However, interviews with teaching staff revealed serious reservations over the amount of time and effort that would be needed to become familiar with the technology and produced the comprehensive, highly structured and integrated resources required. Factors that determine if the approach will be more widely adopted by teaching staff are concern with the flexibility to re-design courses and curricula and the provision of essential staff development and support.