Our campus, too, is attempting to adapt to the Web or, more ambitiously, to be part of it's evolution. Those who talk about course Web pages as an intrusion into a professor's academic freedom seem to miss the point. Take the hottest fad and force everyone to use it. Fear of new technology is a very human response, and I understand why professors might fear being forced to work in unfamiliar territory. The value of Web pages isn't the issue in the UCLA case.
Academic freedom is.
Professors must be allowed to decide for themselves whether a Web page is consistent with their teaching philosophy and approach to education. I understand why professors fear the Web. Professors don't know how to produce Web sites. They know how to produce linear text documents, but not much else. By encouraging a Web site for every course, UCLA has extended the boundaries for student-faculty interaction throughout the university.