The potential of the Web for enhancing learning is now unquestioned, but there are many practical issues involved in harnessing this powerful tool in classrooms nationwide that deal with widely differing student and teacher resources. Two biologists and a team of programmers worked on the Web materials. For students, the weekly problem sets provide immediate feedback on multiple-choice questions that require a written rationale for each choice. The adaptability of Web-based instruction allows students to choose their preferred learning pathways. According to evaluation, students who use the problem sets are doing more cooperative learning and doing better overall than those who do not use the Web tools.
Every dormitory has a resident PC expert to promote computer literacy.
The system offers professors immediate evaluation and data on learning for the entire class, each section, and each student. They can design and revise weekly problem sets to match the understanding demonstrated by each section. The kidney lab is almost ready for dissemination. Final versions of the virtual labs funded by HHMI will be publicly available. In other settings, however, copyright, patent, and intellectual property rights issues remain potential impediments to dissemination of content developed for the Web.