At another edge of education, our professional schools are considering new programs to meet the lifelong educational needs of their alumni and others in their fields. Whether used to enhance residential learning or to teach at a distance, information technology raises challenging questions for higher education. Along with a number of deans and faculty leaders, the Harvard Academic Computing Committee has fostered a climate of innovation in the application of technology to learning. On the recommendation of the Committee, beginning with the new academic year Harvard will establish two innovation funds to finance projects in instructional computing. One will be linked to the classroom, and the other to the growing field of distance learning.
Information technology offers a sea of promise for education, and a measure of risk.
As technology advances, we must be prepared to recognize new possibilities, to evaluate, to adopt what makes sense, and to discard what fails to work. We will do well if we can take full advantage of electronic technology over time in a way that advances scholarship and learning, strengthens the academic community, and remains true to the values of higher education.