Heather Watson , while giving no definitive answers, considers the potential and the pitfalls. Like books and magazines, their content ranges from pornography to the more predictable encyclopaedias and teen magazines. In the initial wave of enthusiasm to make resources available electronically, it is almost routinely overlooked that material may be made available in less expensive and perhaps more appropriate ways. To develop a sophisticated program involves high costs.
Material has to be selected, collected, prepared and digitised.
Large quantities of material are involved and management is complex. There has been a recent trend for constraints to be placed on teacher release for professional development, accompanied by an increasing expectation that such activities are undertaken in teachers' own time. Teachers in remote locations have long had difficulties attending programs, and domestic and personal difficulties arise for many teachers who want additional training. Not all potential participants in electronic professional development programs are confident users of computers. Many teachers still lack easy access to suitable hardware and there is always the lurking fear that unfamiliar 'high tech' products might be unreliable.