Our precise goals will change as a function of time as we learn about using this technology and as new technologies become available. For the 1995-96 school year our goal is to create a graphics image library and put these images into lectures. In the Fall of 1996 this material will be used in a multimedia classroom for a substantial fraction of the lecture material. It is important to note that we are not getting rid of blackboards completely nor are we getting rid of actual experiments done in class. Blackboards or similar writing media are unsurpassed in their flexibility in answering questions in class.
Nothing can be as real as an actual experiment.
This multimedia material should be regarded as another source of information, just as textbooks act as a supplement to lectures and discussion sections. Everything we are doing here can be done with other technologies, e.g., CD-ROMS, film clips, educational software on disks, class notes, etc. Where the Web wins hands down is in terms of distribution. I or anyone else in the world can put something on the Web and have it be visible to everyone - not just my home institution. To do this by any other method would require a large bureaucracy to produce the material and then distribute it.