By now, it's no surprise that information technology is a major part of college life. Professors are making their course materials easily accessible to students by posting them on the Internet.
Students are e-mailing their teachers to obtain quick answers to questions while they study.
And numerous universities are attracting more students by offering entire programs and degrees over the Web. We're trying to find out answers to these questions. A Joint Steering Committee, composed of three members each from Microsoft and MIT, will research proposals and manage the collaborative research. The technology and methods the two organizations develop are expected to set the pace for university education over the next 5 to 10 years, officials said. And we'd like to think collectively about how we tap into that technology base to develop the appropriate models for education and how we deliver it.