These run a gamut from total worthless junk to the best of scholarly discourse. In many fields, the newsgroups are essential for business or scholarship. If you have a hobby, there is probably a newsgroup for it. At Mount Holyoke, there are newsgroups which are only available from on-campus. Many of these are course related.
Some courses run discussion sections via newsgroups.
Outside of email, the web is probably the most commonly used Internet application. At Mount Holyoke, all students have a personal home page to use as they see fit, within our acceptable use policies. Many courses require the use of the web, not only for research, but also for obtaining course materials online. In some courses, students use the web to turn in materials. The web is used to answer questions and discover things.