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This book responds to an ever-increasing call from educators, policy makers, journalists, parents and the public at large for analysis that cuts through the hype surrounding the information revolution to address key issues associated with new media in higher education and learning. This collection is of value to those who are seeking a critical, non-commercial exposition of both the enormous opportunities and challenges for higher education that are tied to the use of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the development of distance education and distributed learning. The chapters are written by leading exponents, practitioners and researchers from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and the collection as a whole spans national boundaries and reaches beyond the research community to relate to issues of policy and practice.
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Digital Academe
Dramatic advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet and Web may lead to fundamental changes to the structure of higher education and the ways in which it is delivered. Some commentators believe these new media will facilitate the emergence of effective new models of electronic learning, seriously challenging the dominance of the traditional institutions of academia. Others see the automation of higher education as a management strategy that will destroy jobs and undermine quality. Digital Academe draws together contributions from leading international practitioners, educationalists and researchers to offer informed perspectives on developments and options in distance education and distributed learning. The contributions provide the reader with a survey of current innovations, and the opportunities and challenges in higher education arising from the new ICTs. They span national boundaries and reach beyond the research community to the heart of issues of policy and practice around the world. Digital Academe will be of value to educators, policy makers, journalists, parents and the public at large. Students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels will find material of relevance to courses in communication, information studies, sociology, public policy, education, instructional technologies, new media and information and communications technologies. The large number of educational practitioners and academics in diverse disciplines whose careers are being shaped by these developments will gain new insights about developments in online education and scholarship. William H. Dutton is Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, a Fellow of Balliol College and Professor of Internet Studies at the University of Oxford. Brian D. Loader is Director of the Community Informatics Research and Applications Unit (CIRA) based at the University of Teesside, UK.
Digital Academe The new media and institutions of higher education and learning
Edited by William H. Dutton and Brian D. Loader
First published 2002 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” selection and editorial matter © 2002 William H. Dutton and Brian D. Loader foreword © 2002 Asa Briggs chapters 8 and 14 © 2002 the contributors all other chapters © 2002 Routledge, Taylor & Francis Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permissi