The Web is now an accepted feature of the educational landscape.

But will it work?

Does it promote collaborative learning, or inhibit it? Does it dehumanize the classroom, or bring students closer? Does it complicate the instructor's task, or alleviate it? Is it a threat to education, or its panacea?

There is no single answer to any of these questions. But a few faculty have had the opportunity to both use the web in their instruction and to evaluate it. Professor Richard Walters, our guest speaker, is interested in both the quality of the instruction offered over the web and the technology that delivers it.

At UC Davis, where he teaches, in the papers he has authored, and in the seminars he regularly presents to faculty in other institutions, Professor Walters regularly shares his thoughts on the quality of the several courses he has adapted and on the advantages and pitfalls of the technology he has employed.

Professor Walters' experience with both language and science instruction makes him particularly unique, but his approach to using technology has ramifications for all who are trying to understand how technology and learning can coexist.