Teaching and learning in cyberspace

From both a technological and educational perspective, cyber education creates a multitude of challenges for students and instructors. Both novice and experienced computer users alike must master the use of Internet tools quickly, while also working to overcome conceptual misunderstandings about the technology and its root metaphors. The technology also makes commenting on student documents cumbersome but does have the benefit of creating a digitized record of students' writing processes, while also allowing for the online publication of students' work. Other benefits include more active learning and better interactive collaboration. Preliminary assessments further indicate that, despite critics' concerns about the rigor and quality of distance learning, for a variety of technical and social reasons, student work is equal to and sometimes better than that of on-campus students.