Along came a spider ‐ weaving Web resources

Internet‐based course resources have been used for three years in a freshman‐level course in physical geology at the University of Houston. Although access to the Internet is available on campus in computer clusters and in the library, an increasing percentage of students now have access where they live. Similarly, an increasing number of students possess sufficient computing skills to make immediate use of the Internet as an adjunct to texts, course notes and formal lectures. Students are free to pick and choose among most of the course resources (the syllabus, course notes, course outline, virtual field trips among others) but are required to use the Internet to obtain the homework exercises, gather the required data, and interpret their findings. In addition, the student is responsible for anything “extra” which appears from time‐to‐time during the course. Has the use of Internet‐based resources added value to the course? Meaningful communication has been facilitated through e‐mail exchanges and responses to surveys designed to sample student preparation, expectations, attitude toward the course and toward higher education in general. Internet‐based homework affords students the opportunity to be actively involved in making observations, gathering data and interpretation. Perhaps learning how they will learn in the future will turn out to be the undergraduate student’s most lasting benefit of this experiment with creating a learning environment via the Internet.