``We are evolving a kind of education that suits the new electronic medium. Because of the rapid rate of change in my subject matter, I'm obliged to use electronic means and to teach my students how to teach themselves. Otherwise the content of the material I give them--once they have finished their final paper and kissed the course good-bye--is current for only three to six months.
``In Telecommunication Policies and Convergent Media, I throw away about a third of the content every six months. I don't even use a textbook anymore. There's no hope that I can keep current using traditional classroom resources.
``You have to reduce structure--not eliminate it, but trim it down to the organizational basis of the discipline and the skills to find out more. Once those steps are taken, the students and the instructor sense liberation. The instructor no longer has absolute and sole responsibility to make sure the students understand a detailed body of knowledge. The students no longer feel the tension of having to bypass interesting, relevant material just because it's not on the test or in the textbook.
``So why do we put teachers and students in the same room anymore if they are supposed to be teaching themselves? It's because you can keep the goals in mind but allow the class to take unanticipated paths. You are there as a guide or mentor, and less as a walking encyclopedia. The reward is that the students see the content is fresh, and they are not prisoners of a room and my lecture notes.
``Increasingly what educators need to do--our major value added, if you will--is to convey the concept, the structure, and the basic skills of our fields, thereby enabling the student to continue self-instruction long after class is over.''