Several changes in the character of undergraduate instruction are taking place simultaneous with the rapid rise in online information resources. These include:

• Shifting attention toward student learning outcomes
• Greater emphasis on discussion and participatory learning over lectures
• Larger role for collaborative activities over competitive assignments

It is important to remember that these educational reforms have their roots long before today's technological revolution. While the technological innovations help to promote these innovations, many educational reformers would advocate their adoption even if computer networks had never been invented.

While curricular innovation and increased use of technology often accompany each other, they are not necessarily coupled. It is quite feasible to adopt student-centered learning without using computers, and in similar fashion, there are ways to use computers effectively within a traditional course format. Indeed, the fundamental concern for technology in higher education should be a clear understanding of the curricular values and goals that must be manifested within the technology. Indeed, the phenomenon of technology in education encouraging faculty to review and reconsider their pedagogical assumptions may be a more significant benefit than the actual use of the technology itself.

The growing role of hypertext as a partner with linear prose is the sole curricular innovation that possesses an unique tie to information technology. Prior to the web, hypertext was a relatively obscure writing style that attracted only small public attention. While some hypertexts are more than a century old, these documents are rarely encountered by most undergraduate students. With the web, however, everyone is gaining daily experience with this writing structure -- to the point where some expect that all text should be written in this manner.