Using the internet to keep track of new developments in distance education

Abstract

The Internet offers numerous services which educators can use to keep track of developments in their fields of interest. Internet services that can be used to provide a current awareness service (CAS) in the field of distance education are explored in this article and specific examples are considered. The services considered are all available free of charge or at a very reasonable fee and can be used with a fair amount of ease by individual users. Tables of contents services, electronic newsletters (or e-zines), push services, news filtering services, intelligent agents, news services, search engines and mailing lists and newsgroups are discussed. The value of keeping track of developments in distance education is also pointed out.