Advantages of Hyperwave over Web-based technology for courseware production and delivery.

Hyperwave is a sophisticated hypermedia server that provides significantly more useful features than web servers. The key extra functionality that it provides is:

Access control on a document-by-document basis (privacy, protects revenue, multiple cohorts).
Links separate from documents (annotations, structured discussion, no dangling links, controlled access to structure).

Together these permit content and interaction to be joined seamlessly, in a protected environment. Some other benefits of this approach are:

Access:

Access any time (work at your own pace).
Access from anywhere the Internet reaches (distance education easy).
Responsive to special needs (larger fonts, text-to-voice).

Improved Pedagogy:

Multiple presentations possible (to match different learning styles).
Material can be reviewed multiple times.
Students can communicate with each other.
Students can communicate with T.A.s and instructors (questions answered).
Students can add their own work, and comment on the work of others (peer input is more convincing than instructor input).
Online quizzes (student self-assessment).
Integrated value-added tools (e.g. compilers).
Seamless environment for the entire course, with full access to the Web when needed.
Fulltext search capability.
Students' responsibility for their own learning cannot be evaded (no Magic Professor).

Better Management:

Students can cover only what they need to (performance-based assessment, handle different starting levels).
Common interface (Netscape or other browser).
Courseware can be managed from a browser.
Easy to develop courseware (html internally).
Easy to include images, audio.
Encourages continual improvement of course material (suggestions, errors corrected, problems fixed).
Course operation is simplified (no handouts, no missed announcements).