STAFF EDITORIAL: Embracing a new medium

A Web site posts lecture notes from more than 50 classes at Penn. profs should welcome, not challenge, the new tool. But all those who seek to stifle this free exchange of information are fundamentally missing the point. On a practical level, Versity.com's arrival does not signal the extinction of the lecture course as we know it. As professors themselves have said, any student who uses the online notes as a substitute for class attendance does so at his or her own risk. For the responsible majority of students, the Web site's content is nothing more than a supplement to one's own notes, and a useful one at that. Of course, professors should be informed that their lecture notes are being posted on the Internet. But rather than challenge Versity.com, faculty members should embrace a new medium that promises to reinforce, not supplant, their course content. Many professors already make lecture notes, summaries, slides and supplementary resources available on course homepages -- and we encourage all to explore doing so. Versity.com is merely filling a niche market that professors themselves have not filled. In a larger sense, however, Versity.com represents a trend that cannot be stopped easily. Yale University may succeed in keeping its content off of Versity.com and professors may bring lawsuits in defense of their intellectual property rights, but no institution or individual can or should restrict the productive exchange of information. We are not surprised that many used to the old model of teacher-student interaction might feel threatened by the pace of change. But we encourage professors and administrators to see that, one way or another -- whether through friends, the Internet or other means -- students will get the information they want or need. And for the benefit of the student body, we encourage those in higher education to embrace this new option, not try to tear it down.