And laptops are a lot lighter, too

A federal advisory panel is studying the high cost of college textbooks, which often top more than $100 per book. Congress formed the panel after a 2005 Government Accountability Office report found that college textbook prices rose at twice the rate of inflation over the last two decades.

One solution being considered is to increase the use of online materials, such as articles, lecture notes and study guides that are available for free on the Internet. But how do you know if such programs really work?

With the goal of helping the Web reach its potential for effective online education, Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative (OLI) offers courses that incorporate extensive research into how people learn successfully.  The courses provide real-time feedback, pinpoint students' individual weaknesses and provide them with individualized tutoring so they can work at their own pace.

And thanks to a recent grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Carnegie Mellon researchers will soon investigate whether students using an online education program in conjunction with traditional classroom instruction can complete a college course in far less time than it would normally take. It is the third grant provided by the Hewlett Foundation to OLI to help ensure high-quality online education.

Ken Walters