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The educational cost of free lecture notes on the Internet

by Mathieu Deflem

Many among us use the Internet in ways that benefit our dual objectives of research and teaching. But with every change come dangers, big and small. One new Internet phenomenon is posing a serious threat to our profession, especially in terms of our mission as educators. It is private online companies that post lecture notes of courses taught at colleges and universities.

I am aware of at least 12 such companies offering notes for many different colleges or universities across the country. Many more notes companies operate locally (and not always online). The notes are typically offered to students free of charge, although some companies require site registration. At least one company charges a fee for the notes. The latest trend is for companies to seek input from teachers.

The companies are not affiliated with a university or college, but with privately owned businesses that have attracted sufficient money to start up the service. The online companies work on a for-profit basis through revenues derived from Web site advertising. The course notes are typically presented as a student's interpretation of the lectures and are solicited from students enrolled in the courses, although there have been instances reported where notes were gathered by students not enrolled and/or by company employees. Currently, companies are vigorously recruiting note-takers, touting attractive salaries (up to $400 per semester) and job titles.

Online notes companies raise concerns both for the potential effects they may have for our teaching and for the problems created by the very fact that online course notes are offered. Students could be led to think that they no longer have to attend class because lecture notes are available online. Anticipating this criticism, the companies providing the notes state that the notes are not to be used as a substitute for attending class. The disclaimer, of course, is no guarantee at all that this won't happen. Some instructors have already reported that their class attendance dropped after the online notes were made available.

More generally, the availability of online notes could mean that students will start to develop a very shortsighted and narrow perspective of education. They may view learning as merely getting the notes to pass the exam and make the grade, thereby accelerating a trend that, regrettably, teachers have already seen taking place.

In principle, online notes companies pose further problems that relate to a loss of autonomy and responsibility on the part of the teaching community, and a lack of quality standards and accountability on the part of the companies that distribute notes.

Online notes companies do not ask instructors for permission, but, at the same time, the companies explicitly post and advertise the notes with reference to the courses and the universities where they are taught, identified by the university's course title, section number and/or professor's name. With notes provided online, we lose control over what is presented as an educational tool related to our courses.

Next, on the part of the companies, there is an absence of quality standards and accountability in providing course notes. There are no requirements or procedures governing who provides online notes. Anybody who knows how to set up a Web site company can offer the service. There is with these companies, in other words, nothing equivalent to the hard work qualified teachers invested in graduate school, acquiring degrees from accredited institutions, and the work we daily do to maintain our acquired expertise. Neither is there an equivalent to the university and college rules that regulate our educational duties and our relationships with students.

Instead of all the safeguards designed to establish and protect the integrity and standards of our profession, online notes companies merely benefit from a parasitic freedom of opportunity on the Internet.

What can we do?

There are different ways to tackle this matter.

First, we need to be informed about the existence and practices of these companies. Last fall, I created a Web site, called Free Education Now, to share information about the online notes business. It is to be found at www.sla.purdue.edu/people/soc/mdeflem/education.htm.

Next, we can foster awareness by reaching out to educators and students and telling them about the issues at hand. And, finally, we can plan and devise strategies of intervention. Among the various options available to us, perhaps the most feasible and effective strategy is a university policy based on academic honesty. Some universities have such policies and have been successful in halting the invasion from commercial notes companies on their campuses.

Mathieu Deflem is an assistant professor of sociology at Purdue University. He can be reached via e-mail at deflemm@sri.soc.purdue.edu. This article is adapted from a position paper that is posted on his Web site, www.sla.purdue.edu/people/soc/mdeflem/znotes.htm.