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form of greater enthusiasm towards subject material and heightened classroom participation are
tempered by the hurdles that instructors and students alike must face in an effort to become
technologically adept (Boykin et al. 1996). Luna and McKenzie (1997) suggest that such multi-
media and web-based tools should serve as a supplement to more traditional teaching methods
especially when considering the significant challenges towards their implementation. Those
involved in academia are keenly aware of the issues that often plague any form of retooling. Not
only does a serious learning curve exist among students and faculty when dealing with
technology, but there is also the continuous battle over resources and funding. Both obstacles
are directly applicable to technological resources in the classroom as the shelf lives of many
computers, IT programs, and software can be gauged in months rather than years. In keeping
with Kuhnian logic, many instructors fail to adopt these new resources because of the high start-
up costs. Such rationale is not underappreciated considering the lack of an empirical link
between technological retooling and tangible benefits that are deemed cost-worthy.
In the midst of the debate over the effectiveness of the Internet as a pedagogical tool there
is evidence that the struggle to both keep up with new technology as well as integrate it into the
classroom produces verifiable benefits to the instructor and student in the social sciences in
general and to Political Science in particular (Bailey 1995; Luna and McKenzie 1997; Polluck
and Wilson 2002). When the internet is used to “deliver ‘anytime, anywhere’ education” it is
commonly called an asynchronous learning network (ALN) (Hiltz 1998). Some scholars suggest
that the method by which the Internet (or ALN) is utilized in conjunction with the course
material dictates its effectiveness (Hamann and Wilson 2001; Pollock and Wilson 2002). While a
direct quantifiable benefit may not be readily apparent, the new technologies offered on the web
provide a panoply of opportunities for effective teaching. These new web-related resources offer
Convention