The advanced fields in the physical sciences and quantitative social sciences began using computers years ago . But only recently has the electronic revolution reached the point where educators in both medicine and the humanities must take it seriously . This is because ( 1 ) computers have finally become powerful enough to permit the creation of teaching machines ( called multimedia packages ) that can manipulate the massive amounts of information involved in medicine and the humanities ; and ( 2 ) the Internet is now fast enough and widely distributed enough to change teaching practices . Multimedia packages will drastically change traditional teaching and learning ; the author reviews these and other likely impacts of these packages . For example , faculty members ' effective contact with students will not be bound by time and place ; students can learn at their own paces in their preferred modes ; and the distinction between elementary and advanced learning will be virtually impossible to maintain . The Internet makes it possible to offer classes to students no matter where they or the teacher are located , to ignore strict constraints of time ( a class discussion can go on for days ), and to create “ electronic communities ” of students and faculty . The author reviews the great advantages of these capabilities , but states that this development of the virtual university could seriously undermine actual universities ( e . g ., difficulties of maintaining faculty competence in their disciplines ; impossibility of deciding issues of department size and diversity ; questions of the effectiveness of learning that does not take place face-to-face ; problems of students ' and teachers ' time management , on which the traditional structures of curricula and teaching methods are built ). Despite the fundamental adjustments that will be necessary , the author sees the electronic revolution in education as a necessary consequence of what is already taking place in research , where multimedia packages and the Internet are being used extensively , because in professional education , teaching and learning arise directly from research . Just as scholars and scientists have embraced this revolution , educators should embrace it in their educational programs and practices .