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Chapter 2 Title:
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Trinity University
715 Stadium Drive
San Antonio, TX 78212-7200
Robert E. Jensen is the Jesse H. Jones Distinguished Professor at Trinity University. His email address is rjensen@trinity.edu
Petrea K. Sandlin is the Director of Accounting Programs at Trinity University. Her email address is psandlin@trinity.edu
Professors Jensen and Sandlin encourage readers to make comments and suggestions via email or letters.
Advantages
of Email Messaging and Paperless CoursesDisadvantages
of Email Messaging and Paperless CoursesAdvantages
of Publishing Student Work on the InternetDisadvantages
of Publishing Student Work on the InternetAdvantages
of Using Synchronous CAT Presentation Lecture AidsWays
to Avoid the Dangers of Using Synchronous CAT Presentation Lecture AidsAdvantages
of Asynchronous CAL Modules and CoursesWays
to Avoid the Disadvantages of Asynchronous CAL Modules and CoursesAdvantages
of Virtual Learning and MUD-Type (MOO) InteractionsDisadvantages
of Virtual Learning and MUD-Type SimulationsWhile big research universities have more resources to invest in information technology, that doesn't mean that smaller liberal arts institutions aren't making strides in using technology to enhance the learning environment. In 1996, Grace Johnson-Page (Assistant Professor of Management and Accounting, Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio) took sabbatical leave to identify and interview a collection of liberal arts college faculty using information technology in the hopes that their stories would "inform and ignite a spark in those faculty interested in using computers but not sure how or where to begin." She shares what she discovered in her conversations and formal interviews with over 125 people at 26 colleges and universities in "Rethinking Teaching and Learning: A Reformation of Liberal Arts Education With Information Technology." Her report includes examples of specific projects and techniques that administrators, faculty, and librarians are using to adopt and adapt information technology on their campuses. Johnson-Page's report and all the interviews are available on the Web athttp://www.marietta.edu/~johnsong/reform/
Note: By clicking here, her Page (Document) will appear in a new browser window.
Introductory Quotations
Is the teacher a leader in the classroom or is the teacher a resource in the classroom? Is the computer the embodiment of the curriculum or is the computer a supplement to the curriculum? Are we using the computer to promote one-to-one individualized education or are we using the computer to implement increased interaction between two students, four students, twelve students, the entire class? These are all absolutely legitimate questions and, unfortunately, we get a range of absolutely legitimate answers to those legitimate questions.
Michael Schrage
"Technology, Silver Bullets,
and Big Lies,
Educom Review, January/February 1998, p. 33
Our point is that technology has changed the way we consider content. In a 14th century university classroom, a manuscript of Rhetoric was likely the exclusive source of information. That was a constraint imposed by the technology. Today, we can download Rhetoric in seconds, but we can also download related texts, commentaries, research studies, historical perspectives, ad infinitum. We can scan these texts with the eye of a computer, discovering patterns, linking them to allied texts, offering multiple dimensions of textual analysis.
Martin Ryder and Brent Wilson, February 1996 http://www.cudenver.edu/~mryder/aect_96.html
Judging from the course evaluations, these teachers want to get started with multimedia right away. They've seen how computers work, and had their first look at what multimedia can do. Now they're ready for the sequel. Bamforth (1993)
Clearly, the potential savings inherent in transforming the existing labor-intensive system are enormous. Yet, there are attitudinal barriers that must be overcome before this transformation can take place. . . . The first of these pertains to teachers themselves. Measelle and Egol (1994, p. 8)
Information technologies, over time, have the power to transform completely instructional methodologies . . . Much more than reading and writing is required of the educated person in the modern information era. Noblett (1995, p. 28)
Alas, however, much of what passes for multimedia isn't worth
stuffing into your computer, and it can be hard to tell from the boxes (in
stores). Mossberg (1994b, p. B1)
This Page (Document) is a somewhat personal account of why we ventured into computer-assisted learning (CAL), what we discovered, and where we made and overcame some mistakes. Most importantly, our purposes herein are to provide educators with questions to ask and places to contact for more information regarding alternatives of today and tomorrow. What questions should educators raise when evaluating CAT (computer aided teaching), CAL (computer aided learning), and CMS (entire course or curriculum management system) aids provided by themselves, other educators, publishers, etc.? What pedagogical pitfalls should be avoided? What benefits might be gained both in teaching and research? We stress that learning technolgy is a research frontier since so much is happening in the way of change and so little is known on how to best utilize technological explosion of new networking and hypermedia alternatives. Relative to the first edition's Chapter 2, the revised Page (Document) gives greater attention to the World Wide Web (WWW). Readers are referred to Page (Document) 12 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen for definitions of terms and acronyms used in this Page (Document) . It will really help if these readers first read Page (Document) 4 at that same web site.
Andy Carvin in The World Wide Web in Education: A Closer Look notes that the web has influenced education in the following ways (with excellent links to explore):
The World Wide Web (WWW or just web) is having the most significant impact on education and controversies in education. However, there are technology applications aside from the web, e.g., CD (ROM, RW, DVD) publishing, local area network (LAN) learning modules on campus networks, intranets, and other forms of storage and distribution of learning materials. One of the most significant elements of technology in education has been the "Wonders of Hypertext." Outlets for publishing have become inexpensive or even free. Forums can be found on may topics. There are many providers of resources on the WWW. As an example, students may find many sites of great help in learning about a topic and conducting research. For example, the Study Web at http://www.studyweb.com/ is one such web site.
Computer Aided Teaching (CAT) software is generally termed presentation software. Examples include Microsoft PowerPoint at http://www.microsoft.com and other packages listed under "Presentation software" in Page (Document) 12 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen . Computer aided learning (CAL) software might also be used for CAT presentations. However, CAL packages are intended more for online course modules or entire courses. Examples of CAL software include Macromedia Authorware, Director, Asymetrix ToolBook Instructor, and other options discussed in Chapter 3 and under the definition for "Hypermedia" in Page (Document) 12 at http://www.trininity.edu/~rjensen .
Course management system (CMS) software is very sophisticated. Two examples of software having course management utilities (examination templates, grade books, calendars, etc.) are Macromedia Authorware at http://www .macromedia.com and ToolBook Instructor at http://www.asymetrix.com . Probably the most sophisticated software for managing entire sets of courses or virtual colleges is the ToolBook Librarian package for http://www.asymetrix.com . Librarian is a CMS package that can be used to manage entire sets of courses networked around the world on the WWW.
Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 22:51:25 -0500 (EST)
From: Barry Rice (RICE@LOYOLA.EDU)
Subject: McGraw-Hill World University
Comments: Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia In the Summer 1997 issue of ACCOUNTING EDUCATION NEWS
(http://128.175.20.100/news/summeraen1.html#A),
Joe Schultz, the outgoing president of the AAA says in his President's Message that "Some of the directions for change are not clear for either practice or academe. For example, I believe that we in education now lag practice, especially in understanding the need it has for integrative business knowledge and effective use of technology."
I totally concur but, based on some of the things I am seeing on the Web, I would go a bit farther. I believe that we in college/u
niversity education now lag much of the education available in the corporate world. For example, do you know about McGraw-Hill World University? (http://www.mhwu.edu/mk/tour.html) According to their home page they are now offering associate degree programs in accounting and business management, continuing education and corporate training through the Web. Anybody want to take bets on how long it will be before they are accredited by something more than a distance education organization and are offering bachelor's degrees? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E. Barry Rice, Director, PIC-AECM
Pacioli International Centre for Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia
E-Mail: Rice@Loyola.edu (or) S-Mail: Loyola College in Maryland Pacioli@Loyola.edu
4501 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD USA 21210-2699
My (Barry Rice) assertions: "The traditional classroom is a dinosaur and ought to die!"
"Paper books will not be replaced by CD-ROMs. The WWW/Information Highway will replace them!!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this Page (Document) we provide a revised and updated version of the topics discussed in Jensen and Sandlin (1992a). The Page (Document) focuses on the following areas:
(1) Link to the Introduction This
links to a brief introduction to Chapter 2.
(2) Advantages and disadvantages of email
messaging and paperless courses. One of the most popular ways of
using computers in education is for messaging via private email, ListServ
email, and electronic bulletin board media. One means of reducing paper
flow in a course is to use email both for making assignments and for
receiving completed assignments from students.
(3) Advantages and disadvantages of placing
student work on the Internet. Some educators are sharing all or
parts of each student's work on electronic bulletin boards or public WWW
Page (Document) s.
(4) Advantages and ways to avoid the
dangers of using synchronous CAT presentation lecture aids.
Early attention of educators is generally focused upon course presentation
software for computer aided teaching (CAT) which can be used in authoring
lecture aids. These lecture aids are termed "synchronous"
because they are typically intended for sequential presentations to
audiences.
(5) Advantages and ways to avoid the
disadvantages of asynchronous CAL network learning modules and courses.
Probably the most important impact of technology in education commenced
with the invention of the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1990. Although some of
us were using campus networked learning materials prior to the WWW, the
WWW has led to an explosion of software (e.g., HTML converters/editors,
Adobe Acrobat, Java, Neuron, Shockwave, etc.) that enable instructors to
use the Internet and intranets in a way that puts education in an entirely
new realm. In particular, technical learning can take place in
asynchronous time (at different times for individual students, and at any
time of day), asynchronous paces (self-directed learning paces), and in
geographic locations virtually anywhere in the world. What makes CAL
(fishnet) networking a paradigm shift is the manner in which the duties of
an educator change from a "teacher" to a "learning
facilitator" in a fishnet of learning networks.
(6) Advantages and disadvantages of virtual
learning and MUD-type simulations . The latest trend on the WWW
has been advances in virtual learning as extensions of early applications
of virtual reality in training and entertainment. Multiple User Dimension
(MUD) types of interactive learning simulations are also discussed.
(7) Publisher supplements for CAT, CAL, and
CMS. This Page (Document) provides a detailed discussion of
questions that publishing companies and other vendors of CAL material
should be asked when educators are contemplating using those materials.
(7) Modern technologies versus antiquated
copyright laws This section provides and overview of the turmoil
and uncertainties of protecting intellectual property rights in this era
of digitization and networking.
(7) The Corporate University: New Versus Old Models of Higher EducationThis section examines the rising tide of distributed education by corporations.
(7) Personal conclusion by Professor Jensen
This is a closing of Chapter 2 that contains a personal statement of
Professor Jensen on these years of blood, sweat, and tears of
experimentation in learning technologies.
Probably the fastest growing technology in education is email (electronic mail) communication. The conveniences and cost savings are tremendous. Email suffers from its own success. The time and attention needed in attending to possibly hundreds of messages each week can be onerous. One subset of those messages may come from students if students are allowed to communicate with an instructor via email.
At one level, the student and instructor have "private" communications. These can be infrequent simple messages or they can replace virtually all paper flows to and from students.
At a second level, the instructor forms some type of electronic bulletin board for messaging. Students may or may not be allowed to also post messages. One drawback of bulletin boards is that students must be reminded to use them.
At a third level, the instructor forms a ListServ for each course. The ListServ is similar to a bulletin board except that messages are broadcast into each "subscriber's" private email message box. Students are generally required to subscribe and read the course messages. Students may send messages privately to the instructor or "publicly" to all other students on the ListServ.
At a fourth level, the instructor forms assignments and forums around email connections. Students may be linked to experts on given topics. Students may be linked to different cultures.
Both bulletin board and ListServ messaging in a course allow the instructor to easily (in one broadcast message) post assignments, make announcements, post clues, post entire answers, answer questions, and encourage student "discussions" without their having to schedule face-to-face meetings. Students can be in the middle of an assignment and post a message at any time of day on any day. Some faculty even require or provide other incentives (e.g., bonus points) for certain types of posted messages such as discussion items, answers to questions of other students, reports of web site discoveries, public ListServs, public bulletin boards, etc.
Although most reported experiences by educators using electronic mail in courses are purportedly positive, there are some "blood, sweat, and tears" anecdotes. For illustrative reports of accounting educators, see Page (Document) 4 at ( http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen ).
The main advantages have been speed and convenience. Messages across the world take seconds instead of days or weeks. Having the correct address gives rise to a connection, whereas a correct telephone number gives no assurance that your party is available to answer the phone. A student need not trudge across campus or wait for office hours to contact a professor or another student. Another significant advantage is time shifting. Users are not rudely interrupted as they are when the telephone rings at inconvenient times. Users who receive messages can tend to email when it is convenient.
Valuable class time is not wasted on matters cleared up outside the class. Students contact each other or the instructor at times and places that are most convenient to them (e.g., when they are in the middle of working out an assignment in a computer lab or team project meeting).
Email communications are great sources for published FAQs and answers.
It is highly recommended that instructors commence to compile lists of Frequently Asked Questions that are published at course web sites. For example, see my Page (Document) 11 at my web site. These days, instructors and other students typically write answers in reply to student email questions during the semester. This is a great source of FAQs and answers. If the instructor thinks that both the question and the answer are of interest to present and future students, add this to the FAQ list for the course. Also, vendor technical support services will typically allow questions and answers to be published on an educator's web Page (Document) . It is also helpful to provide links to FAQs published by software and hardware vendors.
Instructors can communicate announcements without having to wait until the class meets.
This can be especially important if there are changes to be made in the syllabus or assignments. Instructors can parcel out clues to assignments on a timed schedule or in response to student inquiries. Also, this becomes a way of distributing answers or comments without having to use up class time. Discussion feedback can be more timely--such as the night after a case discussion rather than next week when details of the case discussion have faded in the minds of students and instructors.
Some students communicate better by email messaging than they do in class or in oral communication settings. Also, there just is not enough time in many classes. The case method is very popular in higher education, especially in business education. When you add up the amount of time devoted to actual case discussion in class by the number of students, the average time allowed for each student may be shockingly small. For example, divide a 70 minute discussion time by 60 students and then make an adjustment for the time used up by the instructor and some dominant students. Perhaps the chance to "get a word in edgewise" may come in the form of the email messaging system before or after a case is discussed in class.
Email communications are "in writing" and can be easily filed and word searched.
For example, on a number of occasions we have used word searches because we remembered that a point was raised but we cannot remember which student sent the message or when it was sent.
Email messages can be printed and filed in a traditional manner.
Printing may be more convenient for grading. Instructors still like to make "red" comments on student work. Also, most instructors still prefer reading printed paper to glaring computer screens. Having students submit email assignments gives rise to all the advantages (electronic filing, word searches, easy email reply messages, etc.) without necessarily losing the traditional hard copy conveniences and traditions. Some assignments might be submitted by students in both email form (for storage and search purposes) and hard copy (to ease the eye strain of the instructor).
This saves on departmental costs of photocopying or printing some course materials. Actually, posting these files as web Page (Document) s has advantages over email due to graphics and the many other advantages of HTML or Adobe Acrobat web Page (Document) s which can be converted from word processor Page (Document) s. However, in cases where the institution provides email support but not web server support, email can be used for posting word processor reports.
Email aids in building team and communication skills.
Student teams often have a difficult time finding times and places where entire teams can communicate. Email makes communication easier because fewer meetings are necessary. Also, distance education teams scattered across the globe can communicate with ease and at low cost.
Email aids in communications with experts and students in other locations.
Professor Alice K. Johnson at Case Western Reserve University structured her International Social Work Course so that her students team up with email partners in Rumania and keep in touch weekly during the course. Her email address is akj3@po.cwru.edu.
Other advantages reported by educators are mentioned in Page (Document) 4 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen .
There are many problems that have undoubtedly contributed to the frustrations of course messaging.
Email messaging can be very labor intensive for course instructors and teaching assistants. In this respect, the instructors pay a price in time and trouble when making active use of a course messaging system. For testimonials by educators, see "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" in Page (Document) 4 at ( http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen ).
There can be chaotic turmoil when setting up and maintaining course electronic mail.
It is not easy to set up a student electronic mail system and each course's ListServ. It is especially difficult if the college opts for a free or low-cost system that is not especially user friendly. For example, many college campuses use the University of Washington PINE system because it is free to the entire college. PINE is not a friendly messaging or full-featured system for students to use. No matter what email system is used, college computing systems are in a constant state of change, and just when an important student assignment is due there will almost always be problems for some students. For example, the particular computer used by a student may be sick with a virus.
Students are prone to losing stored messages and work in progress.
Since we commenced using course ListServ messaging, a few students in every class have requested that we send all earlier ListServ messages because their stored messages disappeared.
A system is needed to verify that student email submissions have been filed by the instructor.
One method is to file the assignments and then reply to each student that the assignment is both received and filed. This still does not solve the problem of students who contend that they sent completed assignments that the instructor did not receive in full.
Most private discussions in a faculty office are not recorded unless the student is "wearing a wire" as they say on police shows on television. When what we say is recorded, we must be more careful about legal liability and careless phrasing. It is more serious to misquote a written communication that exists in black and white than to misquote an oral communication.
Email communications may be permanently filed by students and passed on to future students.
Dormitory and fraternity/sorority filing cabinets have been stuffed over the years with returned assignment answers and examinations. Sometimes, students will pass course notes and case discussion notes along to future students. Email answers and discussions exacerbate the problem in a number of ways. One way is compactness of storage. Another is the ability to file the messages efficiently in "electronic" folders by date, instructor, and main topical areas. Probably the most bothersome problem is the ability to conduct word searches of the entire content of every stored message. Whereas students may find it nearly impossible to find certain items among haphazardly maintained hard copy fraternity files, finding the same thing in files of old email messages may take only seconds of effortless work.
Instructors may have to have a "spare" computer devoted to messaging and network downloading of files that could be infected with viruses. It is foolhearty to rely upon virus detectors to protect your most important computer that should be reserved for files that you know are healthy. Viruses are mutating so fast that nothing is safe other than taking risks on a computer that can be sacrificed to virus deseases. This is analogous to having a "rust bucket" commuter car in Bangor in February so that your prized new car doesn't get infected with daily doses of salt.
Student work is being published on the WWW at an exponential pace. In those instances, students are told at the start of the course that their work will be made available to the general public. For example, see Page (Document) 3 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen for examples of projects and assignments in various courses. In most instances, the students put the Page (Document) s into their own assigned server space, and the faculty member links to those Page (Document) s. In other instances, however, the instructor requests or requires that students post the Page (Document) s into a server controlled by the instructor. A condition to passing the course may be the implicit agreement by a student at the start of the course that some work will be made public. Actually, learning to publish on the web may be one of the objectives of the course. Student grades cannot be made public. Student work can be made public as long as the student knows this to be the case at the beginning of the course. Also, many instructors will honor the request of a student that the work not be posted for the general public.
Similar avenues are available for posting student work on public email bulletin boards or ListServ groups. In the case of email, however, it is more common to only post selected parts of the works of selected students. However, some instructors will share projects of students with all other students via email communications.
Probably the main advantage is improved quality and honesty of student work.
Students make a concerted effort when they know that their work will be available to other students, parents, off-campus friends, prospective employers, past employers, and the public in general anywhere in the world. It also helps if students can see the work of students in prior semesters of the course. They see good and bad points that they would have otherwise overlooked. They have an incentive to improve upon other students' performance on similar assignments. Students should also be warned that work of prior students is stored in databases that can be easily searched for "suspicious phrasing" that the instructor senses he or she has seen somewhere in the past.
Students gain self confidence and take pride in having their work made public.
Publishing student work on the Internet makes students feel that the instructor has enough confidence in their abilities to share their work with the world in the name of the course and the course's instructor.
Scholars in other parts of the world can access the works of a student or the student's professor.
In the past, sharing student work was slow and expensive because of publishing expenses and distribution costs, and, therefore, most student work other than a Ph.D. dissertation never became available throughout the world. In the era of the WWW, students may share any of their projects with the world. Users may find these works with the powerful search engines of the WWW, and it becomes almost a costless way of sharing knowledge. Also the work of a student's professor may become more widely known. Some professors are actively changing from hard copy to web publishing of research. Professor Michael Kearl contends that the main reason he is doing this is the quick and widespread feedback he gets from users of this reasearch.
Students become familiar with how to publish WWW Page (Document) s.
Students learn how to convert word processing Page (Document) s into web Page (Document) s (usually in HTML code) and how to edit these Page (Document) s (HTML tables, frames, links, etc.). They also learn how to FTP files to web servers.
Publishing a term paper on the WWW is not as simple as turning in a printed copy on the table in front of a class. Some students may struggle over and over trying to prepare web Page (Document) s and have them successfully transfer into a web server. Troubled students, in turn, may spell added headaches for the instructor. If the instructor requires WWW publishing, the instructor is ultimately responsible to see that each student's work gets into a server and can be read in a browser. Courses requiring web publishing may require more resources for student assistance, computer labs, web server space, and software Page (Document) ation. Our experience is that most students will have troubles some of the time. and some students will have troubles all of the time. Once again, we refer you to Page (Document) 4 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen for the "Blood, Sweat, and Tears" commentaries.
Glitches in the college's web server system can be frequent and troublesome.
One problem that arose all too often at Trinity University was the shifting of student files from one server to another. Normally this should not even be noticed by WWW users. However, for some reason the shifting of files created "rights" problems in student files such that the faculty and public in general kept getting "Forbidden" access messages when trying to bring up student Page (Document) s on the WWW. Any webmaster will confirm that it is difficult to keep most any web server running smoothly due to hardware malfunctions, hardware upgrades, and other system changes.
Probably the best compromise is to limit that student's web Page (Document) circulation to a restricted audience such as only the instructor and possibly other students in the class. This type of restriction can be achieved in a number of ways, the easiest of which is to not make that Page (Document) 's URL known or linked to any other Page (Document) s.
It is possible for the work of a student to be of horrid quality or in such bad taste that making it public is hardly something that faculty and administrators want associated with the course or the college as a whole. Obviously, unlawful works must be extracted from web servers controlled by the college. Detection of unlawfulness is not necessarily easy, particularly in gray zones of copyright law as applied to technology. Also, some work may be embarrassing even though it is lawful. Possibly the work contains wrong answers or poorly designed research that will mislead rather than help the general public. On the other hand, pulling that student's misleading work from a set of student works made public might be implied as "disclosing" a grade or instructor's evaluation of a student. There are subtle legal implications that make any college nervous about providing web server space to students. This nervousness can only be aggravated by requiring some students to publish their work as part of a course.
An advantage of WWW search engines with mixed blessings is the increased risk students take when plagiarizing in their projects that are made public on the WWW. Instructors, original authors, and anyone else in the world may bring powerful search engines to detect plagiarism. This goes well beyond a student's use of term paper services such as http://www.schoolsucks.com/. An email message distributed by Professor Jensen on December 15, 1996 is quoted below:
In Chapter 2 of the Jensen and Sandlin book, I suggested that the WWW search engines may be good at detecting plagiarism of students. However, until this semester I never put it to the test. In some instances, students may not even be aware that the passages used were ever coded into HTML Page (Document) s anywhere in the world.
You may even be able to find where someone has lifted your own work somewhere in the world. Use your own last name and a few well selected terms (with the + or AND conjunctions) in one of your papers. If you are not cited or even plagiarized as often as you like, do not despair --- Page (Document) s that might soon do so are coming onto the WWW by the thousands each day.
I am amazed at how effective my very first try at detecting sources turned out to be, especially for students who are in that gray zone of plagiarism where they mention the author's name without mentioning where and if it is a quotation or the lifting of an entire passage or Page (Document) . Of course there is still a problem of deciding the seriousness of the violation. If nothing else, you can impress the student by writing in the quotation marks and footnotes that should have been included in the first place.
This search tool may have a dark side. Students who in the past at least mentioned the name of the author (without noting the source or the phrases that were quotes) may be afraid to even mention the author's name since that tremendously narrows a grader's search task. In doing so, the act of plagiarism becomes more blatant and an even stronger violation of academic standards.
I can say now that --- it works with judicious choices of search word combinations, including the name provided by the student. In one example, a student lifted the HTML source code for two Page (Document) s and pasted that code into project Page (Document) s. By using phrases from each of the student's Page (Document) s I was able to not only detect that the Page (Document) s were lifted in text form, I could also use Netscape's "Edit, Page (Document) Source" to match up the source code with the source code in that student's HTML Page (Document) . The matches were perfect.
Bob Jensen , December 15, 1996
Along similar lines, a Computer Science professor by the name of Aaron Konstam writes as follows:
I had never considered plagiarism from the web until Bob Jensen mentioned it. Suddenly I wondered how a student with no known computer expertise could have written a paper containing extensive detail of a new 533MHz chip complete with discussions of BiCMOS technology. Sure enough he had copied it verbatim from the developers web pages.
Thanks to Bob for the tip. Of course now all of us with slow 200MHz processors need to scrap them. Well such is life. -- -------------------------------------------
Aaron Konstam Computer Science Trinity University 715 Stadium Dr. San Antonio, TX 78212-7200 telephone: (210)-736-7484 fax: (210)-736-7477 email:akonstam@trinity.edu
A Professor of Biology (Robert Blystone) at Trinity University followed up on the above two messages with the message shown below:
Return-Path: ( owner-tigertalk@TUCC6.TUCC.Trinity.Edu)
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 96 09:21:08 -0000
Reply-To: tigertalk@TUCC6.TUCC.Trinity.Edu
Sender: owner-tigertalk@TUCC6.TUCC.Trinity.Edu
From: Robert Blystone ( rblyston@tucc7.tucc.trinity.edu)
To: "Tigertalk" ( tigertalk@TUCC6.TUCC.Trinity.Edu)
Subject: Plagerism X-Sender: rblyston@tucc7.tucc.trinity.edu
To the net: I've just been bit. Thanks to Bob and Aaron, I decided to track a paper down. I found a student had literally word for word taken a copyrighted paper off of the WEB. He dummied up the references so he would not have to type as many. I am just furious.
Blystone in Texas
The published work of some students may put the college or university at risk for lawsuits and criminal complicity if no policy is in replace for removing some dangerous web Page (Document) s from web servers.
The obvious risks are Page (Document) s that cause physical dangers such as bomb recipes or illicit weapons trading information or brokering. Illegal activities such as prostitution brokering (is that the right word here?) are inappropriate. Clearly, most universities should have both policies and operational systems for dealing with and detecting illegal web Page (Document) s on their servers. More difficult are those Page (Document) s in gray zones of defamation of character and risks of civil lawsuits for libel and/or economic losses. For example, false claims about product safety, environmental crimes, and other unsubstantiated assertions about people or organizations may cause economic losses and other harm. The gray zone hear lies in the context and wording of the Page (Document) . Things clearly reported as personal opinions are not subject to the same risk as things asserted as facts.
A web Page (Document) of a former student was removed from the web server at Trinity University, because it contained defamatory assertions that the new Director of Security and Safety was a "bXXXX" who had turned the campus into a "Nazi Concentration Camp." In addition, innuendos were made about the sexual behavior of another student on campus. Interestingly, the issue subsequently, after newspaper publicity on the web Page (Document) , became a case study in a Communications Department course taught by Professor Robert Huesca (rhuesca@trinity.edu) at Trinity University. Of course, banned Page (Document) s may resurface off campus. The web Page (Document) in question that was removed from a Trinity University server is back on the WWW at another site http://www.startel.net/users/thomas/trinityindex.html
Current CAT options for educators seeking to author or otherwise modify computer aided teaching and learning materials are available with only a modest starting investment. "Electronic transparencies" have become the most widely used form of CAT. They are used mainly in lectures or other presentations of material in synchronized meeting times. Presentation software aids in lecturing are widely employed, and instructors can easily author such presentations with very little training. These aids are also widely available as textbook supplements and free downloads from sites on the WWW. With minimal effort, these electronic transparencies can be added to, updated, and otherwise modified by the adopters. Computer Aided Teaching (CAT) software is generally termed presentation software. Examples include Microsoft PowerPoint at http://www.microsoft.com and other packages listed under "Presentation software" in Page (Document) 12 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen .
Some educators argue that presentation electronic transparencies are little more than glorified overhead acetates and 35mm slides. This viewpoint overlooks the power of the computer for text searching, random access, hypertext features, hypermedia features, and interactive learning from electronic courses used outside as well as inside the classroom. Medicine and science educators lead in accepting the power of computer visualizations for learning and research. CAL entails far more options than simple electronic transparencies.
There is a downside to using computer assisted teaching (CAT) when it is compared to online computer assisted learning (CAL) which is asynchronous (i.e., which takes place outside the classroom). It is our contention that educators are moving too heavily into electronic transparencies (PowerPoint, Harvard Graphics, etc.) as lecture aids. The real power of newer CAL technologies lies in reducing classroom lecturing. Students can learn assigned topics before class using interactive asynchronous CAL that allows them to progress at their own learning paces. In this way, class time in which the instructor and students meet face-to-face can be devoted to having students do most of the talking in case analyses, skits, presentations, etc.
Traditionally, educators have used chalk boards, flip charts, overhead transparencies (acetates), and 35mm slides. Electronic transparencies commenced with the invention of three beam projectors and LCD panels for projecting computer screens before audiences. Electronic transparencies have grown immensely popular in computer aided teaching (CAT), especially as presentation software became easier to use. Examples of presentation software include Microsoft PowerPoint, Gold Disk Astound, Lotus Freelance, Harvard Graphics, and over 20 other options. These are termed "synchronous" options because they are typically lecture aids intended primarily for sequential presentations to audiences. Some of the many advantages are listed below:
CAT presentation aids might benefit both local and synchronized distance education classes.
The term "distance education" generally refers to scheduled classes delivered to remote sites via video conferencing or computer networks. No matter where the students are assembled, students receive the same lectures and class discussions. In that case, CAT software may enhance the visual aids used in class.
You can enhance research presentations at conferences and seminars.
Have you ever attended conferences where researchers point to overheads that you cannot read? Almost as bad is having to sit in the audience and leaf through pages of the paper while the presenter is talking. Instead, that researcher could have imported parts of the text and graphics into an animated show where graphs, tables, and equations evolve in large size and multiple colors. The presenter can control it all with a remote control. Vast amounts of material can be stored and then used to answer questions from the audience. All equipment necessary for the presentation can be carried in a briefcase.
Many of today's students are incompetent and/or impatient readers. Purists may try to force these young people into becoming avid book readers who long to devour contents of libraries, but realists in modern education assert that purists will thereby fail to reach a large percentage of today's electronic generation. Instructors today have a harder time luring students to class and capturing attentiveness in class. From kindergarten through doctoral seminars, instructors are finding it necessary to vary classroom time between alternative modes of instruction --- videos, cases, role playing, question and answer, lectures, field trips, visiting speakers, mentoring programs, and (possibly) computer-projected teaching and computer network teaching. Jim Wilson (1990) of the Texas Education Corporation states the following after adopting HyperGraphics in electronics training:
When potential students sit in on a class session, they realize how easy it has been made for them to approach learning, and that completely changes the psychology of the classroom. For many, this is perhaps their first positive learning experience. The result is that they stay in class. As outlined above, improved learning results since students' attentiveness is held at a high level throughout the class. (p. 6)
Garland et al. (1992) state the following:
Many of us believe the electronic enhancements make the material easier for students to interpret. These enhancements are not simply a different way of doing things but represent a better way of presenting material. We are providing students with views of our material which printed material and the ordinary lecture cannot provide. There is no way in which a three-dimensional economic production surface can be displayed and rotated in a transparency, a lecture, or a book. But it is easy to do with a computer and display. And once seen, it is simple to explain to students the difficult concepts of returns to scale and returns to a variable input.
You may have taught a course for so long you can almost do it entirely on automatic pilot. Forcing yourself into authoring the entire course will awaken you to new ideas for creativity, innovative ways to animate problem solutions, and searches for relevant material not in the textbook. Some might feel this is more of a one-shot set-up cost, but our experience has shown that we spend as much time revising and updating for repeat usage as for first-time preparations. This is a mixed blessing of CAT due to the time and trouble it takes each day, but it pays off later in the time and trouble it saves us in preparing lessons and off-campus presentations. We also find this "database" helpful in research projects. Our conclusion is that adding updated material is vitally important even if doing so can be a burden if it is done on an almost daily basis.
Most campuses have a network of some type even if it is a network accessible only from computers in the computer center. If networks are not available, CD lesson discs may be loaned to students or placed in computer labs on campus. As indicated previously, our students can replay our lectures and problem solutions at their own learning pace any day at any time of day. Our students spend less time trying to take notes and more time trying to follow the flow of in-class explanations.
You can randomly access your lecture notes during a presentation.
This is especially helpful for returning to earlier parts of the lecture in response to questions from the audience. Both hardcopy hand outs and acetate overhead transparencies are bulky to store and difficult to access without fumbling about. With electronics, you get menus and instant access to entire courses. This especially helps in lecture reviews.
One of the things our students like best is our electronic ability to go over something a second or third time if there was something they missed along the way.
This is especially useful for professors who travel around the globe. Furthermore, you can randomly access these materials to make additions, corrections, and updates at any time and from any place. For example, you can sit in a conference thousands of miles from your school and key in changes to rewritable CDs or remote computer files. Furthermore, those materials that you allow students to copy can be transferred into student computers and other sites around the world. Many educators are now sharing learning modules or complete courses on the WWW and/or on CDs. CD-ROM drives will run the newer rewritable (erasable) CDs recorded on CD-RW recording hardware costing less than $500.
Using a remote control button you might even flash names randomly on the screen. If students are aware that the process is random, it avoids criticisms that the instructor is biased in calling on certain students at certain times (although nothing prevents the instructor from also selectively calling on students if such bias is intentional).
Instructors may use different teaching styles, but students will have all seen the same examples, demonstration problems, etc. This facilitates preparation of common examinations for multiple sections. Examinations can even be administered from the computer in class or in computer labs. Since we personally think total uniformity is seldom ideal, it is also possible to have a uniform base with added materials customized by individual instructors.
For example, one of the frustrating aspects of teaching is having to wait until examination periods to discover that you just were not reaching some students. With electronic response pads, you can ask key questions at any time, get instant frequency distributions of right and wrong answers, and take remedial action while there is still time in the course to reach the students needing added help. Students may also anonymously vote on what material they want covered or reviewed. A long-time user of response pads with ToolBook CAT materials has been Professor Barry Rice (rice@loyola.edu) at Loyola College in Maryland.
For example, in most CAL software it is possible to ask true/false, multiple choice, or short open-ended questions or problems and then have programmed branches for anticipated right or wrong responses. Conditional branches may be programmed so that the student is automatically taken to appropriate remedial lessons depending upon responses given to questions. This allows instructors to concentrate on matters of greater importance during class time, reducing technical detail and allowing time for more overview and case analysis material.
You will discover that new technologies are vastly superior and cheaper than anyone anticipated.
Technical explanations that are hopelessly complex on paper may be much easier and more interesting to follow in animation and video formats. Since users have limited time to devote to the report, having animated graphics, videos, and audio segments may make it easier to absorb more information in less time than that required for reading through printed pages containing the same information. Paivio (1974) reviewed early psychological studies which have shown that visual patterns are more easily comprehended and retained than text and table presentations. The ability of listeners to recall song lyrics versus memorized readings of text demonstrates the importance of audio for long-term memory. Hypermedia is in many ways a natural extension of the demonstrated significance of graphics over text in accounting reports as shown by Beattie and Jones (1992), DeSanctis and Jarvenpaa (1989), Leach (1989), Steinbart (1989), and Wood (1990).
You may expect to have classes where electronic aids will receive lavish praises and blistering complaints in student evaluations. We will now share with you some things learned to date:
Use electronic transparencies and other computer presentations sparingly in class meetings.
These are important on occasion for visualization of complexities and for gaining student attention. However, when used for an entire class, students become exhausted from eye strain. If students have to stare at computer presentations throughout every class taken in a day, they will probably grow brain dead before the end of the day. Some classes call for presentation aids more than other classes. When teaching computer software and WWW sites, use of such presentation aids is very useful for efficient and effective illustrations. Such aids are useful for showing pictures, video clips, etc. They are also useful for introducing complex topics. However, they should mainly be used to introduce topics. In our opinion, technical materials are best learned outside of class when the student can access CAL materials and study these materials at his or her own pace. Class time should be devoted to more variety in giving students air time in case discussions, skits, review games (often in teams), visiting speakers, field trips, and student presentations.
Don't overwhelm students with masses of visual material and/or rapid successions of images.
We have tried to develop complete courses for network users who can then proceed at their own pace. Using this same material in class has tended to overwhelm students and leave them bleary-eyed as we set a rapid pace to cover a fixed amount of material by the end of class. We are discovering that it is probably best to have two sets of files for every course: (1) complete lectures for network use, and (2) condensed lectures for in-class delivery. Details of "the trees" get in the way of seeing the proverbial forest. We experience frustrations when teaching if we do not carefully choose which items to skip prior to showing them on screen and then have to apologetically explain that we "didn't really intend to get into that today."
Since instructors may be so eager to present a lot of electronic animated screens, they may rush material into lectures right up to the starting bell. This sometimes leads to content errors (e.g., incorrect problem solutions), programming errors (from bad spelling to incoherent sequencing), and poor judgments on scope and timing of coverage.
CAT presentations typically move faster than chalk talks, because the instructor does not have to take time to write on the board. As a result, it may be more difficult for students to both concentrate on the presentation and take notes at the same time. When presentation aids are made available (e.g., as web Page (Document) s), this enables students to take notes on the dialog without also having to write down what they see on the presentation aids.
When authoring materials to be presented in class as well as outside of class on computer networks or CDs, provide controls (e.g., buttons) that will change font sizes for use on individual monitors versus in-class presentations. Small fonts are hard to read in class but are more efficient for individual computer monitors.
Avoid displaying masses of text that students can more easily read or search outside the classroom.
In classroom presentations, masses of text take too much time to read and are distracting to students when the instructor is trying to paraphrase the text mass. In general, it is better to use more text and smaller fonts in hardcopy or online lessons, but these formats are not suited for classroom use. These take time to read and are usually boring to students as a standard bill of fare. Also it is tempting for instructors to grow impatient and to flip screens too rapidly for student comprehensive reading. Extending the text requires more highlighting maneuvers, clever programming, and patience in delivery.
In general, frequent shifts in font sizes or styles may be both exhausting and distracting to readers. Conversely, use of different font sizes, colors, and styles may be very useful in outline formats or graphics screens. Font contrasts sometimes make it easier to read rapidly or scan text, but they also encourage this type of reading. One of the advantages of animations is that they can be used for in-class highlighting of passages from text that appears initially in one font size, style, and color.
Use animation sparingly with stop, pause, and continue controls.
Animations can be effective in getting attention if they are not used to a fault. Animated explanations of how something works can be very educational. However, animations can also become boring and dysfunctional. Avoid pointless animations. Pointless animation takes time and can make an audience restless. Animations are great for evolving graph components, showing algebraic manipulations, sequencing bookkeeping entries, building or breaking apart financial statements, highlighting text, etc. They occasionally have humor or entertainment value. Most, not all, college students have progressed beyond the Sesame Street age where animated cartoons are continuously needed to hold learner attentiveness.
Avoid overuse of color or frequent changes in color schemes.
When we first started presenting our CAT shows on other campuses, members of the audiences frequently complained about how we repeatedly changed background colors and color combinations. Repeated changings of colors are bothersome to many learners. Now we tend to author in one combination of colors and change color combinations for reasons we think are appropriate in the lessons. On a given graphics screen, use one color throughout, except where differences are to be highlighted or main points are to be stressed. In a table, different colors might be used to block sets of rows or columns, but pointless rainbow coloring in tables should be avoided.
For example, in the CD-ROM entitled "The Road Ahead" at http://www.roadahead.com by Bill Gates, the initial menu choices are in dark green on a black background. These choices show up on most cathode ray tube monitors but not on most LCD monitors and projection screens.
Be willing to experiment by trial and error using a wide variety of display material and teaching methods. What you think works best the first time may not be as good as things you attempt later on. Don't be content with one good approach or bore students to death with its overuse.
Don't necessarily display all of your lecture notes.
Our electronic classrooms have controls that put the data projector on standby while we continue to view a computer monitor not visible to the class. Instructors can flip through lecture notes and selectively decide which screens to project to the entire class. This helps to reduce reading fatigue of students and highlights the material to be stressed.
Don't simply become a parrot reading aloud what you flash on the screen.
Interject anecdotes, questions, and comments that are not programmed.
Don't expect a lot of advance preparation to eliminate the need for before-class preparation.
You usually cannot or should not program every detail of both a problem and its solution. It is tempting in the rush of all we do to think that you can avoid last minute preparations and will recall enough detail as your electronic show evolves. It's really embarrassing when you are presenting detailed steps in solutions to problems that you cannot recall at the moment.
Don't use electronic materials as an excuse to not change textbooks.
One technique which can be used to avoid teaching on automatic pilot is to change textbooks (not just new editions) nearly every time a course is taught. If you have sunk a great deal of time into authoring your own electronic solutions to end-of-chapter problems, however, it becomes frustrating to throw all that sunk time down the drain by changing texts and having to program a new set of problem solutions. Thus CAT may become an added excuse for some faculty not to change textbooks. We urge you to avoid automatic pilot teaching with electronic aids just as we urge you to avoid it without such aids. Be willing to change texts often and program new materials each time you teach the course.
Probably the most important things you can do as a professor is know your students on a first name basis and motivate them into life-long action. Remember this when programming your electronic materials! Your presentations can be devoted to motivational materials and social concerns as well as technical problem solutions. Try to be creative in presentations and not simply reproduce the solutions manual in colored animation.
Obtain student feedback on classroom presentations.
CAT presentation aids and student response pads may have positive and negative impacts on student motivation, student interactions, and evaluations. Studies reported in the literature are difficult to generalize to particular settings. It is best that you obtain regular feedback from students. One thing we have discovered is that what we sometimes thought was a great CAT aid elicited neutral or even negative feedback from students. It may not be the aid itself as much as the way the aid is used. For example, students get lost when presentations move too quickly or do not fully explain how to progress between particular stages of a solution or task.
Watch out for copyright violations.
Because academic authors have become accustomed to citing ideas and short quotations from academic literature without always formally obtaining written permission for such citations, it is tempting to carry this practice over into hypertext/hypermedia authoring. It is terribly inconvenient to have to obtain permission for each item cited. Also there is a tendency to photocopy (without permission) longer portions of the literature for use by students on a nonprofit basis. Carrying such practices into hypertext/hypermedia authoring may be unethical or illegal in many instances even if works are cited and no profits are involved. For a summary of the dangers in copyright infringements, see Rodarmor (1993). At present, laws are being proposed that may impose greater restraints than the current copyright law. Presentations may contain audio and video excerpts that were not purchased in an appropriate manner. This felony gets compounded if these materials are later given to students (e.g., in a computer file) that makes it easy for them to copy and distribute pirated material.
Readers may want to refer to a special document given on on asynchronous network learning (ALN) at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/255wp.htm. The Table of Contents for the above document is as follows:
Definitions of asynchronous learning along with online slide shows on the topic are given at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/255wp.htm#Tools
Experiements at the University of Illinois are discussed at http://w3.scale.uiuc.edu/scale/
Weblinks to this topic are given in Page (Document) 3 of ( http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen ) where the use a browser search phrase "Virtual Education and Research" will speed the search for these links. These links include virtual colleges, virtual research, and virtual libraries. Possible uses of the Internet by practicing accountants and some interesting site addresses are given by Cohen (1995). Internet sites for accounting educators are discussed in Chapter 4. Internet sites for educators in general are given in Page (Document) 3 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen . CAL options discussed below can also be used selectively in class for lecture aids.
In contrast to synchronous CAT lectures, CAL asynchronous learning modules are for use outside the classroom. Asynchronous learning takes place at each student's learning pace and in sequencing that may be different than other students taking the same course. Unlike "distance education" via scheduled classes in a video conference setting, asynchronous education is termed "distributed education" via computer networks and/or CD files. Professor Jensen expects his students to learn most technical information before class so that students are given more "air time" in class to show what they have learned. Class time is devoted to case discussions, visiting speakers, student skits, Jeopardy-type review sessions for student teams, student presentations, etc.
By far the most important education paradigm shift resulting from emerging technologies is the ability to place learning materials (modules, courses, or complete "virtual" college degree programs) on a network server and distribute these materials either across the campus or across the world. These include CDs that may be networked physically (e.g., by checking them out from a departmental secretary), networked on a server CD jukebox, or mailed to remote users to use in conjunction with a course that is on the WWW. Because of bandwidth limitations, hypermedia animation, audio, and video portions of networked courses may be placed on mailed CDs. In 1992, Professor Jensen commenced putting hypermedia learning modules for students using his ToolBooks on the Trinity University campus server. In 1996, he added public WWW Page (Document) s for the general public at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen , and the only thing that keeps him from sharing all learning modules with the general public is that some campus server files have copyright restrictions that he cannot legally share on the entire WWW. For example, he has been given permission to use hundreds of audio and video clips for his students, but many of these are not licensed for public distribution. Similarly, some databases on his CD-ROMs are licensed for display only on campus. Most of his learning materials are on the campus server and on CDs that he has recorded for his students and shows.
CAL on networks is a paradigm shift when the instructor becomes more or a learning "facilitator" than a "teacher." Students are expected to do most of their "discovery" learning at their own paces from campus servers and WWW servers. They are networked like fishnet to web sites around the world that provide them with libraries, databases, learning materials provided by experts (including the instructor) anywhere on the globe, and search engines. For projects, students may contact experts by email. The instructor "facilitator" may arrange in advance for selected experts to become email mentors to individual students or teams of students.
CAL is even more of a paradigm shift when entire colleges become "virtual" colleges that offer degrees to students by courses or other modules on Internet sites, intranet sites, video conferencing sites, CD mailings, ListServ sites, and private email tutoring. Asynchronous CAL in networks is especially ideal for new college markets in lifelong learning of alumni and other adults. Examples are given below.
The main advantages of asynchronous CAL are that student learning is self-paced and interactive.
In this regard, course materials on CDs, campus servers, and web servers serve much of the same role as textbooks and course handouts in days of old. However, modern technologies enable students in CAL modules to interact with dynamic simulations and possibly even "live" people willing to have dialogs (usually via email) while the student is using the CAL material. Remote interactions may take place with the instructor, other students, or experts around the globe. In expensive network modules used by the military and some corporations, the experts are on call for telephone or video conferencing with students almost any time and any day. The most common use of asynchronous CAL at the moment is in conjunction with scheduled local or distance education classes. Asynchronous CAL can be a substitute for scheduled classes, but this is not usually the case in most colleges.
Educators can experiment in creative ways using unique and intriguing WWW sites.
Harvard Business School at
http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu:8000/groups/new_media/Manager/series.html
Page (Document) s CD-ROM cases utilizing interactive hypermedia. Some
innovative ways that "daring professors" are using technologies
in education are Page (Document) ed with text and audio in Page (Document)
4 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen.
For example, a rather weird and intriguing site is a interactive
interview that you (the web user) piece together between the famous
Marshall McLuhan and Tom Wolfe. The web site is at
http://www.fis.utoronto.ca/mcluhan/adam/@home.htm
and a quote from that web site is as follows:
These are citations from Marshall McLuhan's interview with the writer Tom Wolfe. They are removed from their conversational context, and thus are presented as self reflective statements that can act as departing points to a myriad of other interviews. This is your interview with McLuhan! It might lead to a different road, the road of arriving at knowledge is multiple. You may address these citations from any direction or angle that seems to you to offer additional views between the lines of communication.
The interactive web site described above is an intriguing but very
confusing web site. However, it is featured on a Web Communications Course
given by Robert
Huesca in the
Communications
Department at Trinity University.
We am now in the process of turning the above web site into a "dynamic"
web site with ToolBook Instructor/Neuron. In particular, my additions will
feature audio and video clips from Professor Huesca regarding how he uses
this site in his actual course. He also uses the site of a former Trinity
student to feature problems of libel in web
publishing. We will also add audio and video clips on how Professor
Huesca uses that site in his course. At present, We have videotape of five
professors (from biology, computer science, sociology, classical studies,
and communications) commenting upon how they use particular web sites in
their courses. Some of these professors are beginners at using the WWW in
courses, and it is interesting to track their suceesses and failures.
Local and distance education is usually expensive and requires that students assemble at given times in designated sites for each "class." It is possible to deliver "virtual" courses completely by computer networks and CD files such that the expenses of classroom buildings, student housing, and even live instructors are reduced or eliminated entirely. Students that must stay at home because of families, handicaps, or other restrictions now have much better options than traditional correspondence courses. Business firms reap huge savings if employees do not have to incur travel costs for training and the lost time spent in traveling. The cost of a virtual college degree is only a fraction of what tuition, fees, room, and board cost at state and private campuses. For example, the University of Phoenix at http://www.uophx.edu/ has extensive undergraduate programs averaging under $5,000 per year. Students who can live at home with parents or working spouses while taking virtual courses can obtain accredited degrees for a lot less money that other alternatives. Some experiments have shown higher student performance in networked CAL vis-a-vis traditional education and training courses. Different levels of asynchronous CAL are emerging. Examples are listed below:
· Level 1: Local campus education aids for learning prior to and during scheduled classes on a local campus. One of the more innovative CAL experiments commenced Fall Semester 1996 with the CUBE Program at Pennsylvania State University. Penn State and the Irwin publishing company entered into a contract for most core business courses whereby there would be no required hard copy textbooks. Learning materials provided by Irwin and custom materials authored by instructors are contained on a campus server that Irwin helped to finance. Courses can become entirely paperless at the discretion of instructors.
· Level 2: Distance education aids for learning prior to scheduled classes at remote campuses. The concept is the same whether students reside on or off campus. There can be technology difficulties, however, if students off-campus cannot access some campus hardware and software. For example, students off campus perhaps can use the Internet without being able to access the entire campus or departmental network server system.
· Level 3: Scheduled face-to-face (live or remote video) classes may be reduced in number or entirely eliminated. Distributed education and training modules are replacing some scheduled classes. Serious research in virtual education is underway at http://zeta.is.tcu.edu/~blobert/vle/project.html at Texas Christian University. Both the military and corporations are making extensive use of CAL replacements for training and education. Some corporations such as Microsoft and Apple offer fee-based training courses to the public. Many prestigious universities such as Duke, UCLA, and the University of Virginia have added online distributed education courses. The Home Education Network at http://www.then.com/index.html is affiliated with UCLA and offers six week sessions on various topics. An essay that includes MUD and MOO technologies in virtual education is given by Jessica Chalmers at http://www.musenet.org/~bkort/EdMud.html. MOO technologies soared to new heights at the University of Florida in the MOOville Writing Workshop for over 2500 students each semester. Rather than classes in the traditional sense, students build workspaces in MOOville, conduct discussions on line, and critique each other without face-to-face encounters. For terminology definitions see Page (Document) 12 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen . CAL packages are intended more for online course modules or entire courses. Examples of CAL software include Macromedia Director, Asymetrix ToolBook Instructor, and other options discussed in Chapter 3 and under the definition for "Hypermedia" in Page (Document) 12 at http://www.trininity.edu/~rjensen.
· Level 4: Entire programs or colleges may go online. Virtual colleges that offer complete degree programs using asynchronous CAL (with the possibility of some scheduled video conferencing classes) may go online. The Western Governors Virtual University (WGVU) will commence classes in Fall 1997. This was originally proposed by the Governors of 21 states west of the Mississippi (including Guam and Western Samoa). However, only 13 Governors to date came up with funding to seed the WGVU (sometimes termed Western Virtual University or Western Governors University). The URL links for WGVU and many other virtual colleges are given in Page (Document) 3 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen and can be located more quickly by using the term "Virtual Education and Research" in the browser search utility. Courses in WGVU will be distributed from accredited colleges within the western part of the United States. The latest trend is for publishing firms to offer courses for credit as commercial products and services on the Internet. For example, McGraw-Hill World University is online.
An experiment using this approach is taking place at Texas Christian University as reported in http://zeta.is.tcu.edu/~blobert/vle/project.html .
For example, see some of the fun and educational experiments reported in Page (Document) 4 at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen . For example, Professor Barry Rice at Loyola College in Maryland sends his students off on WWW scavenger hunts.
Colleges are expanding their markets with ALN in lifelong learning programs.
MIT is focusing upon lifelong learning modules for alumni and the public in general. A high-level committee report at MIT is available at
http://www-evat.mit.edu/report/models.html .
Both better student performance and higher evaluations of instructors can result.
Education research from kindergarten through graduate school has shown improved student learning performance can be achieved when instructors adapt technology to suit their own teaching methods and biases. Student evaluations obviously are subject to many variables. Using CAL asynchronous materials badly won't help instructors achieve high evaluations, but using this technology wisely has been shown to improve student evaluations of their instructors. Students appreciate being able to learn technical materials at their own learning paces. Rather than having boring in-class lectures every period, students can become more involved in classes with skits, lesson review games (possibly in teams), role-playing live cases, and student presentations of various types.
You must ultimately adopt new learning technologies in your courses and program curricula.
Probably the single most important reason for change will be the dominance of the WWW in virtually all higher education disciplines. The WWW is becoming the main library of the world. Students of the next century will have to know how to navigate networks of the world. Government, library, educator, and corporate data will soon be available on vast file servers of the information highways. As pointed out initially in this book, the roles of professors will be changing as follows:
· Course instructors will play a larger role in inspiring students to want to learn more about a subject and a smaller role in explaining that subject to students.
· Course instructors will spend more time authoring hypermedia materials that will be available on campus networks, intranets, and the WWW.
· Course instructors will play a much greater role in selecting learning goals and helping students to choose from a mind-boggling multimedia library of worldwide learning material that will build at an exponential rate in the next century.
· Some instructors will build international reputations for creativity in authoring
