September 1998 CLAS notes

Dean: Will Harrison harrison@chem.ufl.edu Editor: Jane Gibson jgibson@clas.ufl.edu Assistant Editor: Ronee Saroff rsaroff@english.ufl.edu Graphics: Gracy Castine gracy@clas.ufl.edu

Utilizing New Technologies Support Information and Faculty Feedback

In August, CLAS notes put out a general APB to CLAS departments requesting feedback from faculty who have recently worked with new technologies in teaching and publishing. Your replies reflected the variety of venues in which computers and the Internet are being used in academia. A few of these responses follow.

Instructional Technology
"The benefits are clear. The net can provide students with access to a range of material that is otherwise unavailable or available only at prohibitive cost in terms of time and resources. Simply teaching students how to use the Web is, in my judgement, a suitable goal for these transitional times. On the other hand, I'm less impressed by the use of the net simply as a kind of archive. Yes, we can use it to post material that would otherwise be handed out, but so what? To me, the real challenge and opportunity is to incorporate it in our teaching as an enhancement."--Ken Wald (Political Science).

Faculty work on computers in the FSC's "Faculty Work Room" (2215 Turlington)

     As part of a mini sabbatical project (Spring 1997) Wald revised and adapted one of his upper-division courses (POS 4192) to incorporate the World Wide Web as an instructional device. Wald's report on the project, which he intends to eventually publish, details the sometimes frustrating process of finding the right infrastructure support, evaluates the impact his newly designed course had on his students (the student survey data he includes is quite interesting), and discusses the potential multimedia has for innovating teaching.
     Guerry McClellan (Geology) also recently revamped one of his courses to include web support. Last spring, he taught GLGY 1001 in one of UF's 17 multimedia-equipped classrooms. "I was lucky enough to use L011 for my lectures so it was completely equipped. I did use the Internet for a few demonstrations, but mostly added URLs to my lecture outline for additional visual and technical information." Without the benefit of a semester off to plan and prepare, McClellan's experience was slightly less positive than Wald's. One of McClellan's main problems was the inability to access the CLAS server from a home computer (meaning all the work he did at home to design his page and add periodic updates, announcements or additions to his syllabus had to be brought in to campus and uploaded). Says McClellan, "I got it to work. Mostly on my own, by reading, and getting off-campus help. I got a lot of personal satisfaction out of it, but have increasing doubts about the future of computer-based learning."
     McClellan had more luck in engaging students in a class that featured concrete computer applications: "Last summer, I taught a small class in using spreadsheets to solve environmental problems. The students were very pleased to acquire applications for the abstract computer techniques they had learned in other courses. It was a great experience for me too. Many students have not made the connection between learning computer skills and actually using them. That is an area where students need help."
     Frederick Gregory (History) is presently teaching a course with the help of the web: "I must say that as I was preparing for my first class and reviewed the web readings students had been assigned, I had the feeling that my course was more exciting than it used to be. The use of technology imparts a certain sense of relevance that is likely not deserved, but is nevertheless there. If it helps to motivate interest, then I'll take it."

Internet Publishing
     From Norm Holland (English): "I've been published on-line several times now, and I myself edit an Internet journal, PSYART: A Hyperlink Journal for the Psychology of the Arts. (Incidentally, Buzz Holling in Zoology runs a superb journal on-line, Conservation Ecology, and Buzz helped me get started.)
     "The journal that published me, Buzz's journal, and my own are all refereed and are just as respectable as any print journal. Clearly e-publication is the wave of the future, given the cost of print publication and library purchasing and storage. You have the advantage of a very fast editorial process. You can include illustrations, even audio recordings and film clips. You have at least the potential of immense circulation. The printed scholarly publication belongs to another age."
     Although Raymond Gay-Crosier (Romance L and L) is skeptical about the future of Web publication, he did have this to say about using the Web as a research springboard: "Having just completed an extensive thematic bibliography that I placed in late July on the Web as part of a series of informational resources, I can tell you that such a research instrument, if geared to the users, generates almost instant and world wide reactions. E-mail messages alone indicated that within hours after being posted, colleagues and students as far as Australia and South Africa were gratefully acknowledging the availability of such a structured up-to-date bibliography. Moreover, it will remain under perpetual revision and the dates at the beginning always indicate when the last update occurred."
      Two interesting perspectives about how Internet publishing affects and is affected by print journals can be found at the Campaign for the Freedom of Distribution of Scientific Work site (http://rerumnatura.zool.su.se) and in an on-line issue of American Scientist which features an article on Internet publishing by UF entomologist Tom Walker (http://www.sigmaxi.org/amsci/articles/98articles/walkerweb.html).

Recruiting Students
"Being on-line is expected. If a student looking for a certain program/department can not find it on-line, the student may interpret the program as not being up-to-date or not having enough resources. Also, having information on the Web reaches MANY more people."--John Laibson (Academic Advising).

Support Services at UF
By far the greatest concern among professors responding to the CLASnotes inquiry was the availability of support. There is an array of tech support available, but as the acronyms can be confusing (CIRCA, OIR, FSC, CLASnet and MSP), here is a brief definition of each of these groups and the services they offer:

CLASnet - Maintains CLAS server, provides e-mail, web-space, network file and print sharing and other networking services to over 1,000 users in 30 CLAS departments. CLASnet also maintains the network wiring in 11 CLAS buildings. CLASnet does not provide help in designing Web pages. *Note: Some departments in CLAS have their own servers with networking staff and resources and therefore don't use CLASnet. See CLASnet Web page for details: http://web.clas.ufl.edu/clasnet/. Both the CLASnet page and the CLAS "Creating Web Pages" Web site (http://web.clas.ufl.edu/dean/technology/primer.html) offer detailed information on creating Web pages and finding assistance.

CIRCA - Center for Instructional Research Computing Activities (http://web.circa.ufl.edu/), which maintains campus computer labs and offers e-mail and Internet connections and support (mainly for students) has now merged with OIR, the Office of Instructional Resources (http://www.oir.ufl.edu/).

OIR (see CIRCA, above) - provides resources and equipment to assist faculty in their teaching activities, including multimedia support and photography and graphics. OIR's for fee services include flatbed and 35mm slide scanning, video and audio capture and CD creation. Judy Shoaf of OIR has written a handout on creating web pages with Netscape on the CLAS server. You can find it at http://web.clas.ufl.edu/llc/webmain.htm.

FSC - Faculty Support Center (http://www.fsc.ufl.edu/) in 2215 Turlington Hall, a division of OIR/CIRCA is designed to assist faculty in the use of computers and in the development of computer-enhanced instructional materials. Their Web page offer links to many helpful sites in instructional design and setting up courses using multimedia. FSC provides faculty forums on teaching and technology and hands-on seminars for faculty and staff in using computers and designing Web pages.
FSC includes a "Faculty Workroom" where instructors can work independently or with student consultants on course Web pages or other multimedia concerns (M-F, 8:30-5:00 on walk-in basis or by appointment). OIR's "Instructional Design Center" (IDC), also in 2215 Turlington, employs instructional designers to assist faculty who are developing distance education courses.
** If you've never created a Web page before, the first step is attending one of the FSC training courses. This will give you the skills necessary to construct a basic page with links. Then, contact your department's computer contact (see list at http://web.clas.ufl.edu/clasnet/dept_contacts.html) to help you post your page on the server. Thereafter, you may update or enhance your page in the FSC Workroom.

MSP - Multimedia Support Program, also a division of the Office of Instructional Resources (see http://www.msp.ufl.edu/), equips and supports UF's 17 multimedia classrooms and 9 multimedia carts (portable equipment for normal classrooms). MSP trains and consults with faculty on the use of multimedia equipment for classroom instruction. Their phone number, for training appointments or classroom tech emergencies, is 2-6683.

UCET - University Center for Excellence in Teaching, Rolfs Hall 109. UCET will be hiring a support person who, as the faculty liaison to CLASnet, will assist faculty in applying computer technology to their courses. One of the pedagogical questions UCET seeks to explore is whether or not (and to what extent) student learning is enhanced by instructors' use of technology in the classroom. As part of this ongoing exploration, UCET is organizing a series of sessions this Fall in which faculty share experiences integrating new technologies in their teaching. Michael Martinez (Political Science) will conduct the first session (time and date TBA). UCET is looking for faculty interested in leading future sessions. Call Nadine at UCET (6-1574). The upcoming issue of the Innovator, UCET's newsletter, will be devoted to IT issues.