The rapid increase in technological advances over the past half-century -- including increased dependence on computers, the Internet and other information technology -- has created a world in which an overabundance of information is available at the simple click of a mouse.
The University has changed to fit into the new technological mode and professors from all departments now utilize technology in some respect, whether it is to conduct class roll or to post video-taped lectures on the Internet.
History Prof. Brian Balogh said he takes advantage of technological innovation in his United States history class, "Viewing America."
"If you were to list some of the significant changes in postwar America, one of them would certainly be the explosion of media with the emergence of television, computers and the Internet," Balogh said. "It is a natural to let students see different sources first hand, so I try to let students see and touch primary sources as much as possible. The World Wide Web is a good way to give them access to these resources."
Balogh has an extensive Web site for his class that includes video clips that are shown during lecture.
The Web site also features a Flash-based timeline that highlights all the major events covered in the class. By clicking on the various events, students can access a brief description, picture and, in most cases, a video clip.
Media Studies Prof. David Golumbia said he also employs technology for his classes.
"I think technology can supplement the classroom processes," Golumbia said. "For example, I utilize the library's digital delivery service. The library will scan in books and deliver them in pdf files, which are much more convenient because a reserved book can only be taken out one at a time."
Other professors who use Power Point slides will post their entire lectures on the University's Toolkit Web site for their students to use as a study tool.
Physics Prof. Lou Bloomfield posts videos of his lectures for his "How Things Work I" class.
First-year College student T.J. Ensele currently is taking the Engineering class "Foundations of Computer Science." In that class, Prof. David Evans posts his lecture notes on the class Web site and also provides links to articles that supplement the topics of study in the class.
"The links aren't entirely applicable to the class itself but allow us to expand out knowledge if we so desire," Ensele said.
Technology will continue to be integrated into the usual classroom experience as the University strives to stay up-to-date with the cutting-edge innovations the world will continue to produce, Golumbia said.
Balogh also said as part his "Viewing America" class, students create their own Web-based unit and he teaches the best one as the final unit of the class.
"This really makes the class interactive and participatory and allows the students to have a say in the course," Balogh said. "This would be very difficult without the Web."
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