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One feature of the new technologies is their ability to provide students with huge quantities of up-to-date information. At Vanderbilt University, instructors have incorporated digital photographs taken from various laboratory demonstrations, such as DNA gels, into a series of tutorials that students use to learn basic biological concepts. "Once we started making these tutorials, we realized that they were an extremely valuable medium," says Steve Garrison, systems analyst for the Department of Molecular Biology, "because we can update them on the fly and all students have access to them." Electronic communications also are beginning to transform the social dynamics of college classes. At Emory University, for example, an e-mail and bulletin board system has given a voice to students too shy to raise their hands in class. "Sometimes the strongest participants are those who feel protected by their ability to think about what they're saying," says Patricia Marsteller, one of the developers of the system. In addition, students have used the system to increase interactions among themselves — for example, by putting their resumes with pictures on the network. "Rather than just coming to the lecture, students stay to talk with people because they've seen their resumes," Marsteller says. Some of the educational benefits of electronic networks do not require physical proximity. At the University of North Dakota, the Interactive Video Network (IVN) connects 16 different institutions of higher education, including the five 2-year colleges that make up the state's Tribal College System. A single instructor can teach students scattered throughout the state, with the video screen displaying the person who has spoken most recently. "It's different than a canned lecture because of the interactivity," says professor Albert Fivizzani, who chairs the biology department at the university. Also, information can flow in any direction, not just from instructors to students. "Students and faculty at the tribal colleges can provide information to us as well," Fivizzani observes. As technologies develop, the interconnectivity among systems is rapidly expanding — as exemplified by the explosive growth of the World Wide Web. Both students and faculty members have begun using electronic Web browsers regularly to surf the Internet and gather information from computers located anywhere from across campus to around the world. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, computer communications have been undergoing a steady migration to the Web. Professors put syllabuses, problem sets, students' papers, tests, video clips, and other materials online, creating a vast network of interconnected information that anyone can access. Hundreds of student and faculty home pages contain photos, personal observations, and almost anything else that can be expressed in text and graphics. "What we're doing is creating communities of people who don't have to be in the same place," says Gregory Jackson, director of academic computing at MIT. "Electronic communication breaks down all kinds of barriers of space and time." The Web is not suited to all forms of academic computing, Jackson notes. It is good for moving information from one computer to another for display or storing, but it can be maddeningly slow. Locating desired information can be frustrating, and software generally must be downloaded rather than being used online — although this is beginning to change. Indeed, new enhancements are likely to expand the capabilities of the Web significantly. Exactly how the technology will evolve is anyone's guess; after all, the Web itself was developed just a few years ago. The explosion of information technologies in academia raises a host of
tantalizing questions. Will lectures eventually be replaced by electronically
mediated presentations, with professors working one on one or in small groups
with students? If electronic communications become the norm, what will be
the effects on residential campuses? Will electronic communications augment
the person-to-person connections that have been at the heart of effective
teaching, or will they supplant those connections? These are difficult questions
to answer, but they will be critical to the future of undergraduate education.
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The University of North Dakota uses its Interactive Video Network to link classrooms at a far-flung network of colleges, including the state's five tribal colleges. Paired monitors show the instructor and remote classrooms.
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killed teachers have used active learning techniques for many years.
But college faculty members now have access to a new set of tools that can
bring engaging, individualized learning to every student's desktop. Information
technologies, ranging from videotapes and laser disks to powerful computing
and communications technologies, have the potential to recast the relationship
between teachers and students. The challenge facing colleges and universities
is to ensure that this change improves undergraduate education. 
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