Technologies inside the Classroom

Effective use of computers in classrooms first requires that faculty members have computers or terminals on their desks, with network connections, access to laptop computers, and standard presentation graphics packages such as Freelance Graphics from Lotus and PowerPoint from Microsoft.

Growth in the classroom use of computing is a slow process. It depends on a balance between expanding and improving the necessary computational infrastructure (including hardware, software, and support) and encouraging demand for this infrastructure. Funds need to be set aside for on-going expenditures, so that a faculty member can decide on something he or she needs during a fiscal year, have it purchased and installed, and try it out. Obtaining modest funding for innovations in computer-aided instruction should not require waiting for the next annual budget cycle.

Some new faculty members who grew up with digital technology will help to increase demand, both directly and by example. Other approaches to promoting use of this technology include:

• Individual faculty members can be chosen as champions and given some form of compensation to act as mentors to their colleagues for a specified period of time.

• Incentive systems can be adjusted to reward faculty members for innovative use of computers.

• The ACC or other computational centers on campus can target groups of faculty members, taking a more active role in promoting the use of specific packages or technologies.

A crucial requirement is that faculty members not be penalized unnecessarily for incorporating technology. One such penalty is a poor reaction from students if the classroom technology is too slow or does not work as expected; if support in computer labs is inadequate; or if students are expected to buy software packages for their own computers. Another form of penalty is significant time spent struggling with technical difficulties in creating assignments, demonstrations, and lectures that use technology. Therefore two overarching principles must be:

1. Technology which is promised will be provided and will work. This means, for example, that when a faculty member walks into a classroom planning to use the computer, the projected display will be perfectly legible to all the students in the room, the needed software will be loaded on the computer, and the computer will be powerful enough to prevent dead times during the class. Reiss 103 is one example of a classroom that meets these technical requirements.

2. Faculty members should be able to count on adequate software support for themselves and in computer labs for students. This means that when a faculty member gives an assignment that uses the computer, there should be regular hours during which well-trained consultants are available to help the students, documentation and training materials including videos and on-line tutorials should be readily available, and the software should run without tortuous delays.

• Options for Computers in Classrooms