CREATING 21ST CENTURY ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Incorporating Technology with Teaching

Strong signs suggest that 21st century academic programs will rely heavily on technology to enhance and deliver course content. Already Brooklyn College offers several programs that encourage and support faculty interested in incorporating technology with their teaching.

The Advisory Committee on Academic Computing

Naomi Bushman
(Department of Educational Services/Computer & Information Science), Chair

Irwin Cohen
(Chemistry)

Paisley Currah
(Political Science)

Andrew Delamater
(Psychology)

Donald Gerardi
(History)

Chaya Gurwitz
(Computer & Information Science)

Hardy Hansen
(Classics)

Nicholas Irons
(Academic Information Technologies, ex officio)

Lori Scarlatos
(Computer & Information Science/Academic Information Technologies; ex officio)

Howard Spivak
(Academic Information Technologies; ex officio)

Mark Gold
(Computer Center, ex officio)

Steve Little
(ITS; ex officio)

The Advisory Committee on Academic Computing (ACAC) is the backbone of the academic computing program, providing the Academic Information Technologies staff and the College as a whole with valuable faculty guidance on both policy and operational issues, including those related to the use of technology in teaching. Among the Committee's contributions in 1997-1998 were:

A vision statement for academic computing at Brooklyn College
Guidelines for a basic faculty computer equipment configuration, as well as a replacement cycle
A statement on academic issues related to distance education, including intellectual property and workload

ACAC also conducted evaluations of several Web course authoring packages, including WebCT, Web Course in a Box, and TopClass. The goal was to identify software that provides easy paths for adding exams, grade book management, conferencing, and a range of other features to faculty course sites. The packages were tested from both the developer's and the student's point of view. In the end, ACAC recommended a combination of locally designed templates and databases, and the conferencing package Caucus. This solution provides for ease of development, maintenance, and access, while enabling faculty to individualize their sites' "look and feel."

The Technology Representatives
http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/anthro/techrep

Each academic department selects a faculty Technology Representative as its liaison to the academic computing program. A new Web page designed by Technology Representatives coordinator Arthur Bankoff (Anthropology) provides significant resources for the Representatives. It serves as a place where their questions can be answered, while helping the Academic Information Technologies (AIT) staff better understand faculty needs.

Faculty Fellows

This year's Faculty Fellows produced a pair of excellent projects. Arthur Bankoff (Anthropology) developed a virtual textbook, a model employing self-directed learning, testing, and communication with broad applicability for all disciplines. Lilia Melani (English) interviewed her sixty-odd peers in the English department, then compiled a group of Internet sites to support each person's individual teaching and research interests. The Faculty Fellows program is a competitive one which provides released time to those selected.

WebCore
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore

Because the reach of the Core Curriculum is so broad and deep (every student is required to take each of the 14 courses in this sequence) the College has centered many of its technology-and-teaching initiatives in the Core.

In 1997-1998 the WebCore project began its second year. Through bi-weekly training sessions co-sponsored by the Advisory Committee on Academic Computing and the staff of Academic Information Technologies, a group of 20 faculty learned "the basics" of building Web pages to support their Core Curriculum teaching. Two years into this program, Brooklyn College now has a solid base of "HTML literate" faculty able to go further in their Web development work--and many of them have moved on to the more advanced Virtual Core program.

The Virtual Core

The Virtual Core project also continued to grow and thrive in its second year. Using what we have come to call the Brooklyn Model for Web-based instruction (two-thirds in-class/one-third on-line), faculty created and taught the College's first partially virtual courses. The developers (many of them "graduates" of the 1996-1997 WebCore class) were supported with equipment, wiring, and released time. These faculty Web sites are representative of those developed:

http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/ahp/SDV2.html
John Blamire
Core Studies 8.1: Science at a Distance: An Experiment in Virtual Learning

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/history/core/c4dgmain.htm
Donald Gerardi
Core Studies 4: The Shaping of the Modern World

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/classics/hansen/coretop9.htm
Hardy Hansen
Core Studies 1: Classic Origins of Western Culture

In September 1997, a $650,000 grant from the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) brought federal dollars to support faculty developers for the College's first group of completely virtual courses. This project is discussed below under BUILDING BRIDGES TO THE COMMUNITY.

Another project, The Virtual Core (supported by a $320,000 grant funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education) will begin in fall 1998. It is here that Virtual Core activities will be centered for the next three years, as the "two-thirds in-class/one-third on-line" Brooklyn model is expanded to the rest of the Core Curriculum by a group of new faculty developers. The participants include:

Co-Project Directors

Barbra Higginbotham (Library/AIT)
John Blamire (Biology)

Faculty Mentors

Hardy Hansen (Classics)
Donald Gerardi (History)

Faculty Developers

Timothy Shortell (Sociology)
Core 3: People, Power, and Politics

David Arnow, Scott Dexter, Chaya Gurwitz, Lori Scarlatos (CIS)
Core 5: Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning and Computer Science

Valden Madsen (English)
Core 6: Landmarks of Literature

James Howell (Chemistry)
Core 7.1 Science in Modern Life: Chemistry

Michael Sobel (Physics)
Core 7.2: Science in Modern Life: Physics

David Leveson and John Chamberlain (Geology)
Core 8.2: Science in Modern Life: Geology

Arthur Bankoff (Anthropology)
Core 9: Comparative Studies in African, Asian, Latin American, and Pacific Cultures

Paul Saka (Philosophy)
Core 10: Knowledge, Existence, and Values

With so much activity centering on technology and teaching in the Core, it is not surprising that in June the annual Core Seminar chose "Technology and the Core" as its theme. The Library's auditorium and multimedia classrooms were the venue for the event, and AIT staff provided the technical support for the many demonstrations.

How best to summarize Brooklyn College's position with regard Web-based teaching? We live in a period that calls for exploration: we do not yet know what mix of seat-time and Web-time is appropriate, or for which purposes in which courses. The best way to learn is to test various approaches, then evaluate our level of success. Creativity and experimentation are essential during this period of pedagogical change.

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