Teaching the Student Body Electric by Sean Koenig photo by Jill Nussbaum Surely you have penned an important note, accidentally exposed it to water, and seen the illegible halo of hues retreat cowardly from the sticking place like expanding universes. In chemistry this is referred to as chromatography, the separation resulting from an insurgent agent wresting away allegiance to the old. At U.Va., the march of technology has left the teaching methods of our professors more diffuse and dynamic than it has been at any other time in our storied history. Ten years ago, U.Va. scientist Bill Wolf initiated the infiltration of technology into teaching at U.Va. The ensuing revolution that brought such dorm-held monikers as ITC, ISIS, and VIRGO can all be traced back to Vincent Shay, according to university sage Raymond Bice. Shay served as Dean of the Bursar's office, which in the 1950s commanded the respect of a vice president in university affairs. Shay's rebellion, as it were, replaced the old guard of secretaries who tracked the course schedules and grades with a punch-card computer that filled the basement of the refurbished Rotunda. After this initial impetus toward automation, U.Va. "went for it in a big way" said Bice, leading to the many computerized services enjoyed today. The noted psychology professor himself garnered fame for incorporating technology into his popular intro-level lectures; Bice conceded to using all manner of gadgets, referred to affectionately as Bice-devices, to capture the attention and imagination of his students, including the first television on Grounds. Now with the mainstreaming of computers, increasing numbers of professors and administrators are seeking to drape a fiber optic web through our quaint academical village with uncertain results. At the forefront of this drive to upgrade the university's teaching lies the Information Technology and Communications division (ITC); through projects such as Teaching and Technology Initiative (TTI) and Classroom Technology Initiative (CTI), ITC is exerting more and more power over the way education is done at U.Va. Founded in 1994, CTI is "a project to promote innovative technology in teaching and course development." It has introduced the plethora of classroom websites, e-mail distribution lists, and multimedia classroom technology that upper-class students have seen pop up like mushrooms in May these past few semesters. The CTI mission, "to effect a transition, where appropriate and desirable, from teaching based on paper and traditional lectures to new methods based on interactive multimedia," appears to be the teaspoon of sugar the university needed. Without exception, professors found this ITC effort highly supportive of technological advancement. Chemistry professor Francis Carey thinks "the university has done a terrific job in encouraging its faculty to use all media that are available." In Carey's large introductory chemistry class, each lecture is guided by Adobe Acrobat computer presentation slides. ITC is encouraging more professors to attempt this style of teaching, wiring up half a dozen rooms with full multimedia accompaniment in Wilson Hall. Carey feels the digital displays allow him to move past equations and "talk about what it means and what we can learn from it ... the ideas that we talk about are important, not the problem or equation on the board." English Professor Hoyt Duggan has noted the tremendous shift in emphasis to computer and multimedia technology beginning a decade ago. He recalls a time when he typed 13,000 lines of verse entirely in uppercase letters because U.Va. had neither the software nor technical assistance to support advanced word processing. Duggan contrasts this to a recent experience when his laptop was malfunctioning, and a technician rushed out in a driving rainstorm, spending three hours to correct the problem. Does technology present a barrier to interaction between the faculty and students? Duggan would certainly disagree -- since incorporating an e-mail distribution list into his 14-student Medieval Literature course class "goes on seven days a week." The biggest drawback was the amount of effort involved in answering so many comments and questions. Having several messages waiting at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday was quite a surprise, but Duggan still felt it was "the most fantastic seminar" he had ever presided over. How involved in this e-mail discussion were the students? The average student composed 40 pages of commentary over the course of the semester. Duggan also took advantage of ITC's more aggresive project, the Teaching and Technology Initiative. The goal of TTI is "to promote interdisciplinary discussions of effective teaching and the development of exciting, innovative uses of technology for teaching at the University of Virginia" through annual fellowships. The projects funded by TTI take technology applications to their limit: John Dobbin's "Pompeii Forum Project" (McIntire Department of Art), Karen Ryan-Hayes' "Modern Russian Culture: Multimedia Courseware Development" (Slavic Languages and Literature), and J. David Sapir's "Photographs on the Web" (Department of Anthropology) are but a few examples of the projects currently in progress. Dobbin's project involves amassing troves of information about the archeological exploration of Pompeii and arranging them on the World Wide Web. Targeting both educators and students, this website includes everything from images to graffiti from the entombed Roman village. Francis Carey had this to say about TTI: "The university believes that these TTI fellows will serve in leadership roles in their own departments and stimulate their colleagues to take advantage of the opportunities to use electronic media that are already in place." The combination of CTI, TTI, and IATH (the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities -- see page 6) have, in Hoyt Duggan's words, made U.Va. "The best known university in the country for innovative use of computers in the humanities." Now that the attitude of the university and pro-technology teaching core has been brought out, it remains for the rest of the professors and students to examine the costs and benefits of this effort. Clearly, there are people who are wary of diving headfirst into the Borg vision. These professors do not adorn their pulpits with cute overheads or multimedia images, relying solely on the power of their Jeremiads and a few key words or equations on the board to illuminate the subject matter. While the majority do not fear or attack technology, they are keenly aware of its inherent ability to dissociate the lecturer from the pupil. They follow the time tested method of higher education; peering down into the amphitheater, one is hard pressed to distinguish the discussion sections huddled on the concrete cascade from Socrates and Plato hashing out the dialectic on the steps of the Academy. Chemistry professor W. Dean Harman exemplifies the merits of this approach. Although he arrived at U.Va. in 1992, by 1993 he was awarded the university's highest honor for teaching excellence. In the advanced introductory chemistry series that Harman helped develop, questions and participation are encouraged even with a three-digit class size, office hours are utilized often, and concepts find prominence over huge amounts of information. By developing ideas through explanation and analogy instead of presenting them in their entirety, students gain true appreciation for the material. Joseph Kett of the history department engages students with little more than an occasional word on the blackboard to supplement his public speaking. "I don't make much use of technology and generally approach it with some skepticism," admits Kett, noting how technology "can be a substitute for direct contact." His teaching style confirms this belief in direct contact, including "no note taking" discussion days, and journeys around the classroom so no one can seek refuge in the anonymous back row. Also in the fray are many professors caught in the middle, utilizing the new tools offered by ITC and other U.Va. media resources while avoiding the urge to assimilate into the technology collective. Julian Bond incorporates many forms of media to breathe life into his History of the Civil Rights Movement course. As a former activist and Georgia politician, Bond knows the value of the spoken word and personal attention; he won his first office as a public servant by literally going door to door to meet the voters. To satisfy students who "are drawn to my class in hopes they could receive first-hand information about the movement," Bond incorporates recorded speeches, musical records, and videos on the era. These Bond finds useful "both because they let students see and hear from the movement's makers and because the students are so attuned to new technologies." What does this issue teach us about our university and ourselves? U.Va. remains keenly aware of its image as an academical institution -- this is not Strayer College where students are efficiently trained in practical skills. We live in rooms with no bathrooms, reseed and aerate the Lawn every few weeks, and bring in tremendous speakers and innovators to teach because there is a commitment to the atmosphere of liberal education as well as the process itself. For our part, we need to show more inclination to utilize the new tools at our disposal in a responsible manner. As Professor Kett remarks, "My suspicion is that most students really don't want to take the trouble to use technology to learn as long as it involves effort on their part. They think of it, as it is advertised, as making learning 'fun.' Baloney to that." At the same time the university moves at full speed toward the incorporation of modern teaching weapons. According to Carey, "I don't see how increasing access to learning tools can be anything but positive. We who teach large classes are often reminded that the best teaching and learning involves one teacher and one student. That may or may not be true, but whatever the ratio is, fast Internet access can only make it better." Who will have the last word? In the desperately important and all too often ignored question of how we are instructed at this university, make sure you do.

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