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Upgrading to E-Class by Brian Kantz (a shorter version of this article appeared in the Medaille College Horizon, Spring 2000)

Professors enhance courses with the Internet

This semester, Medaille College classes filled up with students by the names of Mystic Moon, Puppyluv, and Downtown Mike. No, the Medaille admissions department isn't witnessing a spike in applicants from the Age of Aquarius. It's more like an influx from the Age of Intel inside.

Those are actually "user names," or online nicknames employed by students taking Internet-enhanced courses at Medaille. To say the least, the Internet is a dynamic learning tool with seemingly endless educational applications. Over the past few years, a handful of computer-savvy professors at the College have been incorporating the Internet into their daily course regimes in creative new ways and with great results.

John E. Donovan II, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Sciences, is one of the trailblazers. "Each semester I create a new page on my web site (http://toLearn.net/math) for each of my classes. The pages have general information like the course syllabus and my office hours. I require that the students set up an e-mail account and participate in our online class discussion forum. Part of the grade for each of my classes is based on Internet research assignments," he says.

"I do this because from a general education standpoint, I believe that any college-educated student should be fluent in computer use," Donovan explains. "Computers are a daily part of life now and we need to teach people how to use them. And that means more than using computers in computer courses. I think computer skills should be reinforced in other classes, so that's what I'm doing."

Dr. Jai W. Kang, Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems, put his first class online in 1998 and currently uses his home page (http://www.jkang.com) to post a course disclosure plus weekly announcements and reminders about homework, upcoming tests, and changes in the schedule. He also posts a "dynamic syllabus" for each class, which includes his actual Power Point lecture notes, updated two classes ahead so that students may prepare for an upcoming topic. He even has an area for displaying summaries written by students about computer-related articles, with links to the actual articles.

Others like Dr. John J. Donohue, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean, Dr. Timothy R. Dzierba, Professor of Social Sciences, and Dr. Carol Harrison, Professor of Humanities, host home pages that include course descriptions, links to web sites with material related to their courses, and links to other web sites of general or personal interest.

The beauty of the Internet is its versatility and no one on campus appreciates that more than Doug Anderson, Associate Professor in the MBA program, the recognized guru among those using the Internet at Medaille to revolutionize the way students learn. Largely self-taught with Internet applications, Anderson has had a special interest in the technology since he first saw the World Wide Web in action.

"In 1994, I saw my first web page and since then, I've been hooked," says Anderson. "It wasn't until Medaille got a network in the summer of 1996 that I began putting my course materials online, starting with all the handouts that used to wear out the copy machines. My students' reactions encouraged me to make my courses more paperless."

The big leap, however, came in 1998. "In early 1998, Dr. Michael Lillis (MBA Program Director) asked me to help Dr. Bruce Bailey learn to teach a course called 'Marketing through New Media' in Medaille's new MBA program. Rather than have Dr. Bailey teach about new media, Dr. Lillis wanted the course to practice what it preached. As the MBA program's brochures said, he wanted applied concepts and skills that emphasized more than 'book learning,'" Anderson recalls. In February of that year, Anderson registered the toLearn.net domain name and went online with an educational web site that did indeed "practice what it preached."

"The following year, I had a sabbatical during which I had the time to do (the site) right," says Anderson. The result was Ricci Street (http://RicciStreet.net), an elaborate "networked digital community" that has set the Medaille standard for online learning. With valuable assistance from Bailey and Donovan, Anderson developed the Ricci Street structure, look, and feel and registered the site in June 1999.

"Ricci Street is a place," says Anderson. "It is not a software program or a pedagogical system. It is not a textbook or other publication. It's not distance education. Ricci Street is a toolkit of technologies and the beginnings of an online community. The emphasis on a community of learners is the most important aspect to me." Ricci Street includes several "neighborhoods" serving distinct purposes:

Ricci Green includes official site information and common services such as search and help. It's also the area to find the popular Ground Zero Bistro discussion forums.

Digital Wares has shops where teachers showcase "course webs," the material that will pertain to only that course during that semester or module. Course webs may include, for example, the course disclosure statement, the day-to-day syllabus, and handouts specific to the course.

Gizmos, Inc. is a mill for building new-media gizmos. It has areas to learn more about information design, interactivity design, usability design, and course web design, and the digital development process. It also has a digital technology guide.

CyberSea Inn is, in part, an area for information literacy and searching the Internet.

Port 80 is the harbor where MBA students bring information back from the Internet to show the class.

As mentioned, one of the most popular spots on the site is the Ground Zero Bistro, home of the course bulletin boards. More than 200 Medaille students registered in February alone to participate in these discussion forums hosted by a half-dozen faculty members.

Comments posted on Ricci Street class bulletin boards often oscillate from utilitarian pleas ("Can someone please help me with question #39 on page 412?"), to jocular one-liners ("I sincerely apologize if I ever interrupted anyone's learning process"), to downright sublime analysis of class readings ("He likened the free-flow of ideas to a "bazaar", where many things are going on simultaneously, without rhyme or reason to the closed eye. But, opening his eyes, he saw that this 'bizarre bazaar' system (loose definition) worked and worked well. Interesting."). In all cases, though, the comments are fresh and the lines of discussion are always open - 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

It is that aspect of time that makes the Internet so intriguing for class use. The Internet saves time and expands learning time, but it also requires time.

"The Internet makes time and place less of a factor. There have been nights I've stayed up late at home and received an e-mail at 3 a.m. with a question about class. Those students have been amazed when they get an answer back at 3:05," says Dr. Kang, smiling broadly. "In class, I know I save time using the Internet. With my notes already on the web site, I can cover more information in class than if I were writing those same notes on an overhead or passing out handouts."

Donovan agrees. "Students can interact with each other online 24 hours a day - that really extends the walls of the classroom. And I do encourage the students to help each other online. In my mind, this doesn't replace the classroom, it supplements it," he says. "One neat benefit I've seen is that as the students are forced to write out and explain their math questions, that very act of writing and thinking often lets students look at the problem in a new way and they're able to figure it out on their own."

On the other hand, updating web sites and checking e-mail can be time intensive. "I am finding that using the Internet requires more of my time than I expected, but it's time well spent," says Donovan. "I receive e-mails from students every day. I've received about 200 e-mails in the first eight weeks of this semester. Not all require a response, but most do and that takes time. With the smaller class sizes at Medaille, though, I do have the luxury of being able to send individual responses and that makes a difference."

So far, the student reaction to use of the Internet in class has been largely positive. According to Donovan, that response can be attributed to the fact that people are becoming more familiar with and less intimidated by the technology. "I'd say about 90% of my day students and 80% of my night students are pretty familiar with how the Internet works. For those who don't know, I can sit down with them for 40 minutes and, if they can click a mouse, teach them the basics of sending and receiving e-mail and navigating through web pages. Most people tell me that learning is not as difficult as they thought it would be."

Anderson notes that while some students don't want to be that actively involved online, "most students do take to it because it is visual and active and seems to save them a lot of non-productive time."

Of course, integration of the Internet can change the teacher's role as well. And that can take some getting used to, according to Anderson.

"Our dominant model of education dates to around 1200 when scholars gathered around the books and the students gathered around the scholars, who read from the books while the students took notes. That model has survived for 800 years and it may well survive for another 800. Many students are very happy to listen, take notes, pass a final exam, and get their diplomas," Anderson says.

"An alternate model of education is student-centered rather than teacher-centered, rewards doing and building rather than listening and reciting, and is process-oriented rather than product-oriented. A web site can work effectively with both models, as a printable document repository for teacher-centered education and as a collaborative workspace for student-centered education."

While critics of the technology may say that the Internet eliminates contact between student and teacher, the professors involved with the sites disagree. "Personally, in two decades of teaching, I've never had more contact with my students than I do via e-mail and chat," says Anderson.

"In many ways, I find this technology liberating in terms of communicating with students. It allows for public and private discourse at various depths. I think it goes a long way toward re-establishing the kind of student-teacher relationship that existed before the print revolution," adds Thomas Callahan, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences.

Measuring these sites' promise and popularity from a purely statistical perspective, the interest in them seems overwhelming. Server logs kept by Anderson show that Ricci Street and toLearn combined got over 200,000 "hits," or file requests, last February spread over 16,000 sessions from over 4,000 unique visitors from dozens of different countries. Based on the past two years of data (summarized at http://riccistreet.net/riccigreen/sitestats/), Anderson expects that number to fall in half during the summer. Of course, being open to the world, a significant chunk of site traffic can be attributed to people not affiliated with the College. For what it's worth, however, that means that the Medaille name is being spread across the globe - from Ecuador to Bulgaria to Pakistan.

"The quality of use is of far more concern. I don't have a scientific study to prove cause and effect, but I believe that most students are learning more and better. In my own case, I'm not sure what is due to the computer-mediated aspect and what is due to the student-centered aspect," Anderson says.

The range of future educational uses for this technology is even more mind-boggling. In the next few years, professors will take greater advantage of the audio/video capabilities of the Internet. Beyond that, nearly anything is possible.

"One thing I'm looking at is real-time chat for my classes. I'll pick a certain hour during the week and be available for questions over the Internet. It will be like office hours, except a student won't have to physically come to my office on campus. They can be at home and still get the answers they need," Dr. Kang explains.

"I've also heard of a professor who has posted audio clips on his site. These clips are about 10 to 15 minutes long and include the key points of his lectures. This would supplement the written notes. If a student missed a class or just wanted to review, they could go to the site, click on an icon, and listen again. I'm investigating that for my own site."

As for Ricci Street, in particular, Anderson hopes that its growth and direction will be determined by many interested minds. "On the home page, I put the image of a pioneer settlement and called it "The Early Years." I can't envision what Ricci Street will look like in the future any more than the settlers at Black Rock 200 years ago could envision Buffalo today," says Anderson. "If Ricci Street sparks the community I hope it will, mine will be only one voice among many determining its future."

For the MBA program at Medaille, that future could include building the program around the Internet. "Dr. Lillis has a vision of the whole program integrated around the Internet, a niche that other area MBA programs are not taking advantage of," Anderson reports. "The Business Department faculty members are looking for new ways to teach, including a growing commitment to an Internet-based curriculum. They want to be an ongoing part of Dr. Lillis's vision because they want to be the best MBA program in Western New York."

Anderson offers these views through the crystal ball, as well, "In five years, I hope that more teachers are using Ricci Street and that it has the look and feel they want because it will certainly have their structure. Moving with society, the site will be more personalized; that is, it will deliver more content from a database in 'pages' assembled on the fly and tailored to each student. The site will have high-bandwidth usage such as video-conferencing. Also, it will be used with hand-held as well as embedded devices instead of the dreadful desktop PC."

Ricci Street, by the way, is named for Matteo Ricci, a 17th Century Jesuit missionary to China. "Ricci Street is a blend of the new and the old. The new part is networked computers, the Internet. The old part is humans communicating with each other and finding ways to organize and visualize information," says Anderson. "Ricci's role in China was as evangelist, gadfly, maverick, and trailblazer." With a technological revolution afoot today, those same roles are being capably filled by a number of professors here at Medaille.