Prof. to teach course on Internet

Classical Studies Professor James O'Donnell will not have to waste his time with chalk and erasers this fall semester. As the first professor at the University to teach a course in a cyberspace classroom, O'Donnell will lead a College of General Studies seminar, Classical Studies 465, entirely through the Internet. Hailing from such distant locations as Iowa, San Francisco and even Japan, students will be able to "meet" for class at established times each week without leaving their homes and offices, O'Donnell said. Students will use the Internet to pull down readings from electronic mail, to participate in class discussions and even to critique each other's term papers, he added. "Why go to school in West Philadelphia, in this particular neighborhood, if you can get [outside the classroom] what you used to get physically, from the 'Net," O'Donnell asked. Vice Provost for Computing and Information Service Peter Patton agreed. "It's an impressive use of technology," he said. "Before, when a group of people wanted to get together and talk they all had to be in the same room." The graduate-level course -- which studies the Latin philosopher Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy -- is aimed primarily at high school Latin professors working toward their Master's degrees who cannot make it to evening courses at the University, O'Donnell said. Because students will be tapping into the class from remote locations, the course will "bring some name and fame to the University of Pennsylvania in places where it doesn't really get mentioned everyday," he said. "It's almost a recruiting device for the admissions office." Although enrollment is limited to twenty students, O'Donnell said he would not be surprised if the amount of auditors for the course ranged into the hundreds. He added that it was hard to designate an enrollment limitation for the course because "none of us have been in a cyberspace classroom before." "The possibilities in this direction are endless," O'Donnell added. He said he expects a "dozen more" professors within the next few years to jump on the Internet bandwagon. Patton agreed, saying that this new batch of professors will soon be importing graphics and sound, as well as text, over a "gigabit network." O'Donnell said that although Classical Studies 465 is the first course to be held entirely in cyberspace, he used the Internet as a teaching aid for the Classical Studies 566 course he taught this spring. The ten students enrolled in Classical Studies 566 were able to share their ideas with more than 375 auditors "from Hong Kong to Istanbul" who contributed to the discussion through the Internet, he said. Although O'Donnell spoke of many of the benefits to the Internet, he admitted that there are some drawbacks to a course taught entirely in cyberspace. "There is some benefit to being able to see the look on a student's face," he said.