SAS is ushering students into the information age

An initiative will combine teaching and technology in the classroom. As the Internet becomes a common classroom tool across the country, School of Arts and Sciences officials are working to combine teaching and technology at Penn. The school's three-pronged effort will focus on using technology in and out of the classroom, preparing students for the information age and expanding distance learning, SAS Dean Samuel Preston said. "A lot is going on on different fronts," Preston said. He stressed that it is crucial for both students and faculty to learn about the Internet outside of the college environment, adding that faculty at Penn are usually "way behind the student body" in utilizing the World Wide Web. Preston said SAS' three goals have not yet come to full fruition. "These [programs] have proven elusive except in highly specialized niches," Preston said. To help achieve the classroom technology goal, Preston allocated $100,000 last year for innovative classroom Internet applications -- specifically new fall 2000 courses and possibly a department or major in the future. Preston said developing a department would be "difficult" and remains only a suggestion at this point. The fund, introduced to SAS professors this past fall, will offer $10,000 for each approved course once faculty proposals are reviewed in January. The courses, held in both classroom space and cyberspace, will alter the type of contact between students and professors, but will not cut back on interaction, according to SAS Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Joseph Farrell, who also supervises the school's distributed learning programs. "This is about changing how we learn and how we teach," Farrell said, adding that the program is as much "pedagogical" as "technological." The second goal, preparing students for the information age, is the most challenging, Preston said. He noted that many professors are not knowledgeable enough to teach students about information technology. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman said the College should recruit faculty who will prepare students for the future, through their technological expertise. "I feel that the College must do much more than it is presently doing," Beeman said. The third focus -- extending distance-learning opportunities to reach people outside of the University community -- is currently popular among many institutions, according to Preston. "[We] are pursuing the third goal, in part because it extends the reach of the faculty and in part because there are thought to be pots of gold at the end of the cable," Preston said. This past summer, the College of General Studies administered PennAdvance, a for-credit distance-learning program that enabled students from 15 cities to take Penn classes through a combination of live satellite broadcasts, videoconferencing technology and the Internet, according to College of General Studies Director Richard Hendrix. Now in its second year, the distance-learning program will offer about 20 courses over the fall, spring and summer terms -- including Ideas in Math, Major British Poets and Economics. The program will try to draw in high school students, alumni and non-University residents, along with current Penn students over the summer. "We want a diverse student body," Hendrix said. Hendrix added that while the number of distance-learning courses will increase, he does not expect massive growth, noting that the program should become most popular in the summer when Penn students take up internships and jobs off-campus. As SAS strives to develop more distance-learning classes, Beeman said it will work harder to keep an eye on undergraduate needs. Presently, the College offers Cognitive Science -- a discipline combining biology, computer science, linguistics, mathematics, neuroscience, philosophy and psychology. But the school does not contribute to the year-old Digital Media Design program, a major that gives students a foundation of knowledge in technology, graphic art and media studies.