While some students on campus have difficulty remembering when Google wasn’t a verb, many professors at the U have had the opportunity to watch the World Wide Web advance and evolve through the years.
With the ever-increasing use and application of the Web in professional and personal settings, some educators have adapted their teaching techniques to incorporate the benefits of the Internet into their classrooms. From YouTube clips of current events to research techniques on online catalogues and WebCT, the Internet is becoming a favorite in teachers’ tool belts.
“(The Internet) has allowed me to do a lot of things I never could have before,” said Cal Boardman, a professor in the department of finance. “Now I can introduce instantaneous issues to my students in lecture.”
Boardman, who has taught at the U for 31 years, said the changes the Internet has introduced to the campus since he started here have been incredible. Those changes have also spread into the expectations Boardman has for himself as a professor and the work his students submit.
With academic and professional work more readily available through the Web, Boardman said he expects a higher quality of work and engagement of material from his students.
The Web has also raised the bar for professors. Boardman said preparing for instruction was once a time-consuming task. The time saved using the Internet has encouraged him to be better prepared than he was in the past.
“Now conducting a class is like conducting an orchestra,” Boardman said. “I have more tools to use.”
The Internet has produced hybrid classes on campus where students can expect in-class instruction to be coupled with online participation and education through WebCT. Through these classes, materials are posted online and students have the opportunity to post questions to their peers and instructors as they work outside of the classroom.
James Anderson, a professor in the department of communication, said his classes are a hybrid in some form. Students, researchers and professors have all benefited from the accessibly of the Internet and its ability to share information instantly.
“With 10 minutes on the Internet I can gain insights into the professional discussion of a topic I’m investigating,” Anderson said. “That’s one thing that’s changed, we can share our resources.”
But the ease with which information can be accessed through the Internet is one of its pitfalls, Anderson said. Anyone can post content on the Internet, and the reliability of many resources is questionable at best, he said.
“Just because something is printed or in a carbon form it doesn’t mean that it’s without errors or intended to deceive,” Anderson said.
Glenn Olsen, a professor in the history department, advises his students to use the Internet as they would an encyclopedia. Olsen said that information on the Web often isn’t cited or credited and that type of work isn’t acceptable in his courses.
“I tell students that they can’t shortcut research and documentation,” Olsen said. “I know there are a number of sites with credible sources, but undergraduates aren’t trained to use that work. Their understanding of research is typing key words into Google to find out about a topic. Research requires books.”
Clayton NorlenCommunication professor James Anderson teaches hybrid courses at the U, in which students divide their study between in class instruction and teaching tools such as WebCT.