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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1993)
Surfing the information highway continued from previous page powerful c omputer1-, students .ire .title to ilissci t ,i cadaver, become immersed in .1 foreign lan guage, or tompo'-e .1 nil pl.r, li.uk music on .1 l.iptop. “We’ll use the tnultimcdi.1 PC technology lo create new tv]Hs of learning environments lh.il make sou. the student, more the center of things, that create tor sou uncrossorlds or that immerse sou m learning environments," says William (liases, associate provost for informa tion technology at the l of North ( arolina (1 rases is also a fclloss at I 1)1 ( OM, a consor tium ot ncarls 600 colleges in Washington, l)( , that promotes technology m higher edu cation. \t lames Madison l in Virginia, students can take Psychology 160 in the Blackwell Xuditorium, a S2(K).(HH) attempt at creating the classroom of the 21st century I he auditorium has tsso large screens, which the professor con trols with computers to provide a visual repre sentation of the lecture Students use keylxiards, toeated at each seat, to answer questions and the results are tallied /anr (,onnettn>n-\l\le and dts played on screen. “It was a little hit awkward when I first went, hut 1 got used to it," saysJ.Wl' tumor Cheyenne Surlier. “I wouldn’t desenlie the class as more personal, but you had more interaction ” Interactive programs arc used to study foreign languages at (icorgetown l , Cornell l and l \( , physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the l of Maryland, medicine at the V ot Iowa and l ( 1 A, and chemistry at the l of Illinois. “W e can now capture, store, retrieve and ana lyze more and more of the human experience in digital form,” Craves saw “You can use that technology to submerse yourself m a learning context where you have control Instead ot teaching at you, it puts you in a learning cnvi linli Made. i gi aduatc student .it I’urduc l saw Ik- is concerned about tin future of the Internet “( ompantes util try to pain control ami limit act css m i inlet to pain profit and u ield control," he says Hut (,\\’l"s Maltese uould rather see private interests running the network “ I ethnology \ not something the po\eminent is ver\ comfort able with,” she saw “I don t like the idea of somebody who doesn't like the Internet running the Internet." I he computer lab is another area where your pocket connects with the information super highway ( >nl\ alxiut JO percent of college stu dents on n computers, so many schools arc charging for access \t the l of \ri/ona an increase in tuition covered institutional computing costs, and the L of l tali recently charged a $s0 computing fee per quarter. I he tec hike has helped improve a dismally loss cnmpulcr/studcnt ratio; l tali now has one computer lor every JO stu dents. THE HUMAN COSTS Any discussion over the price of technology must examine the human costs Some have speculated that high technology will make out society more divisive Will the information superhighway tie open to everyone' l )r yyill these adyanies only create a wider gap between those yy ho can afford access and those who can not? “ I here arc many social issues that are difficult to overcome," (iraves says. “ 1 here's still an equity issue, that technology does not separate us It’s the obligation of our institutions that those questions arc addressed And, in the end, the greatest danger is that multimedia presentations and electronic com munication will completely remote human interac tion from the college cx[>cricncc “Sometimes it's tool to have the huge screens and key pads, hut sometimes it kind of dehuman izes the whole process," says JMV. sophomore ronment am! n giv es tacul t\ marc wavs o! being effective w uh you.” WHO 8 FOOTING THE MU? When the state huilds a highway, somebody gets the shaft Whether the) pave some poor sap's trout yard or hike your taxes, tile a\ comes down I he construction ot the infor mation superhighw a\ is no ditterent, and the costs are human as well as financial. Currently, many stu dents get free access to the Internet through their uni versities, which receive subsidies indirectly from the National Science foundation. But the NSf- has pro posed privatization ot the Internet within four years. \ccess to the network would then l>c provided by the private sector — most likely the phone compa nies which are salivat ing at the thought of get ting in on the action. Cyberglossary ■ Electronic mail (e mail): e man allows users to send messages across their office or across the country Correspondence can be sent through local area networks i LANs i. such as connected computers in one office, or through a modem to other computers around the world ■ Internet: An electronic network that provides users around the world with e-mail. news, file trading, games and other services • Multimedia: Computergeneraled text, audio and video Multimedia has unlimited possibilities lor education, cspe cially tor presentations which allow stu dents to interact with the subject matter ■ Information Superhighway: The Clinton administration has proposed the construction ot an electronic communica tion network as the key to global competi tiveness. Andrew Miller, about the classroom of the 21 st ccntti ry “You walk into the clasc and plug into a keypad ." But Graves argues that the relationship between student and professor will be improved by introduc ing high technology. "We want to protect a vcr\ basic component of higher education, which is human interaction,” Graves savs. “ I here’s no replacement for that. (Professors) provide the glue that tics together sub ject matter. That's what faculty do that you can't get from a Iki.x.” Ultimately, Graves says, colleges must answer these questions to give students what they paid for. “I think students will lie entering a work place that is already technology-dependent,” he says. “ The obligation for universities is to include technology so students won't be entering the work place blind.” 0 INFOTAINMENT oontbuMd from pravfout page «—i^ltp (12" VMm CO) mNK: Laserdiscs otter a picture 60 percent sharper than VHS and the same sound quality as CDs. Plus, when you watch Young Guns 20 years from now it will look as good as the first time you savored it. MtfVUKtt TO imoom: This one is mostly for the hard-core movie fans, but you can't argue with the picture quality and sound. And you won't have to screw around with that ''tracking button anymore Laserdiscs also play conventional CDs, so it won't be the next 8-track, but proceed with caution. Remember Beta? Me either atnuunuiY: Last time you were at Blockbuster, did you see a lot of movies on laserdisc? There you go. COST: Players range from $400 to $1000 and the discs range from $25 to $70 mn ITT A good CD player costs more than $200, so if you rationalize enough, you might be able to swallow the laserdisc. Wait until your local video store starts carrying them. If they don't, pass. Faraonal Orgminrt/ltowtM HWPOIL Most personal organizers, up until recently, were lit tle more than computerized address books. Apple's Newton is the first handheld computer to at least try to translate your handwriting. You can send faxes (with an add-on modem) of anything you scriDDie on its screen with a stylus or communicate without wires by ‘‘beaming’' information to another Newton up to a meter away, tt also has the capacity to receive wire less paging messages. HtWilt to moon* The Newton is really better suited to the tasks and expense accounts of corporate America. The organizer i$ a lot of fun to play with, but are you prepared to skip your next two spring breaks to pay for it? : About 2,000 computer and electronic stores nave earned tne Newton since September. Mb Ouch Apple sells Newton organizers for $699 to $949 based on the number of bells and whistles you add. •Nil ITT You’re better off with a laptop. The ability to write with a pen is attractive, but you can type a lot faster and. for now. the Newton is basically a computerized Day Runner. IlitiMhrt Patnaurrt The Recordable CO is available but used mainly for commer cial purposes and is out of the price range of the deepest stu dent pocket. Buy a Honda instead. 300 promises to be to Nintendo what Nintendo was to Atari. (Remember Asteroids?) 3D0 is a CO-ROM format that provides video games with richer colors, better graphics and blinding speed. The multimedia player may also play movies in the future. Panasonic has a model out now and they’re selling briskly —at about $700. Interactive IV: Cable operators and phone companies are rac ing to be the first with a TV that you can bond with. You'll be able to select movies, shows or educational programs from an extensive video library. Some day. you may even be able to go shopping in a way that's more interactive and less annoying than the Home Shopping Network. You can also expect an increase in channels, from the paltry 50 or so you're receiving now to 500. Virtual reality: Hey! is that me beating up elves and saving the fiefdom? Put on a virtual reality helmet and it is. VF