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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2000)
Sour Notes? UPLOADED LECTURES may be the future, but for some profs they’re a real downer. BY ADAM WINER Generally, it is not a good sign when your brand-new business is denounced on the op-ed page of The New York Times. But that’s the greeting a num ber of new lecture-note websites— which hire students to upload their class scribblings—received last Sep tember when they began posting from more than 100 colleges. With this inno * vation, students could monitor their classes (and similar lectures across the country) without actually attending ' them. In its editorial, the Times argued the ad-supported sites would under mine higher education. Professors were also up in arms, insisting the sites were violating intellectual property rights, posting inaccurate or incomplete infor mation, encouraging absenteeism, and sullying academia by mixing it with commerce. “It is completely irrespon sible,” rages Mathieu Deflem, assis tant professor of sociology at Purdue. “Just imagine that eveiy 10 minutes I have a break [in class] and say, ‘Buy Coca-Cola.’ ” Two schools—UCLA and UC Berkeley—sent cease-and-desist letters to the major services. For the big three sites—StudentU. com, Study24-7.com, and Versity.com— it was a rough first semester. But hav ing left the campuses that issued desist orders and, at least for the moment, says Chuck Berman, CEO of Versi ty.com. Seeking to heal the rift with some professors, the sites have begun seeking permission before covering a class, and in some cases even have edu cators review or post notes themselves. “There are plenty of places to grow where you can avoid major fights,” Berman says. “If we deliver a product that faculty endorse in certain places, the barriers will come down in others.” Already, some students are taking virtual seats for study groups, and soon professors—some lured by the reach of a new medium, others by the money being offered—will begin hav ing online office hours. “I’m sure as heck willing to give [it] a try,” says Don Loeb, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Vermont, who has given permission for Versify to post notes from his classes. “Any communi cation of that sort is positive.” Study24-7 cofounder Brian Maser estimates that, by incorporating junior high and high school students, note sites could reach 50 million users. Aim ing to become gargantuan student portals, the sites plan to roll out in creased content, e-commerce options, and subscription-only services. “[On line notes are] a way for us to get our foot in the door,” says Maser. “Note taking is just the beginning.” But for some, that’s definitely a bad thing. “The value of direct student-to faculty interaction in the classroom is irreplaceable,” says John Sandbrook, the UCLA assistant provost behind his school’s cease-and-desist letter. “I hope that, at least on my watch, we don’t start eroding that.” • • •
