Spectrum - Volume 18 Issue 25 March 28, 1996 - CALS opens computer classroom

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CALS opens computer classroom

By Stewart MacInnis

Spectrum Volume 18 Issue 25 - March 28, 1996

A computer classroom that can tap the riches of the Internet and allow instructors to develop high-tech, interactive presentations for students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has been opened in Price Hall.

"This is not a computer lab," said Tim Mack, head of the Department of Entomology. "It's a classroom with computers, with workstations. It's a place where students will receive instruction."

The room is lined with 16 computers, it has a lab bench where students use microscopes and other instruments to study specimens, and it has traditional student desks. But lectures in the classroom will be anything but traditional.

A digital video projector can display anything that can be put on a computer screen, allowing instructors to use eye-catching and memorable graphics, incorporate motion pictures into their lectures at the touch of a button, and allow greater interactivity for students.

In addition to the computers, the room is also equipped with a PowerPC server, a color page scanner, and a slide scanner.

"The technology made us re-think how we teach," Mack said in describing the entomology department's computerized course, Insects in Human Society. "Students say they love it, but they also say that it's not easy."

The classroom was dedicated to Michael Williams, associate vice president for information systems; John M. White, associate dean and director of CALS academic programs; and Marvin C. Foushee, assistant registrar. Mack said their support was critical in developing the facility.