Where Computers Make a
Difference in Learning
Remarks at the Annual Meeting of the
American Council on Education
February 16, 1999
By David G. Brown
VP, Dean, and Professor of Economics
Wake Forest University
http://www.wfu.edu/~brown and brown@wfu.edu
THE WAKE FOREST PLAN
F96: IBM 365XD, 16RAM, 100Mhz, 810MB, CD-ROM, 14.4 modem
F97: IBM 380D, 32 RAM, 130Mhz, 1.35GB, CD-ROM, 33.6 modem
F98: IBM 380XD, 64 RAM, 233 Mhz, 4.1GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
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Thinkpads for all
New Every 2 Years
Own @ Graduation
Printer for all
Wire Everything
Standard Software
Standard Template
IGN for Faculty
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40+30 New People
50% Faculty Trained
75% CEI Users
+$3000 Tuition
4 Year Phase In
Pilot Year
Plan for 2000
Now 3 Classes
Wake Forest’s International Center
for Computer Enhanced Learning
-To help communities establish and use computers to
Customize Collaboration through Communication
-In Higher Ed, K-12, Businesses, and Towns
-Via Conferences, Customized Visits (to WFU),
Consultancies, and Publications
-At http://iccel.wfu.edu
Campuses Represented in Interactive Learning:
Vignettes from America’s Most Wired Campuses
American
Arizona
California-Davis
Conneticut
Dartmouth
East Carolina
Harvard
Hendrix
Johns Hopkins
Kansas State
LeMoyne
Michigan State
Middlebury
Millsaps
Missouri-Rolla
MIT
NYU
Northwestern
Oberlin
Oregon
Reed
Smith
SUNY-Potsdam
Temple
Texas-Austin
Tufts
Vanderbilt
Virginia
Vassar
Wake Forest
Washington & Lee
Washington State
Whitman
Williams
WPI
93 Vignettes; 35
Campusess
Positioning for the Future
• What are your institution’s
strengths & weaknesses
• How do you determine
your place in an electronic
world?
• What will be your primary
student markets--program
areas? Degree credit?
Geographic span? Age?
• What are the appropriate
delivery technologies next
year? 5 years? Etc?
• What is a realistic staffing
plan? Outsourcing?
Support personnel?
Executive leadership?
• What institutional
partnerships make sense?
For a free copy of this
monograph, please come
up at the conclusion of
this session and sign the
roster of recipients.
Please take only one
copy per institution.
SUMMARY
•Communication! Communication!
•Interactive Learning
•Ubiquitous Computing Essential
•Best Uses Easily Learned
Computers Enhance My
Teaching and/or Learning Via-Presentations
Better--20%
More Opportunities to
Practice & Analyze--35%
More Access to Source
Materials via Internet--43%
More Communication with Faculty Colleagues, Classmates,
and Between Faculty and Students--87%
Computers allow people---• to belong to more communities
• to be more actively engaged in each
community
• with more people
• over more miles
• for more months and years
• TO BE MORE COLLABORATIVE
Beliefs of 91/93 Vignette Authors
Pedagogy and Philosophy
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Interactive Learning
Learn by Doing
Collaborative Learning
Integration of Theory and Practice
Communication
Visualization
Different Strokes for Different Folks
Brown’s First Year Seminar
• Before Class
– Students Find URLs &
Identify Criteria
– Interactive exercises
– Lecture Notes
– E-mail dialogue
– Cybershows
• During Class
– One Minute Quiz
– Computer Tip Talk
– Class Polls
• After Class
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Edit Drafts by Team
Guest Editors
Hyperlinks & Pictures
Access Previous Papers
• Other
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Daily Announcements
Team Web Page
Personal Web Pages
Exams include Computer
Materials Forever
Ways to Provide Universal Access
at Less Cost
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Desktop Computers
Network Computers
Public station computers
Specified Threshold
Annual Lease
Phase in by classes
Phase in by programs
Hand me down
Loaner Pool
The Big Three Tools for Collaborative Learning:
E-mail + Web Pages for Each Course + URLs
SUMMARY
•Communication! Communication!
•Interactive Learning
•Ubiquitous Computing Essential
•Best Uses Easily Learned
Anticipating the Future
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Digitized Scholarship
Humanities Scholarship in Teams
Weaker Disciplinary Boundaries
New Typologies
Specialized Institutions
Collaborative Learning
Collaborative Teaching
Anticipating the Future (cont.)
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Hybrid Courses
Guide by the Side
Globalization
Apprenticeships
Corps of Professorial Associates
Lifelong Relationships
Age of Experimentation
Age of Assessment
More Communities