August 29, 1997

 

Blackboards bite the dust

"Tory Turtle" now the UofA's multimedia mecca for learning

LUCIANNA CICCOCIOPPO
Folio Staff

Picture this: a history professor plays one of Winston Churchill's famous speeches off the Internet. Or, that letter written in 1866 to Sir John A. MacDonald, kept in Ottawa's National Archives, is quickly downloaded and projected on the large screen in front of absorbed students.

A physics teacher shows students the seismic graphs from an earthquake as is it happening across the world.

And the next time the "Canadarm" is used in space, the satellite downlink shows students what NASA is up to.

All this and much, much more is literally at your fingertips in the Henry Marshall Tory Lecture Theatres, also known affectionately as the "Tory Turtle."

After $1.5 million in renovations and upgrades over the summer, the "Turtle" is now a prototype "smart classroom" cluster. Funded jointly by the provincial government's Infrastructure Renewal Envelope and the University, the complex now contains new sound systems, network and satellite connections, video and data projection and more.

Instructors are not limited to the central control podium, which rivals any commando deck Star Trek's Capt. Jean-Luc Picard is used to. The equipment can also be operated by remote control, allowing instructors to walk around during lectures. If something freezes, or breaks downs, technicians at a centrally monitored diagnostic support system can immediately and remotely pinpoint and fix the problem.

"The potential is almost infinite ... almost limited by the imagination. And I guess that's what we're trying to fire," says Judith Ross, director of technical resources and chair of the Tory classroom enhancement committee.

Ross says the "Turtle" was an obvious choice to upgrade and renovate first because "we wanted to have an impact, to have a significant benefit to the greatest number of students in the greatest number of disciplines."

That's why seating, lighting and ventilation were also improved in the complex, which was built in the mid-1960s and hadn't been touched since. But the small, plastic and highly uncomfortable chairs were not the only things ripped out of the "Turtle."

The blackboards are gone.

So is the chalk. Chalk dust is detrimental to the equipment's longevity. Instead, instructors have the use of high-quality overhead projectors for writing.

During a "Tory Turtle" preview, many professors expressed excitement about how they could use the facilities for their lectures.

Some professors, however, are concerned about losing one of the most simple but effective tools for teaching.

One U of A professor, who did not wish to be named, says his idea of high-tech is using colored chalk. "The Tory Turtle is a great showcase, and it's great for public affairs," he said, "It shows government the U of A is moving into the twentieth century ... [But] downloading pictures off the Internet won't teach students where the photos came from. I would love to be able to use those tools. But if I'm in a classroom that doesn't have a blackboard, or whiteboard, then I can't teach."

Resistance to technological change is nothing new, says John Paterson, associate dean of the faculty of education. "When I was teaching, people said the same things about the film strip. At the university level, we have people who will be going out to the real world." That means the University must teach with the latest technology and make sure students are familiar with it, says Paterson. After all, "nobody writes textbooks with typewriters anymore."

Can we expect the U of A to "smarten" all classrooms on campus?

"Ideally, someday. But that's quite far in the future," says Ernie Ingles, associate vice-president (learning support systems). "Not every classroom on campus needs to be equipped like the 'Turtle.' But there will be varying levels of 'intelligence.'"

Henry Marshall Tory Lecture Theatres Contain:

Joanne Martel attended the "Tory Turtle" preview August 13 and took plenty of notes. The criminology professor says she couldn't wait to rush back to her office and try to book her lecture in one of the theatres.

Her eyes widen with excitement as she describes what she can do with the new features. "I have old pictures of prisons which I'd like to show my students. Now, I can place the photos, or textbooks, on the document visualizer and I get a clean picture up on the screen for the students to see. I can download pictures from archives or video through the Internet and show it in class. Students learn better by seeing and hearing. Because of all this technology, we can combine both and it will increase the capacity of students to learn. They're going to love coming to class!"

Are educators too concerned with entertaining students?

"This is the popular culture of students. They're used to learning through these technologies. A professor must remember he or she is performing in front of an audience to communicate knowledge."

Josef Takats is a self-described "classical lecturer." The chemistry professor quite likes using a blackboard. "It give me a sense of action. I can do a better job of transmitting excitement to the students on a blackboard. New technology is certainly a supplement but it should not be a replacement. If I start bringing all my notes prepared for an overhead, it takes away the spontaneity. It's not the same as solving a problem in front of students. Sometimes we make mistakes on blackboards, and I don't think this is bad for students to see, to see we are human. It is easy to have easy access to information with new technology. But it's important for the students to realize that this is not the same as knowing the material."

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