George Mason offers approximately 2500 undergraduate courses in a typical semester. Of these, about 25 percent make use of class web sites, electronic discussion forums, electronic reading lists, and other online resources. Our graduating senior surveys for the last several years indicate that 99 percent of the seniors used the Internet and/or the World Wide Web in at least one of their courses. More than half of the graduates said they had used these resources in 10 or more courses. A similar percentage said they had used e-mail in 10 or more courses. Further, almost half the seniors said that the use of technology had enhanced their learning “very much.”

The university actively encourages the use of such electronic resources through its support of the WebCT course management system. We expect the use of electronic resources to continue to increase as the university’s Technology Across the Curriculum program expands (see below).

George Mason offers nearly 100 technology-enhanced classrooms across its three campuses. At a minimum, these classrooms are equipped with projection technology, VHS/DVD players, and sound systems. Many alsooffer instructor and student computing resources, document stand cameras, and control systems. Some also offer videoconferencing capabilities.

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In many courses, particularly those involved in the Technology Across the Curriculum initiative and in New Century College’s team-based learning experiences, students have the opportunity to work collaboratively with other students. The university provides collaborative software tools through its WebCT course management system as well as through the TownHall discussion software. Courses offered through WebCT often use customizable chat rooms for project assignment work and group exercises. In addition, students are permitted to check out a variety of equipment resources for course-related activities. The Classroom Support Offices offer laptop computers and LCD projectors for in-class presentations. The Open Computer Labs provide students access to presentation software packages. The Student Technology Assistance and Resource Center (STAR) provides video cameras and digital cameras for checkout, as well as multimedia and web-based resources for students to develop materials for presentation and projects.

Courses taken electronically are accepted if they meet the university’s general criteria for transfer credit. The current catalog states:

"In general, credits are accepted from regionally accredited institutions, provided that a grade of C or better has been earned in the course, and that the course content is equal to that offered at George Mason University."

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The Student Technology Assistance and Resource Center (STAR) provides digital and analog cameras for checkout, as well as work stations featuring the latest versions of Adobe, Macromedia, and Apple multimedia applications. There are also opportunities for student teams supporting grant work or community projects to work on high-level media productions in the Mason Media Lab. Free workshops are offered on many of these multimedia applications, and students may learn at their own pace by checking out learning materials from the Media Resource Center.

George Mason University Libraries provides registered students and other university affiliated individuals with online and remote access to a wide range of information resources.  This includes more than 400 electronic databases, 15,000 full-text electronic journals, and 38,000 electronic books. In addition, Special Collections and Archives provides digital access to many special collections and online access to numerous finding aids. As a member of both the Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) and the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC), University Libraries has access to many other electronic research materials in both image and print formats.

An Electronic Course Reserves Service provides materials online, such as syllabi, lecture notes, exams, journal articles, and other course readings. Access is restricted to students who are currently enrolled in the course.  University Libraries’ Copyright Assistance Office provides consultation, training, and assistance to the electronic course reserves initiative.

George Mason University Libraries is an active participant in the following academic and research library consortia, networks or organizations: Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL), Virtual Library of Virginia (VIVA) and the Washington Research Library Consortia (WRLC). Document delivery via a web posting is available to students for articles owned by (WRLC) libraries, and all three consortia are utilized for interlibrary loan of materials not owned by Mason libraries.  There are no fees assessed for students, faculty, or staff.

University librarians provide reference service and research consultation in the library facilities' reference desks, via telephone, and online by email and chat.  The hours vary for the services, but assistance is available seven days a week.  Students are encouraged to make appointments with a librarian for individualized research consultation.

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One of George Mason University’s largest instructional initiatives is the Technology Across the Curriculum program (TAC). This program is designed to ensure that all graduates of the university are fluent in specific technology skills. Through TAC, students will be able to

• Engage in electronic collaboration.
• Use and create structured electronic documents.
• Do technology-enhanced presentations.
• Use appropriate electronic tools for research and evaluation.
• Use spreadsheets to manage information.
• Use databases to manage information.
• Use electronic tools for analyzing quantitative and qualitative data.
• Use graphical and multimedia representation technologies
• And students will be familiar with major legal, ethical, privacy, and security issues in information technology
• Students will have a working knowledge of hardware and software

To achieve these goals, the College of Arts and Sciences is working with academic departments to introduce student work with these skills in general education courses across the university as well as in upper-division major courses. As of spring 2004, more than 145 courses throughout the College of Arts and Sciences have been modified to include technology goals, and more than 15,000 students have taken TAC courses. The university has also created six technology-related minors that will help students in liberal arts degree programs gain a solid grounding in information technology. See the TAC web site for more detail.

Through the Division of Instructional and Technology Support Services (DoIT), the university has more than 500 computer lab seats for general student use, and all classrooms are wired for Internet access. DoIT’s Student Technology Assistance and Resource (STAR) Center provides significant resources to enhance student learning about technology and to facilitate instruction using technology. The STAR Center includes four labs: a multimedia lab with digital and analog video editing suites, a web development lab, an office suite skills lab, and a workshop lab with a rotating schedule of software workshops. In addition to an array of workshops, student mentors are available to work one-on-one with students, and a Media Resource Center provides multiple avenues to skill-building, including books, CDs, and videos. Students interested in developing skills with office tools (Word, Excel, Access, e-mail) can sign up for classes in TOPS (Training in Office and Productivity Skills). The Mason Media Lab provides student workforce training through support for grant projects and internally funded media ventures. Students learn multimedia production skills while working under deadline in real-world group environments.

Mason’s University Libraries recognizes that to be successful in their academic programs and in their careers after graduation, students must be information literate—they must be able to locate, evaluate, manage, and use information effectively. Library staff works closely with Technology Across the Curriculum, units within the Division of Instructional and Technology Support Services, the General Education program, and faculty within academic departments to assure information literacy competencies complement Mason’s information technology goals. In addition, University Libraries offers several classes each semester for anyone wishing more instruction on using bibliographic and full text databases and the World Wide Web. University Libraries has recently added in-depth instruction sessions in the use of bibliographic control software that makes it possible for students to access and search online bibliographic databases, retrieve references directly into a personalized electronic library, and create bibliographies in a variety of citation styles.

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