By Mikhailina Karina

According to some estimates, nearly half of George Mason faculty use some elements of technology in their daily teaching activities. Computer activities range from simple tasks, such as responding to a student's e-mail or using CD-ROMs for presentations, to more complicated efforts, such as creating a course website with links to source materials, syllabi, and related sites. And finally, a few faculty have begun using the web to add distance learning components to their classroom meetings or to make their courses available to people who are nowhere near Northern Virginia.

No matter what the level of technological expertise or complexity of the projects, faculty say that using technology in teaching is exciting, frustrating, time consuming, easy, challenging, and rewarding. They are also thrilled that students today have more learning opportunities and tools at their fingertips than ever before.

Distance Learning
Ever since the Internet and the World Wide Web became easily and cheaply accessible, a growing number of universities and colleges in the United States have been incorporating distance learning into their curricula. Some offer individual courses via the web, while others make entire degree programs available to students hundreds of miles away. Competing with "traditional" universities is a growing "on-line university" industry, which markets courses to students in every part of the world. In the Washington, D.C., area, most universities and colleges offer either courses or certificate programs on-line.

Provost David Potter and other Mason administrators have been interested in the distance learning issue for some time. But due to limited financial resources, they have taken a cautious "wait and see" approach before investing money and effort into this new venture. As with any technological innovation, the first few years present a lot of unknowns: appropriate software and hardware, revised curricula, and quality of learning concerns.

As faculty interest in distance learning at George Mason intensified during the past year, the Instructional Development Office responded by offering more computer training and technical support to faculty interested in developing electronic course material. Potter says the administration is seriously discussing the best way to use distance education in serving the university's diverse community. This year, he says, a strategy will be formulated and a definite plan will be established for the university's future in the information age.

Who Needs It?
Potter believes that distance learning is better suited to older, more disciplined students in graduate or certificate programs. According to the latest numbers from the Office of Admissions, nearly 80 percent of Mason's graduate students (nearly half of all Mason students) hold full- or part-time jobs. That's about 10,000 students, many of whom balance education, parenthood, careers, and commutes.

"In this region, place and time are a problem," Potter says of the long commute many of Mason's students make. He says that an exclusively distance learning curriculum would not be appropriate for full-time undergraduate students who would miss out on the important university socialization part of their education. " A mix of face-to-face and distance would work," he says. Furthermore, certain courses are not suited to distance learning. For example, a course on public speaking requires that the students physically attend class.

"There is a market for distance learning," agrees Peter Denning, vice provost for Continuing Professional Education. He says that some students have to spend two hours commuting to campus, thus making a three-hour-long evening class take up to five hours. "The graduate population prefers the 7:20 p.m. classes to the 4:30 p.m. classes because they don't need to take time off from work. They love it when some instructors try a different format," he says.

Is George Mason Ready?
Sondra Patrick, who teaches in the Graduate School of Education and assists Joe Wood, vice provost for Academic Affairs, says the university must keep up with the external changes that influence higher education.

Patrick recalls that as recently as 10 years ago, George Mason had no student computer labs, and faculty had to rely on an army of secretaries for their typing needs. Now, one would be hard pressed to find a professor who is not effortlessly sending e-mail from his or her office. She is hopeful that using technology in teaching soon will become commonplace at Mason. "Even veteran faculty are embracing technology; it puts a new spin on their disciplines."

"Technology's impact goes well beyond making communication and computation faster and more efficient," Patrick says. "The new tools are transforming the very nature of the learning experience from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered environment. We have to move our students to higher levels of thinking and creativity," she says. With technology providing access to more information and new media, faculty have "more options in how we teach and how the students can respond." As a result, everyone is enriched, she says.

The Challenges
"Some people worry about education becoming reductionistic," says Potter. In other words, the educational process should not be reduced to mere information that lacks a broad base of knowledge. He says that technology should be seen as part of the entire learning process. "If it's used as a tool, then it's great. But it can be a problem when it defines the parameters of teaching and learning," he says.

Denning adds that although some professors may feel that computers threaten their professional identity as primary sources of knowledge, most concerns about technology in education are still speculative. "It's a largely unexplored area," he says, and "it's easy to do things that bomb, and it's easy to do things that succeed. We should do a lot of experimenting to find out what works."

Another important consideration is the compatibility of hardware and software between the teacher and the student. Just because the technology allows people to make digitized videos and complex graphics does not mean the person on the other end has a computer powerful enough to access this information. Faculty engaged in distance learning projects say that simple text files appear to be most compatible with students' home computers.

Finding Help
Let's say a faculty member is ready to put some course materials on his or her website, but has no clue how to do it. Welcome to the Instructional Development Office (IDO) in the lower level of Robinson Hall. Director Michael Randy Gabel heads a staff with expertise in instructional design, project management, multimedia design, video production, distance education, and web technologies. IDO provides free training and assistance to faculty members interested in incorporating technology into teaching.

Most of IDO's clients need help in designing websites. "Although we direct most of our efforts toward middle- to low-end projects, we also support high-end projects, with the goal, if possible, of creating prototypes that can be used to secure outside funding."

Regular courses, workshops, and discussion groups attract faculty who want to acquire new skills , as well as exchange ideas with their colleagues.

Furthermore, Gabel says that Mason's six electronic classrooms are always booked by faculty who make PowerPoint presentations, use statistical packages, or perform other computer exercises with their students.

A counterpart organization for students, the Media Authoring Center in the Johnson Center, provides the latest computer hardware, software, and video production tools. Students come to the center for free help designing electronic portfolios, making electronic presentations, developing movies, creating art from a photograph, designing websites, and editing music.

The Future
Practically speaking, the 21st century has arrived. Technology has, and is, transforming our lives, and there is no going back. Denning predicts that within 10 years, technology-assisted learning, both synchronous and asynchronous, will become a standard teaching practice; instructors will become managers of both on-site and electronic student groups.

But that should not be a problem for future teachers. "All new Ph.D.'s are trained to use computers," says Patrick. In the Graduate School of Education, master's students can work toward the Instructional Technology degree, which provides students with the specialized knowledge and skills necessary to implement a wide range of computer-based technologies in both educational and corporate/public settings. The program offers courses such as introduction to educational technology, use of scripting languages, software evaluation and curriculum integration, distance learning via networks and telecommunications, and design of multimedia/hypermedia educational materials.

Because the external demands on George Mason students are so high, Potter says we have to "figure out the relative importance of place versus private-sector knowledge providers with no campuses. While we can't walk away from technology, what is the balance between place-based and distance-based education?"

Looking ahead, Potter says the univers ity is seeking more funding from the state to implement the second phase of the Infrastructure Project, which would put in place a network to seamlessly link Mason's three campuses.

With strong support from its administrators, faculty, and students, George Mason is well positioned to continue its successful educational mission in the years to come. "Now is a great time to be in higher education," says Patrick. "You're only limited by your imagination."