Imagine a 3D molecular model projected in front of you in a chemistry class. Imagine combing through the Rockefeller Library's collection while sunning on the College Green. Imagine attending section at 2 a.m. in your pajamas.
It could all be part of the educational experience at Brown in 2030.
Professors are already using technology to increase interaction and facilitate discussion among students. Brown's Internet-based WebCT allows professors to post assignments to a class Web site and gives students the ability to post comments.
"WebCT allows me to do things I couldn't do before," said Associate Professor of Political Science Ross Cheit.
Cheit has used WebCT as a venue for dialogue outside of the classroom. This past semester, he replaced traditional sections with virtual sections and Web logs in his PS 105: "Ethics and Public Policy."
In lieu of attending hourly sections once a week, students in Cheit's class participated on a discussion board on the WebCT site. The virtual sections featured discussions that lasted for days, allowing students to delve into arguments more deeply than in a one-hour section, Cheit said. Alternatively, Cheit's students had the option of creating their own blog, where they could post their thoughts about topics related to course material. Other students could respond to commentary in the blog, further fostering discussion.
Technology in 2030 will replace certain parts of the classroom experience - possibly sections, as Cheit has done - but it will not completely supplant face-to-face interaction.
"The power is there to do that, but whether we want to is another question," said Ellen Waite-Franzen, vice president for Computing and Information Services.
"There will always be someone teaching the class. We are never going to do away with classes. Even though there is a lot of technology around, there are certain things people have to learn from a teacher," said Professor of Economics George Borts.
Dean of the College Paul Armstrong said, "The basic educational principle that students learn by working closely with faculty who are interacting with them, testing their abilities and trying to push their capacities has a long history that goes back to Socrates. ... You still need the face-to-face. I don't think we are going to be able to do without it or would want to do without it."
"Maturing, being on your own and being able to make your own decisions are important reasons why parents want to send their children off to college. It's not just for every little detail that is learned in the classroom," said Terri-Lynn Thayer '81, assistant vice president for administrative information systems.
But technology will still affect the classroom experience at Brown.
Mark Shelton, leader for systems and media services, said the "smart classrooms" of today will become even more advanced. Controls for media in classrooms could become smaller, smarter and more transportable.
Smart classrooms of the future will allow professors to effortlessly create multidimensional presentations, thanks to an audio-visual system that is fully integrated into a computer network, he added.
Waite-Franzen said future classrooms can use the integrated audio-video and Internet technology to interact with classes across the world. "We can actually have a more global educational environment," she said.
Interaction within the classroom will also be fostered with new technology.
Shelton said future classrooms will likely be equipped with "smart" screens that allow annotations made by a professor on the projection to be transferred to each student's computer.
Duke University made headlines in 2004 by giving each incoming freshman an iPod, the handheld mp3 player produced by Apple. Though the school has cut back the program for next year, many say Duke's initiative was the kind of cutting-edge program that will foster new technology uses in the classroom.
"I think (the iPods) will come back and turn out to be a great way to deliver content. It just wasn't there yet, but you need (places) like Duke to try it out," Thayer said.
Technology will also change the notion of libraries. Libraries will respond to the changing technology-awareness of its users and more materials will be digitized, but bricks-and-mortar libraries will not disappear, predicts Interim University Librarian Florence Doksansky.
According to Shelton, libraries will tag each book with a radio frequency identification chip. Using RFID technology, each book's location within the library can be instantly identified, nearly eliminating the problem of misshelved or lost books. Borrowers can check out books simply by walking them through a RFID-reading device on their way out, he said.
Digitization of library resources will continue, Shelton said, making materials available anywhere with Internet access and eliminating unavailability due to demand on popular books.
Despite the ability to access resources anywhere, "libraries will still be social places. It's amazing that after all these changes in libraries, students still want to study in libraries," Waite-Franzen said.
But the use of technology in the classroom is hindered by an inherent generation gap between faculty and students.
"There is always going to be a generation gap. Professors are experts on a certain topic, but we try to help them become an expert on technology in their area. That's difficult, so this might be an area where universities see we need to provide more support," Waite-Franzen said.
"There is quite a range of faculty and students who are able to deal with changes in technology. Some of the faculty find the current technology more than adequate to meet their needs, whereas there are others who see other ways in which they can enhance the educational environment through technology," Shelton said.
Cheit said technology experts are critical in helping faculty embrace technology. Instructional technologists from CIS worked with him to integrate technology such as WebCT and high-tech polling devices into his courses, he said.
The day-to-day classroom experience at Brown in 2030 will look strikingly different from that of today, but Armstrong predicts that the core Brown experience will be the same.
"But I don't have a crystal ball and can't see the future better than anyone else," he said.
