UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 7, Page 11
October 17, 1991
National recognition; Four Delaware faculty meet high-tech challenge

     Never let it be said that University of Delaware faculty do
not rise to a challenge.
     In 1989, Joe Wyatt, chancellor of Vanderbilt University,
"challenged" an audience at a national conference to identify 100
"success stories" that illustrated how instructional technology has
improved teaching and learning in higher education.
     This week, at the 1991 EDUCOM conference in San Diego, these
100 success stories from across the nation will be celebrated, and
four University of Delaware faculty members will be recognized.
     Gerald Culley, associate professor of foreign languages and
literatures; Louise Little, associate professor of nutrition; Larry
Peterson, associate professor of music; and Fred Hofstetter,
associate provost and director of the Instructional Technology
Center, were chosen from more than 300 nominees as innovators whose
work successfully uses technology to enhance education.
     The Joe Wyatt Challenge Committee was formed by EDUCOM's
Educational Uses of Information Technology program in response to
Wyatt's challenge. EDUCOM is a non-profit consortium of 600 higher
education institutions and 105 corporate affiliates that
facilitates the introduction, use, access to and management of
information resources in teaching, learning, scholarship and
research. The committee solicited success stories from higher
education administrators and identified 145 of the 300 submissions
for further review before selecting the final 100.
     According to Patricia Sine, manager of multimedia and
instructional computing in Delaware's Instructional Technology
Center, the Joe Wyatt Challenge Committee chose the success stories
based on their ability to improve students' learning within the
nominee's institution, their capability of being duplicated at
other institutions and their demonstration of a link between
investment and benefits.
     Culley 's Latin Skills, software for IBM microcomputers, met
these selection criteria. The three-lesson program builds skill in
morphology, sentence translation and parsing forms in Latin
sentence context and adds an individual tutorial dimension to the
elementary Latin course sequence. With the introduction of Latin
Skills to the University of Delaware foreign language curriculum,
instructors were able to introduce an individualized course
parallel to the traditional one.
     The sections of Nutrition and Dietetics (NTDT200) that Little
teaches work along similar lines. One section is videotaped in
front of a class in one of the University's Instructional
Television (ITV) Studios. The videotapes are later used by a
self-paced section of the course. The presentation technologies of
the ITV studio-such as overhead cameras and student monitors- allow
Little to use more visible and diverse graphics to enhance
learning.
     Students have the option of enrolling in the videotaped,
self-paced section, which has received positive student review, or
the live section of the course. Offering both types of instruction
allows Little to accommodate more students and to meet diverse
needs.
     Peterson was recognized for a lesson from his Interacting with
Music Series, which uses an interactive videodisc to teach aspects
of music appreciation. This technology moves some lecture and
listening outside of the classroom, freeing class time. In
addition, the individualized approach makes the student the
initiator of learning. It also stimulates thinking and offers ways
to explain difficult concepts such as "subtlety" and "texture." The
lesson, which explores musical style, currently runs on the IBM
InfoWindow System and is being converted to run on an IBM PS/2
microcomputer with Windows and Toolbook, and expanded to include a
musical keyboard and CD-ROM support.
     Also recognized was the GUIDO Music Learning System pioneered
by Hofstetter.
     This software, designed for IBM microcomputers, assists music
students in the development of aural perception, or ear-training,
skills. Students use GUIDO outside the classroom and work at their
own pace, concentrating on areas of greatest need. As a result,
class time is freed for presentation of concepts, advice about
listening techniques, enrichment and periodic checking of progress.
     Within the year, EDUCOM plans to publish the 100 success
stories in a variety of formats including brief synopses, an
on-line database and a book, Sine said.