Center for Information Technology and Society

As more universities and research institutions develop digital classrooms, a common theme is arising: the need to manage complexity. As more technology is added to a classroom in order to facilitate the presentation, transmission and recording of digital media, the complexity of the environment increases dramatically. By planning the design and implementation of a digital classroom with a strong focus on managing complexity from the beginning, it should be possible to deploy a highly functional classroom environment that employs advanced technology while at the same time managing the inherent complexity in such a way as to reduce the barriers to use. In this paper, we will examine how complexity arises within four specific areas: audio engineering, video production, encoding/decoding, and administration. We then present a list of solutions and conclude with an overview of what we have learned in the deployment of our own digital classroom, the Collaborative Technology Laboratory (CTL).

The future of technology on the university campus has reached a critical juncture. In this paper we propose eight areas in which substantial changes in university education may be at hand: Students, Instructional Design and Pedagogic Techniques, Teachers and the Institutional Setting, New Forms of Content and Exchange, Intellectual Property, Infrastructure, Power and Data, Support, and Security & Backup. It is our determination that leadership must play a critical role in the equation, not only to implement technological developments but also to plan adequately for long-term changes. We conclude with eight hypotheses about technology and learning in the University intended to be provocative and to stimulate discussion and analysis.

College students exploit information technology to cheat on papers and assignments, but for the most part university faculty employ few technological techniques to detect cheating. This paper reports on a trial of software for the detection of cheating in a large undergraduate survey class. The paper discusses the decision to adopt electronic means for screening student papers, the techniques used, the outcome, strategic concerns regarding deterrence versus detection of cheating, and the results of a survey of student attitudes about the experience. The paper advances the thesis that easily-adopted techniques not only close a sophistication gap associated with computerized cheating, but can place faculty in a stronger position than they have ever enjoyed historically with regard to the deterrence and detection of some classes of plagiarism.