Number 16, Winter/Spring 1995
If you teach on campus, you have probably considered whether or not to use electronic mail to supplement communication with your students. Classroom use of email is not for everyone. Some faculty find that it does not fit their needs, or that it creates new problems. Furthermore, it is difficult to convey non-verbal signals using written language. However, many teachers and students have come to regard email as an essential communications tool.
Two of the many faculty members on campus who are exploring the advantages and drawbacks of email in their classrooms are Professors Bernice Laden from the School of Music and Joe Heim from Industrial Engineering. The following articles summarize their divergent approaches to using email for instruction.
Articles by Kathryn Sharpe, Windows on Computing editor. Photos by Mary Levin.
"It gave me more access to students. I spoke with people through email that I never spoke with in person."
--Bernice Laden
"I electronically collected multiple solutions from the ones that the students turned in and posted them in the class account. This way students could find multiple ways to solve the problems."
--Joe Heim
Web documents published at the University of Washington already include course curricula, maps, research reports, electronic order forms, and medical tutorials.
In the first five weeks of 1995, the University of Washington home page...was viewed over 25,000 times, or about once every 30 seconds.
C&C focuses its support effort by selecting from affordable computing tools that meet national standards and are easy to use.
"People who teach on campus always have new and creative ideas for using technology to meet their needs."
--David Wall
". . . this is the most compelling work in integrating computer skills into undergraduate instruction that I've seen to date at a major research university."
--Louis Fox
For two weeks each summer since 1992, the DO-IT program has brought as many as 18 high school students with disabilities to the UW to pursue academic programs and careers in science, engineering, and mathematics. Directed by the College of Engineering and C&C, it is funded primarily by the National Science Foundation. For details, send email to doit@u.washington.edu
You can find both the Surplus Chemicals List and the Motor Pool Information in UWIN under the path: UW Information > Administrative Services
Bookmarks are abbreviations that function like electronic `yellow stickies,' marking the beginning of information on a particular service.
"It is such a laudably well designed work that . . . if you use Unix to send and receive email, you really must get Pine."
--Tom Yager
"Pine has become the mailer of choice for most of UW's over 40,000 Uniform Access computer users, not to mention being used at thousands of other sites in over 40 countries."
--Terry Gray
UW students, staff, and faculty may make compact disks for visualization research projects in the C&C Visualization Lab at the Locke. Look for more information on Visualization Lab services in the next issues. Call 543-9275 to schedule equipment use.
