The Cadre + 7Aprili998 
     
    
   
   
    
     Virtual 
     
     university 
     
     comes to UPEI 
     
    
   
   
    
     BY SUZANNE WILLIAMS 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Information Tech- 
     
     nology and Education Centre, 
     
     found in the newly renovated 
     
     area around the Pit, is not just 
     
     a new computer lab as many 
     
     students have thought it to be, 
     
     but rather a university unto 
     
     itself. 
     
    

    
     Next year, two courses 
     
     will be offered in this lab to 
     
     students: University 100, which 
     
     will be called University 101, 
     
     and Philosophy 111, which will 
     
     be called simply Logic. 
     
    

    
     The staff employed to 
     
     facilitate these courses via 
     
     computer are for the most part 
     
     students and are all under 30 
     
     years of age. 
     
    

    
     In tne fong run, these 
     
     courses will not be restricted 
     
     within walls; they will be of- 
     
     fered all over the world. A 
     
     facilitator at UPEI may have 
     
     students from China, or Aus- 
     
     tralia, conversing over the com- 
     
     puter between them. By tak- 
     
     ing courses via computer, us- 
     
     ing chat rooms, E-mail, and 
     
     message boards, students may 
     
     have their bouts of stage fright 
     
     lessened, since they are not 
     
     involved in face-to-face con- 
     
     frontation with other students. 
     
    

    
     Dale Mattock, an edu- 
     
     manager for ITEC, hopes that 
     
     this will link UPEI with Hol- 
     
     land College, hospitals, high 
     
     schools, and libraries, as well 
     
     as many other institutions 
     
     where learning is necessary. 
     
    

    
     Mattock is trying to get 
     
     people to understand the vir- 
     
    
   
   
    
     tues of a technology in the 
     
     clasroom 
     
    

    
     “Technology is a tool, it 
     
     isn’t a god. It does not take 
     
     away or create jobs; people do 
     
     that,” she said, and adds that 
     
     she hopes that “every young 
     
     person will critically think about 
     
     the repercussions of technol- 
     
     tay.” 
     
    

    
     Mattock is looking for- 
     
     ward to eventually using video 
     
     and audio conferencing in the 
     
     classrooms as well 
     
    

    
     But this lab will not just 
     
     be restricted to classroom use 
     
    

    
     For one day a month, the 
     
     room will be open to all stu- 
     
     dents for a fee of ten dollars 
     
     per morning or afternoon. Stu- 
     
     dents can learn how to make a 
     
     webpage, how to browse or 
     
     surf the net, or even how to 
     
     develop graphics for presen- 
     
     tations. 
     
    

    
     “T would love to see stu- 
     
     dents debating this [the new 
     
     technologies coming into ex- 
     
     istence],” Mattock said. 
     
    

    
     She is sure that in this 
     
     debate, the biggest question 
     
     raised would be, “What is tech- 
     
     nology doing to the province,” 
     
     not just the world in general 
     
    

    
     “{I hope] the community 
     
     of PEI will eventually come to 
     
     see ITEC as theirs,” Mattock 
     
     said. 
     
    

    
     For more information 
     
     regarding the courses of- 
     
     fered by ITEC over the 
     
     internet, please search at 
     
     Attp://www.unb.ca/coned 
     
     notemakers. 
     
    
   
   
    
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