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Technology venture to help Merced students
By Kathy Scalise
A new technology venture between the Berkeley and Merced campuses
is gearing up to make the content of Berkeley's lower-division
computer science courses available online. Thanks to this effort,
UC Merced will graduate its first computer science class only
two years after it is slated to open its doors in 2004.
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| Artistic rendering
of the library colonnade at the future UC Merced campus. |
The project is being developed by the new Center for Information
Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), a partnership
of four UC campuses
-- Merced, Davis, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley.
As interest in distance learning heats up, course offerings in
the computer science division, like those of other top universities,
increasingly have moved into the spotlight. But until now, Berkeley
instructors have held off in favor of more proven forms of teaching.
"We didn't see how even Berkeley's self-paced courses could
just be moved over and plopped down somewhere else," says
Michael Clancy, senior lecturer in computer science at Berkeley,
"without the infrastructure of graduate students as teaching
assistants, experienced instructors, and a program tailored to
suit students."
This changed with the state's funding of CITRIS, which will enable
Berkeley and Merced to team up and research the best practices
in online teaching and course creation.
Rather than outright transfer of courses from one campus to another,
the group has decided to create new technology that makes it easier
to design the right course for UC Merced out of Berkeley's core
content. In addition to the computer science content, UC Merced
will receive a "course environment" with all the necessary
rationale for course design, as well as working alternatives to
the Berkeley approach.
"The courses we're providing are just a tip of the iceberg,"
Clancy says. "What we're really bringing to bear are years
and years of Berkeley's experience teaching computer science.
The value added is the rationale behind how the courses are constructed."
While the future of online learning is much debated, most in the
field agree great potential exists, says Berkeley education professor
Marcia Linn, a partner on the project. "Online courses can
offer value added with effective use of visualizations, explanations
on demand, and interactive problem solving," she says.
"Our goal is a true integration of proven classroom experiences
with proven and emerging technical innovation," says Jeff
Wright, dean of engineering for UC Merced, "resulting in
an overall educational framework that provides students more thorough,
more lasting, yet personalized experiences."
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