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From Target 2000 to Beyond 2000 Enhancing Education in the New Millennium

Examples of technology are everywhere. Even bicyclers talk on cell phones, businesspeople plug in their laptops in a restaurant, faculty pull up Web pages to illustrate their lectures, and students work on group projects and do research through their personal computers and the Internet.

Most first-time college students have used computers and technology all of their lives. Many use e-mail and the Internet every day and come to campus expecting to use technology. California State University, Chico has pledged to meet their expectations and to give students a high-quality education in a high-level technological environment

Do we expect technology to replace a knowledgeable and caring teacher or thoughtful scholarship and research? Will bits and bytes replace the ambiance of our very special bricks and mortar campus? Will distance learning take the place of the "college experience" of living and learning in an academic community?

Definitely not. Good teaching, enthusiastic students, and the lessons learned through the "Chico experience" will never be passŽ. The primary impact of technology on the classroom will not be to replace a caring faculty member; it will be to augment, supplement, and mediate instruction. Individual faculty making pedagogical and curricular choices will determine these instructional uses.

As Provost Scott McNall noted in a November 2, 2000, Inside Chico State article on technology, "Not everyone needs to jump on the technology bandwagon." McNall makes the point that those who do choose to use technology in instruction need to ground that effort, just as with any mode of instruction, in sound pedagogy and student need.

CSU, Chico has placed the use of technology firmly within the university's strategic plan. The first priority of the plan is to "create and enhance innovative, high-quality, and student-centered learning environments." From 1995 to 2000 the Target 2000 technology plan guided the building of a foundation of technology equipment, networking, training, and distance learning capabilities. It also provided a forward-looking vision that made us a leader in electronic learning communities.

Beyond 2000 creates a plan for the next five years which builds on the tremendous advances we've made in the last five. The new vision is to create a technological environment where faculty and students spend less time on "instructional overhead" activities (e.g., clerical class management tasks) and increased time on direct learning activities.

The majority of faculty and students on campus have a positive response to CSU, Chico's technological environment. 1999 surveys of the campus showed that, of those responding,

• 96 percent of students agree or strongly agree that the information technology environment is an advantage of attending CSU, Chico.
• 90 percent of faculty agree the campus has a good strategic plan for use of technology.
• 85 percent of faculty are satisfied with the technological learning environment.

In addition, we are part of a national cultural trend:

• Online applications were available at 77 percent of colleges last year, up from 68 percent in 1998, according to a National Association for College Admission Counseling survey. (WebBusiness Magazine, September 2000)
• According to a new survey by StudentPoll, students named Web sites as the second most used source for college information. (Guidance counselors were first.) (USA Today, 3 October 2000)
• Three-fifths of all college courses utilize electronic mail; two-fifths use Web resources as a component of the syllabus; and almost a third of all college courses have a Web page. Four-fifths of colleges surveyed have course catalogs online, and more than one-half offer one or more full college courses online via the Web.(National Campus Computing Project)

Technology's role in society will continue to grow and become even more pervasive on university campuses everywhere. Using technology to enhance learning and improve effectiveness, particularly in direct management of the classroom environment, is the vision of Beyond 2000. Information Resources' role is to help make that vision a reality.

Fred Ryan, Vice Provost for Information Resources
Chief Information Officer