In consultation with seven faculty teaching four courses in four different schools, CCNMTL is employing new media and digital technologies in order to design more productive learning environments for lage enrollment classes. The project enhances communications possibilities between and among teachers and students, enables wider access to enriched resources, and provides increased opportunities for individualized attention and self-paced study. CCNMTL is employing a variety of means to enhance the learning in these large classes. Some approaches include a greater reliance on asynchronous communications. Others include self-paced learning modes. In all cases, the focus is on student problem solving and interactive learning, as well as presentation of material. We employ digital technology to optimize sound pedagogy by integrating class readings with lectures, assignments, guest lectures, and timely news events as well as creating a wealth of media resources, distributing content materials digitally through the Web and capturing audio and video of lectures and special events to be utilized via the Web in the present and future years.

Conceptual Foundations of International Politics

CCNMTL created a Web site for this required course of 340 students which provides online access to the syllabus, asynchronous communication among students and discussion group leaders, selected readings online and online videos of the course lectures. Asynchronous communication was facilitated through the creation of separate bulletin boards for 19 discussion sections. online readings were provided to enrich understanding of topics covered in the lectures and discussion groups, supplement the course packet and reduce the price of purchased readings. Interviews of invited speakers by teaching fellows were video-recorded and made available online for preview by students prior to the lectures. The lectures were also video-recorded by CCNMTL, and were made available online for student review and use by students enrolled in this class in future years.

Critical Issues in Journalism

Carey and Isaacs, in partnership with CCNMTL, developed a course study environment for the required Graduate School of Journalism course, Critical Issues in Journalism. The course Web site is a model environment which contains a rich array of online articles, video excerpts, ethics codes, recent news, lecture slides, and powerful case studies. Many of the case studies are supplemented with print and broadcast coverage of the original news story the study is based upon as well as other complementary resources. Students are presented with the case in the form of a problem solving scenario. online reference materials, including contemporaneous coverage in both text and video formats, are provided. Finally, the students engage in online discussion of the case and other lecture topics with other students and with instructors, using linked bulletin boards.

Molecular/Cellular Biology (Introduction)

The automated lecture delivery application is a system for synchronizing multimedia delivery. This audiographic approach to classroom material allows students to listen to prerecorded lectures, while viewing a hyperlinked transcript of the material, a detailed course outline, illustrative materials, and relevant sites over the World Wide Web. Text, audio, video and graphics are integrated into discrete modules with appropriate links to discussion boards, outside resources, and problem sets. The first implementation of this toolset is the Introduction to Molecular Biology course for which digital audio recordings of lectures are combined with high-resolution scientific diagrams and animations.

Sciences Basic to the Practice of Medicine and Dentistry

In concert with the course administrators, CCNMTL designed a course environment which allows students to have better access to materials presented in class, which often differ from those provided in the syllabus packet. Essential visual material, photographic images, medical illustrations, and moving video were digitized, incorporated and made readily available. Course administrators can update and add material as needed. Faculty can place questions for labs and conferences online. Exams with answers and distribution of scores are posted on the site. A large array of pdf documents were made available online for easy access, printing and archiving for later student use. Students can link, index, annotate, and search these documents.