THE COMMUNICATOR :: SUMMER 2003

Many ways to use technology in learning, teaching process

Knowing how to use sophisticated technology is one thing. Knowing how to use technology to enhance teaching and administrative tasks is quite another.

Tom Hutchison, associate professor in the recording industry program of the College of Mass Communication, knows plenty about technology. What he’s learned in the past two years is how technology can be used as a tool for teaching and learning and to make administrative tasks more efficient.

He began by looking for a better way to help recording industry students find information on companies looking for interns and to help companies find interns. The solution was a database accessible by companies and students.

"I approached Amy Macy about doing this about two years ago," Hutchison said. "Students would ask questions about internships. Companies would call. I saw that some of the repetitious tasks I performed could be done online."

A database was developed and put online. Companies who are looking for interns can log in and enter their information and it goes directly into a database where students can access it. The site also includes links for students to resume building Web sites. A message board has been added and the Web site is now tied in to a job bank where students can post resumes.

Hutchison has taken those same principals of using technology to connect students to businesses and organizations in the recording industry and applied them to the learning process. He worked with Brenda Kerr in the Faculty Instructional Technology Center to create the database for the internship program and with Barbara Draude to learn how to incorporate technology into the teaching and learning process.

He uses the WebCT course management system for all his classes and is teaching an online course in which students doing internships in places such as Los Angeles and New York can participate. More than 100 students were enrolled in the 4000-level course during the past two semesters. The class is partnered with Universal Music. Course materials include a CD and textbook, online quizzes, an e-scavenger hunt for information found in articles posted online, and online chats with people in the recording industry. The course has now been extended to the continuing education program and has 10 students from across the country.

To help students who will never have a face-to-face class together get to know each other, Hutchison requires students to create a Web page to introduce themselves to their classmates and teacher.

Hutchison’s basic philosophy about teaching is the same whether the course is online or in a classroom on campus. "My job is to make (the course) as meaningful as possible," Hutchison said.

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