While the center does help professors move ahead with broader and bolder digital projects, a main purpose is to assist those who are intimidated by technology. Professor Turro likes the idea of using technology, but doesn't want to fiddle with its creation. Other professors are learning how to do a little of their own digital development. They take workshops and visit the computer lab built in Columbia's main library just for them. Sitting at sleek new computers with flat-screen monitors, professors peck and click away at their course material, which they can add to by using the digital audio and video equipment and scanners.
Consultants stand nearby, ready to jump in and help when needed.
The old way would have been for the professor to bring videos to class and juggle them in and out of the VCR while lecturing to students who were half-watching while scribbling notes. Valuable class time is reserved for discussion. The site is not meant to replace toting around a paperback of the play. You'd probably still read the play in a book. The advantages, he says, are that his presentations are more detailed and clear, the students don't have to decipher his handwriting or battle glare on the chalkboard, and he can spend more time explaining and less time writing on the board.