About 180 students in Hoopes Introduction to Archaeology course may enact a similar scene this semester. He has culled resources from his own notes and from archaeologists around the world for the resource pages. Students access the course syllabus that prompts them to access more information for each session with a click of the mouse. Hoopes has included slides, videos and the capability to animate three-dimensional images. An Australian colleague gave Hoopes permission to include a video on stoneworking.
Hoopes hopes to add three-dimensional models of ancient cities.
A first for KU's anthropology department, the on-line archaeology class is one of several KU courses using the Internet. Hoopes developed the Web site with a grant from KU's Office of Academic Affairs to improve undergraduate teaching. Most new freshman don't know how to use the Internet. His own Internet epiphany came last year while studying in Costa Rica on a Fulbright fellowship. Eventually, computers will be as commonplace as telephones in our homes, Hoopes says.