Similarly, a recent article in Change magazine emphatically declares that it is impossible to make productivity gains through infusing technology into the teaching and learning process and that those who seek to do so are essentially hoodwinking the public. Such assertions, however, are not supported by the facts. The articles presented here have been collected in part to answer these naysayers and to give those who seek to realize the NLII goals and objectives some intellectual ammunition to aid them in their efforts. The following articles explore several themes that give us ways to think about these questions. A second theme is directly related to this latter point.
Several articles suggest some possible answers.
Wilson gives concrete examples of ways in which technology can be invaluable in creating active learning experiences for students in contrast to the traditional passive experience of listening to professors lecture. The studio environment at RPI encourages students to be active discoverers of their own learning. Technology enables a shift in the faculty role to manager or designer of the learning process rather than presenter of information or conveyor of wisdom. The third theme running through these articles is that the emphasis must be not on the technology but on changes in pedagogy enabled by information technology. The successes achieved in student learning at RPI are not a result of using technology in the classroom but rather of changes in content and in pedagogy that the technology enables.