The Sophian

Issue date: 10/29/09 Section: Features

There is no question that we are living in a digital age. Business, communication, shopping, dating - nearly every facet of our lives has changed with the technological revolution.

For better or worse, education is also adapting to incorporate new technologies, requiring some radical adjustments and providing unexpected benefits.

Take Moodle, an inescapable online component of most Smith courses. The course management software replaced Blackboard in 2006 and can be used to download course handouts and readings, conduct class discussions, view grades and turn in assignments.

Students generally report that Moodle positively impacts their academic experience, particularly in allowing them to access readings online rather than paying to print them out.

Moodle offers more functions than just online readings, however. Evangeline Garreau '12 used Moodle to participate in an online discussion for her logic class, an experience she said was particularly helpful.

From an institutional perspective, Moodle's strength lies in its flexibility. Moodle is an open source software, meaning that users are free to adapt and modify it, as opposed to a for-profit product like Blackboard, which releases upgrades on the company's schedule.

Moodle has "allowed us to be a lot more responsive to requests we've received from faculty to improve the product," Director of Educational Technology Thomas Laughner said. For example, ITS staff wrote a module to improve file uploading at faculty request.

According to Rachel Weston '10, the importance of Moodle at Smith is increasing.

"Before I went abroad, teachers didn't use it much," Weston said. "Now it seems like they all use Moodle."

Moodle is not the only technology gaining prominence in the classroom. Recently, Smith professors have piloted numerous classroom innovations. This semester, physics Professor Joyce Fortune began using an online service called "Illuminate" to hold virtual office hours with students at night, the time when they are completing their classwork and most need help.

"There's always been this problem that when you're doing homework, that's when you have the questions," Fortune said. "If you're stuck on a question, you won't make any more progress. There's a disconnect between when students have questions and when they are able to ask them."

On Monday nights, students can use "Illuminate," which consolidates text and video chat with whiteboard computer sharing. Fortune said the program has had technical problems, especially when students' computers lack audio or video capability, but that students have generally found the sessions to be helpful.

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