Because the world is increasingly dependent on technology, an understanding of information technology is vital to success. This workshop will explore the social, political, and economic implications of information technology; the use of the Internet to gather information; and the development of skills and materials enabling educators to participate in and contribute to network-based activities. Most participants will be university teachers and educators from a wide variety of disciplines.

Consider these questions:

Will the momentum created by the Internet tidal wave assure the rapid changes that earlier technologies could not?

How will content, pedagogy and curriculum change as a consequence of information technology?

What does the future hold for traditional implementations of education: the classroom, the textbook, and the teacher?

One of education’s greatest challenges today is to provide faculty and administrative staff with the necessary skills to meet the needs of students who are being educated in a world increasingly influenced by technology. The aim of this program is to provide an understanding of information technology enabling participants to form and defend their own answers to these questions. Through plenary presentations, and hands-on practice in a computer laboratory, workshop participants will be part of a learning environment allowing them to confront these issues on their own terms: in their classrooms, in the context of their own lessons and when applied to their students.

Internet Research:
Regardless of format, it is often difficult to find the piece of information or resource one seeks. Participants will be provided with the tools and strategies to navigate through the enormous sea of information now available electronically. The workshop will focus on exploring and evaluating useful guides and search engines for finding and retrieving those needle-like resources in the huge electronic haystack called the Internet.

Project Planning:
Information technology can be used to conceptualize and plan projects, but it must be harnassed. Faculty members will work individually with participants to explore ways in which the World Wide Web, which often resembles a thicket, can be useful in the planning and realization of information technology projects.

Creating Web Pages:
The Internet has fast become a popular tool for disseminating information. Web pages can be created to disseminate class information via the Internet, deliver class assignments electronically or provide web links to relevant information available across the Internet. Participants will create web pages and demonstrate ways to add structural, graphical and formatting elements to documents.