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	Vol.7, No 6, September 8, 1999
	New system helps students, teachers By Jose Corado Daily Forty-Niner Starting this semester, Cal State Long Beach students will be able to take advantage of a new online system called CourseInfo, which will make its debut this fall with 18 courses. "CourseInfo is a set of tools for professors to create course materials, organize them and put them online," said Edwin McBride, director of Academic Computing Services. "This is the pilot program and we have a small number of professors that are going to use it to test it out."  A professor puts all necessary class materials online, such as the class syllabus, lecture notes, assignments and course documents, and each class also has a communications area with e-mail, a chat room and a discussion board. The key to CourseInfo is that it will make it easier to lead a class into a discussion rather than to a lecture, McBride said. We have also found that professors are spending less time discussing the basics and more time discussing what it all means, he said. It is easy for professors to put materials on the Internet because they do not have to be computer experts to do this, McBride said. It is also very easy for students because all the materials are organized and easy to access, he said. "I was excited when I heard about CourseInfo and got curious," said Dr. Jayne Howell, an anthropology professor, teaching ANTH 323 on-line this semester. "Going into the new millennium, students are going to need to get hands-on experience with the Internet and this is a great opportunity to do it," Howell said. She said her class will have the opportunity to be more aware of available Internet resources and research tools because one of the assignments is to create links of the resources students find to their home pages. In order to take CourseInfo classes students have to enroll through Voice Response Registration. Students must also comply with all CSULB policies, procedures and deadlines to receive academic credit for a course.  Concurrent enrollment can also be possible for students from other CSU campuses with the proper permission from the registration Office. Dr.  Jose Lopez, Chicano and Latino Studies professor, has students enrolled in his CHLS 490 class from other campuses. Valerie McKinna, a dance student, said CourseInfo is a good idea, and it should be made available for all students. "A lot of faculty are showing a lot of interest in doing it for next semester," said Carl Kuzmich, a CourseInfo specialist, who came from the University of Pittsburg.  Kuzmich, who used CourseInfo two years ago at the University of Pittsburg, said system worked out great. There are about 650 on-line courses now at Pittsburg up from 22 in its first semester, he said. Academic Computing Services will start training sessions on Oct. 1 for faculty interested in using CourseInfo next semester. For more information, contact ACS at (562) 985-4505.		Graphic Illustration by Jimmy Chai                                                                                                       Art program bigger, better Hazing problem down New system helps students, teachers Welcome week wows all Governor signs teaching bill Entrepreneurs given internships with grant North campus library takes on new identity University Police Department makes mark Abortion already legal Parking no picnic Long Beach police have new beat OOSoul soothes audience with sound Friday Night Reggae Club gives good vibes 'Lend Me a Tenor' tantalizes 'Mystery Alaska' moves Cross country team needs seasoning Morgan entering critical time period Back-to-back overtime loses puzzle coach Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.