General Sessions

Higher Education in the New Millennium

Monday, March 24, 1997
9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Bill Graves, CIO and Director, UNC Institute for Academic Technology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Public and education leaders alike believe that education must be restructured if it is to remain the cultural and economic foundation of a prosperous democracy into the next century. Current instructional models are substantially dependent on time, place, and institution, but today's evolving network of multimedia computers and information resources potentially removes these dependencies. Educators need to design new instructional models giving learners immediate access to information and immersing them in interactive worlds crafted from the new technologies to engage all of the human senses in learning. Education will have to join forces with its non-profit and commercial supporting cast to shift the old capital- and labor-intensive instructional infrastructure of mortar and lectures toward a new national learning infrastructure based on digital technology and intellectual capital.

The Future Compatible Campus

Tuesday, March 25, 1997
9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Diana Oblinger, Manager, Academic Programs and Strategy, IBM Corporation

How can you ensure that your campus is future compatible? By transcending the limitations of time and place, digital technologies can open opportunities for learning on a global scale. The creation, transmission, and archiving of knowledge will endure as educational processes; however, policies and procedures as well as faculty roles and expectations will change. The challenges of this emerging environment will be illustrated.

Building Educational Communities with New Technologies

Tuesday, March 25, 1997
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

William J. Mitchell, Professor of Architecture and Media Arts and Sciences, Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, MIT

It is widely recognized that new computer and telecommunication technologies provide some exciting new ways of delivering educational materials and creating vivid educational experiences. But it is less obvious--and perhaps even more important--that these technologies can play a crucial role in creating and sustaining vital, productive educational communities. This session will explore the complementary and interrelated community-building roles of the physical campus and virtual campuses, and suggest some directions for the future.