Copyright 1998 CAUSE. From CAUSE/EFFECT Volume 21, Number 1, 1998, p. 2. Permission to copy or disseminate all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for commercial advantage, the CAUSE copyright and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of CAUSE, the association for managing and using information resources in higher education. To disseminate otherwise, or to republish, requires written permission. For further information, contact Jim Roche at CAUSE, 4840 Pearl East Circle, Suite 302E, Boulder, CO 80301 USA; 303-939-0308; e-mail: [email protected]

From the Editor

Spending the better part of two weeks on the conference circuit, I saw some impressive presentations on the use of information technology, most of it geared toward teaching. I also heard one presenter and corporate exhibitor after another assure conference attendees that their latest technological developments were "increasingly more complex, but easier to use."

There's no question that today's technology can be easier to use. However, that may be a curse as much as a blessing. For example, one of the more impressive pieces of equipment demonstrated at TechEd98, the California Community College Foundation technology conference, was a nonlinear editor. This is a device that allows you to import video, cut it up, and rearrange it to your heart's content. If you make a mistake, you simply rearrange the components until you're satisfied. In SAT parlance, nonlinear editing is to linear editing as word-processing is to typing.

The ability to dump substantial amounts of video into this device, and the ease with which one can create a finished video production or multimedia presentation doesn't bother me. In fact, this is a video editor's dream machine. However, selling this technology with a pitch that it will take every faculty member or information technology support staff one step closer to being their own video producer, director, and editor, raises the same concern as the claim that pagination systems would make everyone a publisher.

Technology often gives us a false sense of our ability to accomplish a given task. It lulls us into believing that having the technology also gives us the knowledge, skill, and talent necessary to use it effectively. Few would assume that having the tools to build a house would give someone the basis from which to do so. We all understand the fundamental elements of a house, such as wood, bricks, concrete, plumbing and electrical supplies, and so on. However, few fail to realize the complexity of successfully arranging the elements in such a way as to create something that is aesthetically pleasing, functional, and effective -- and that the neighbors would allow to remain on their block.

Why is it, then, that computer-based technology, such as the nonlinear editor, seems to create an environment in which we believe we can accomplish tasks without developing the skills necessary to do the job right? Introduction of such technology does make it easier for those who already possess the skills and for those who will develop those skills, but it doesn't make it easier for those who simply learn how to use the technology.

The value of technology shouldn't be that it gives any one of us the tools necessary to perform a task, but that it gives those who specialize in a given field the ability to perform their tasks more efficiently and effectively.

Video production for courses is an excellent example of how this can and should be applied. Video, as made evident in recent years by programs on PBS, The Discovery Channel, and The Learning Channel, is an incredible medium for learning. However, the effectiveness of the medium is based as much on the quality of the production and delivery of the information as it is on the content.

As distance education classes and the use of multimedia in the classroom and over the Internet become more prevalent, video production will become more necessary and common. The difference between high-quality production and its low-quality counterpart is that with the former, content is enhanced by the application of visual composition, rhythm, syntax, pacing, and so on. Other graphic enhancements, such as titles, transitions, and special effects, as well as the audio effects of music, voice-over, and sound effects, are also critical.

Educational institutions will serve their students better if they provide, or encourage faculty to use, production specialists for video or multimedia production for their on-site or online classes. Faculty should concentrate on content and giving that content meaning, and not have to worry about the delivery mechanism. By providing experts in the area of delivery of content, the information can be transferred from faculty member to student in a manner that, like the house built by a professional builder, is aesthetically pleasing, functional, and effective.

James Roche, Editor

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