Dear Jim I thought the Blackbord question was interesting in this context - maybe we should work on awareness in the rest of the college? I happen to get now perfectly written philosophically empty essays - and am returining to handwritten papers. All the best your Achim -----Original Message----- From: Greenberg, James ([log in to unmask]) Sent: Tue 9/9/2003 3:38 PM To: [log in to unmask] Cc: Subject: Technology Creep into Education QUALITY OF ONLINE COURSES EXPECTED TO ECLIPSE IN-CLASS COURSES A survey conducted by Babson College and the Sloan Consortium indicates growing respect among some college administrators--including presidents and chief academic officers--for the quality of online courses. One-third of the roughly 1,000 survey respondents expect the quality of online courses at their institutions to surpass that of in-class courses within three years. Fifty-seven percent said the quality of Web-based classes already rivals that of in-class teaching. Some administrators, however, particularly at private baccalaureate institutions, remain skeptical of online teaching. One-third of the respondents said Web-based courses would not become a significant part of the teaching at their institutions. Chronicle of Higher Education, 4 September 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2003/09/2003090401t.htm AUTOMATED ESSAY GRADING: MAKING THE GRADE? Several companies offer computer tools to grade student essays, and various schools around the United States, including some colleges and universities, are using such grading tools to reduce teacher workload and improve student writing. One tool called Criterion, developed by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), is being used by Camden County College in New Jersey. Criterion scores essays based on factors "learned" from human readers and also provides students with feedback on grammar, style, usage, and organization. Anthony Spatola, chairman of the English department at Camden, said students appreciate the feedback, and he believes the tool helps students improve their writing. Officials from ETS acknowledged that the system theoretically could give a high score to an essay that exhibited certain linguistic characteristics but lacked a logical argument. Students' taking the time, however, to fool the system is unrealistic, they argued. Such automated systems have ardent detractors, including Julie Cheville of Rutgers University and the local director for the National Writing Project, who said automated grading systems "orient students to errors, not to meaning." Cheville argued that "Vacuous student essays can receive high marks only because they are error-free." New York Times, 4 September 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/04/technology/circuits/04grad.html Mr. James B. Greenberg Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center Milne Library SUNY College at Oneonta Oneonta, New York 13820 email: [log in to unmask] phone: 607-436-2701 "Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"