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Posted 8-24-00
CLEVELAND -- A multimedia CD-ROM has joined the freshman orientation process at Case Western Reserve University this year to help incoming undergraduates learn about the campus and CWRUnet.
The Curriculum Support Group in the University Library designed the CD, called "The Road to CWRU." The CD offers an introduction to virtually every area of campus life, from housing and the health service to academic policies and student activities.
There were two goals behind developing the CD as an early phase of freshman orientation -- to emphasize how pervasive information technology is on campus, and to provide details on basic components of daily campus life.
"If we wait until freshman arrive on campus, we hit them so with so much information during orientation that it can be overwhelming," said Sharon Scinicariello, director of the Curriculum Support Group. "We wanted to get them used to the idea that computers permeate this place, and also to use the CD's multimedia technology to get them used to gathering information through technology."
Since the CDs provide much of the information distributed during orientation sessions, activities during orientation week can be more interactive.
"It was never intended to substitute for face-to-face orientation activities. Those are important team-building, get-acquainted activities," she added. Instead, "the project became a way to help build community through technology."
There are eight sections on the CD, each covering a wide range of related topics:
Each section appears as a stop on "The Road to CWRU," using a highway design to mirror the CD's title.
The CD also offers a calendar section with key dates and deadlines throughout the year, an index of contents, a directory of several related Web resources, and a list of frequently asked questions on key areas of campus life.
Digital photographs, video clips, and virtual reality "photo bubbles" (navigable 360 degree images) of campus scenes supplement the text-only reference materials.
Since the video clips require QuickTime software, and some reference documents on the CD (such as how to install CWRUnet's fiber optic cables) require Adobe Acrobat Reader, both of these programs are included on the CD.
Also included is the plug-in required to use the Student On-Line Academic Registration (SOLAR), a plug-in which takes a great deal of time to download via modem. The installer for the Eudora e-mail program also is on the CD.
To make the CD contents accessible to students who use screen readers, a text-only version in HTML is included.
The CD links to a virtual campus which the Curriculum Support Group has developed. This MOO, a multi-user domain which uses object-oriented programming to allow people to interact in real-time cyberspace conversations, is a way for incoming freshmen to get to know each other before arriving on campus.
The MOO is located at http://cwrumoo.cwru.edu:7000.
The freshman dean in the Office of Undergraduate Studies held online chats with incoming freshmen in the MOO. Orientation leaders were asked to sign up for MOO accounts. Next year, the group may recruit freshmen advisers to host MOO chats.
Similar CDs are planned for incoming graduate students and new faculty.
"We have so many things that we can add onto this that are already in progress for next year and the year after," said Jared Bendis, an instructional technology specialist.
Joining Scinicariello and Bendis on the project were Margaret Cooney (a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology who works as a network information specialist) and six undergraduate student employees.