Winning teachers Profs. Donna Palmateer Pennee, English, and Margaret Priest, Fine Art, are U of G 's latest recipients of teaching awards from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations. Pennee, left, says she's learned a lot from her students, like how to relinquish authority in the classroom without relinquishing responsibi 1 ity. "Students bring all different kinds of experience and knowledge into the classroom. If I were to teach autocratically, all of that wonder ful experience and knowledge wouldn't come to the fore and wouldn't be valued as pal1 of the teaching experience."
Using technology Thinking globally Those students who have taken ad vantage of Gue lph' s overseas study opportunities have counted them among their most relevant university experiences. Guelph offers formal se mesters in England, Poland, France, India and Latin America, has ex change programs with more than 60 universities in 30 countries and makes it poss ible for students to de sign their own study-abroad program at any accredited university in the world . U of G was the first university in Canada to estab lish a Centre for International Programs in 1967. Di rected by Prof. Jim Shute (pictured above), it 's the first step for students interested in overseas study. Students have access to several campus resources , including the services of study-abroad and ex change manager Lynne Mitchell and a resource cen tre that provides information about study and work opportunities as well as country, visa and health in formation. In addition, the InfoCentre carries news letters, annual reports and other resources from governmental and non-governmental organizations. Last year, some 270 students pal1icipated in Guelph 's study-abroad programs. Shute says that public perceptions have shifted. People now understand that development doesn't happen only in developing countries, but also in their own backyard. The culture, politics and cus toms of different countries are all part of the global development process. He predicts that information technology will be a dominant educational SUpp0l1 in the future and says students should make the most of the avenues avail able to them, enrolling in seminars and studies and volunteering to learn more about other cultures.
Web-based learning is a relativ ely new teaching tool, but authors of distance education courses have bee n using it for some time, says Linda Gibson, the mediated learning designer for Web courses in the Office of Open Learning. Course authors have designed their own Web sites to augment their courses. More than half of the distance education courses offered by U of G include some form of electronic communication. Online learning has some distino advantages - students re ceive feedback more rapidly and can access libraries and other information sites directly online. This is especia lly helpful for students living in isolated areas. Because technology changes so quickly , the route to Web de sign starts with mee ting the needs of students, not by trying to find a way to use new technologies, says Gibson. Just putting a course on the Web doesn't make it learner-centred. Learner-cen tredness needs to be designed by choosing the right learning strategies. Four new Web-based courses get Gibson 's stamp of approval for interactive learning: • "The Development of Human Sex uality" helps students re search and critically evaluate varied resources in the fi eld, particularly those available through the World Wide Web. Group di scussion and collaborative projects are central to this course. • "Contemporary Cinema" enhances students' critical viewing skills. Students are encouraged to meet their colleagues on line through a cinema viewer profile. Students can also ac cess and use many film resources found on the Web. • "Forest Ecology" lets students choose whether to work indi vidually or in groups on t.he Internet. It encourages them to develop knowledge of the ecological aspects of forests. The course uses a problem-based case study related to shoreline development and disturbance and includes videotapes of ac tual situations. • "Technology in Extension" allows the user to survey technol ogy functions in extension education. Students can use the In ternet, completing several small projects with an e lectronic learning partner, and partic ipate in group discuss ions using a Web-based conferencing system. A case study using original broadcasts and materials from the 1960s Farm Radio Forum is one of the highlights of this course.
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