Digital Resources for Teaching and Learning
Undergraduate education and its culture are now fundamentally and powerfully interfaced with technology. New systems have transformed and accelerated the retrieval and delivery of every category of research and information—from medieval studies to nanoscience. Boston University has been at the forefront of designing and making available innovative educational tools to stay apace with the fundamental reliance on technology by students and faculty.
Three new resources have been developed:
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iTunes U: a “portable classroom” of tremendous versatility.
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ePortfolio: a digital portfolio that allows students to store, consolidate, and assemble their written, creative, and reflective work accomplished during their academic career that can be for course, professional, or personal objectives.
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Course Description Search: a database of over 7,000 course descriptions searchable by keyword to assist in finding and grouping courses that have analogous and complementary course content, regardless of department or college.
The projects linked here tackle both current and perceived needs by undergraduates, and they are designed within the context of a more pluralistic, integrated, and cross-disciplinary undergraduate experience. Moreover, we are rapidly approaching (if we have not already arrived at) the point where undergraduate learning exceeds the traditional temporal boundaries of the class schedule blocks, the 15-week semester, and the four-year degree. With web resources now including much of what was formerly the privilege of libraries (JSTOR, reference works, audio, visual, and other fine arts material now on the Web), one can speak for the first time of advanced learning and the requisite accessing of materials being extended 24/7. In short, the accessing of important scholarly resources is no longer exclusively dependent upon location, hours of operation, or even the collections of a library.
