High-tech learning
Scott POWELL LEDGER STAFF WRITER

A college education isn't what it used to be, and a blackberry is no longer just a fruit.

These are the conclusions I reached Wednesday morning when I attended a Computer Science 102 class on microcomputer applications. Limestone College professor Brian Ameling was gracious enough to allow me to be an "imbedded reporter" for his class.

Ameling was teaching the course inside a multimedia technology classroom at the Hamrick Hall of Science. The college spent $900,000 to convert a lecture hall into a media technology classroom with 48 student work stations (each with its own computer), a multimedia projector, a 50-inch plasma television, a movie theater quality sound system and a document camera.

Limestone College debuted the classroom in the fall of 2004. It has become one of the most popular places on campus.

Ameling taught the class while students worked exclusively on computers to complete an electronic lesson the college professor had uploaded. The lesson focused on how students could jazz up a report on a Parkview Energy Audit by using applications from the 2007 Microsoft Office program.

Students began the class by logging onto the college's Web CT program for online instruction. A 160-page manual was the only evidence of a textbook.

Housed on the college's Virtual Campus site, students are able to find classroom lessons and assignments that professors electronically place on the computer.

When Ameling gives a homework assignment, students simply log in and complete the assignment on their computer. The assignment is then uploaded to a secure site where the college professor can then grade the work.

"A student can work on the assignment in class, a dorm room, computer lab or any place where they have Internet access," said Ameling after the class. "It's great for the students because the Internet is available 24/7. A college student could do their assignment at 2 a.m. and turn it in."

I have been intrigued by the Hamrick multimedia technology classroom ever since I toured the facility at a dedication ceremony Oct. 21, 2004. I thought it would be a great idea to be a college student again for one class and watch a college professor put all the technology bells and whistles into action.

A "Star Wars" movie was playing in the background, though I suspect this was mostly to show off the great movie theatersound quality.

It's doubtful students get to see the sound system in action too much beyond the occasional video or television clip. It speaks volumes, though, that a small college like Limestone College is using its resources to provide 21st century instruction on this type of multimedia scale.

I am going to make you read some more if you want to read the rest of the story.

We have a "progress" edition coming out next month highlighting the positive changes that have occurred in Cherokee County from 1998-2007. A feature on the Hamrick multimedia technology classroom is one of several issues I will spotlight in my education section.

I have been in many classrooms in schools and colleges over the past 12 years.

Many residents would not recognize the way classrooms are set up today.

Gadgets like classroom performance systems, document cameras, electronic whiteboards, iPods and personal digital assistants have now become the norm.

Everyone it seems has a cell phone. I am one of a few who still don't know how to send or open a text message.

I watched a Limestone College student maneuver through his blackberry at the time he worked on a computer and paid occasional attention to Ameling's lecture.

We live in strange times indeed. The reality is we are traveling on an information superhighway that will continue to be a rollercoaster ride.

Now could someone tell me why I need a blackberry. And, why this device is named after a fruit?