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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED511569 |
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Table of Contents:
- Evolving with Technology: The Changing Role of the Curriculum Lab at The University of West Alabama Ross, Sheletha Educational Quality Research Libraries Electronic Journals Internet Higher Education Evaluation Educational Technology Educational Environment Technological Advancement The purpose of this article was to examine how technological advances in research affect The University of West Alabama's mission as well as its resources available to students through the curriculum lab as the lab should be an integral part of the University's offerings. Living in the age of the instant, the prevalence of information available through electronic resources has grown exponentially. Simply searching a keyword in a browser window can yield thousands and perhaps millions of results in a fraction of a second. With that kind of technological boost, today's university student can be inundated with information. Even pages of a book are available on a small handheld device capable of storing thousands of tomes. How then does a University library compete with such a plethora of information? More specifically, how does a curriculum lab compete with that level of information availability? Quite simply, the Curriculum Lab becomes another tool. The University library is available with print media and electronic journals to assist students with searches as well as teaching students how to navigate through all those available sources in order to distinguish a credible source from a Wikipedia entry. The Curriculum Lab goes a step further by offering credible sources in a hands-on environment in which students can learn to develop skills and use educational sources in order to most effectively teach their future students. Because of the availability of electronic resources coupled with the need to effectively evaluate those resources and the University's mission to provide opportunities for quality education, the curriculum lab becomes an integral part of the University's mission. Examining the University's mission and how the curriculum lab fits into how the University offers materials to different types of student learners showed that the availability of technology has a positive effect on the materials available to students and showed that the curriculum lab is an essential part of assisting students in sifting through materials to find credible sources. The University must find methods in which to show students that the curriculum lab is an invaluable tool to finding information necessary to making their education the most beneficial to them and their future students. (Contains 4 footnotes.)