Faculty Spotlight
December 1999 - January 2000: Dr. Gretchen Whitney
Dr. Whitney arrived at UTK in 1994 and realized, "This school
is wired. This school has the Web. This is very cool." She
and her graduate assistant began learning HTML and placing course
syllabi on the Web. They started out with a simple syllabus - really
just an outline - and that grew into lecture notes, a course calendar,
and related resources. Based on her success with using the Web
for delivery of basic course materials, she began teaching the
SIS students HTML, and having them create Holiday HomePages. Some
of the resources are still around, and the students have continued
to keep them up to date.
She then became involved with KoRRNet, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Regional Network of Tennessee. The idea of giving back to the community was inspired by what she was seeing at this community information network.
She and her students adopted many of the social service agencies in KorrNet and the students began developing information pages to be posted at KorrNet. Through their efforts, Dr. Whitney's students have contributed about 20% of the content on this site.
The Nineties
KorrNet
"It's a fabulous experience for them, because they realize that information provision is more than just creating a Web site.It’s more than just fussing with the technology. It’s working with the people, understanding their information needs, recognizing their own tastes and interests that may be different from the students. In the early days, there were many funny moments, because the students have specific ideas of what goes together, and they still do, actually, they would come to me and they say 'Dr. Whitney, my agency wants purple letters on a pink background. How do I tell them that this won’t work?' And I have to explain to them that 'It will work, and you can make it work. But you have to meet the needs of your agency, not your personal needs. You can guide them, but if they want purple on pink, you ask them, "What shade of purple and what shade of pink?" '"So it’s a great use of the technology as a mechanism for teaching a much more important lesson. That is how to analyze information needs. And give back to the community at the same time. I used to preach the technologies don’t really have a value associated with them, but I don’t think that’s true any more. I think they are value-laden, and this helps the students understand the values of the technology and what they’re conveying to the people that are using it. It’s very cool.