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Brite goes hi-tech By Carrie Woodall Students stepping into one of the classrooms at the Brite Divinity School this semester may notice a few high-tech changes. Technological resources, including a large video screen, projectors and specially-installed lighting for multimedia, are allowing the school’s professors to redesign their teaching methods. The Lilly Endowment Inc. provided Brite with a $300,000 grant for these improvements, said Jeremy Poynter, assistant to the dean in instructional technology. “There are advantages any time students are taught through multi-sensory methods,” Poynter said. “The technology will give faculty the opportunity to utilize multimedia resources to achieve this result.” Tori Waller, a Brite Divinity School student, said these new resources will allow students to have more interactive learning experiences. In the past, students relied on the religion department for any video equipment they needed. Poynter said students will have online access for laptops to use in the classroom, and faculty may eventually have course manuals to assist in the process. He said proposed components for the Lilly Endowment grant included the creation of a position in instructional technology. Faculty and staff will be trained in a workshop setting to learn how to use the multimedia equipment that may involve online interactive resources that students may use for ministry tools, Poynter said. Jeff Pool, assistant to the president in development, said Brite’s size and monetary resources have disallowed it to be as advanced in technology as some of the largest seminaries. “(However), Brite Divinity is in many ways ahead of some smaller seminaries because other schools are just now acquiring personal computers for the faculty,” Pool said. Poynter said students and faculty will begin using the multimedia technology this semester, but the grant includes a three-year implementation process for completion of the project. Carrie Woodall
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