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NEWS
| October 30, 2003
Computing and Technology
Speaker projects technology possibilities
He discusses the changes it could
bring to scientific studies and liberal arts.
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| The Shorthorn: Awais Ikram |
| William Wulf, National Academy of Engineering
president, gives a keynote speech on the effects of information
technology during the third annual Technology Fair on
Wednesday afternoon in the University Center Rosebud Theatre. |
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By Jessica
Smith
The Shorthorn staff
William Wulf did not predict the future Wednesday when he spoke
at the third annual Technology Fair.
He did, however, capture the imaginations of about 150 audience
members with ideas about the impact of information technology on
colleges and universities.
“In information technology, we have some incredibly terrible
predictions,” the National Academy of Engineering president
said.
Still, Librarian Karen Hopkins said she is excited about the possibilities
the field has to offer.
“It makes you more appreciative of what inventors are making,”
she said.
As an example of how rapidly technology has changed everything around
it, Dr. Wulf asked the audience what could be 100 times faster than
the first digital computer in the United States.
The answer? A 4-bit processor embedded in a Christmas card. But
the qualitative changes universities may undergo as a result of
information technology may be far more extensive, he said.
Accounting associate professor Li-Chin Ho said Wulf was informative
and that she enjoyed his approach to the speech.
“I liked the way he said he’s not predicting the future,”
she said.
Wulf detailed changes that may affect universities, beginning with
books and journals. The process of peer review may soon be obsolete,
he said.
“There’s no reason why scientific work has to be pre-identified
to be worthwhile,” he said.
Libraries may soon go entirely virtual and have books available
only through the Internet. It is possible that these books could
update themselves through a computer, he said.
“The book as we know it is dead,” he said.
One new technology already changing books is digital paper. This
is like regular paper — except you can read it in bed without
the light, he said.
The possibilities for expanded research are also virtually unlimited,
he said. For instance, in scientific research before the advent
of more modern technology, most researchers used the scientific
method. However, there were experiments they couldn’t do,
such as seeing what might happen when two galaxies collide, he said.
Now, scientists can simulate the collision of two galaxies on a
computer to test their theory, he said. However, information technology
will not affect only scientific research.
“I think the impact of information technology on humanistic
scholarship will be far greater,” he said.
Researchers can access thousands of records on ordinary people who
lived in the past. This is a radical change from when such records
were available only about famous figures such as monarchs and generals.
“It allows them to ask questions that they simply couldn’t
ask,” he said.
Another result of information technology’s influence on the
humanities is that there is more group research, something that
couldn’t be done when access to records was limited. Greater
availability of historical records also affects how a curriculum
is taught. History books, which are generally linear, are being
used less and less, he said.
Large schools may change radically because technology could make
traditional classes obsolete, he said. Technology will allow more
students to take virtual classes — even attend a virtual university.
Whatever happens, he said, universities should work together to
take advantage of technology without damaging their fundamentals.
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