Present: G. Allen, M. Belsky, S. Blosser, J. Eulenberg, D. Forro, M. Hestenes, M. Hudson, T. Hwang, J. Renuk, R. Thomas, R. Wittick.
1. Called to order (Eulenberg) at 1:34 p.m.
2. Eulenberg noted that the first meeting in January will be on the 13th; place TBA, as the Computer Center's elevator's status remains beyond prediction.
3. Wittick talked briefly about the use of Dragon Naturally Speaking and NetChat for real-time small meetings; he and Diana D'Angelo will be evaluating their use during next semester, and he will report to the committee as information becomes available.
4. APP&R Issues.
Hudson and Blosser are working on software upgrades for Bessy Hall.
Blosser has been working on equipment in the Clara Bell Smith Lab; they have Naturally Speaking up and running. These PCs have 64MB RAM, and an upgrade to 128MB would be appropriate. Wittick noted that his and D'Angelo's experience suggests that a 233MHz/128MB PC gives superior performance to a 300MHz/64MB PC; i.e., RAM appears to be more important than CPU speed.
Belsky will report on laptop project at next meeting.
Blosser reported that the Computing Center never acquired any high-powered laptops for the lending program. The committee should follow up on this, specifying our needs. (See /www.msu.edu/~blossers/ALD/ for further information on this matter.)
Hwang suggested that we should strive to make our committee more accessible to a wider population. Hudson noted, in agreement, that various links to the committee's web site are hidden rather deep. Hestenes commented on the timeliness of this suggestion, as revisions to the MSU Home Pages are currently being considered.
Thomas reported that he is still soliciting APP&R ideas from his group. Recent IMC efforts have gone towards the high tech classrooms, 51 so far and 15 more planned. Especially noteworthy is the new auditorium in the Radiology Building. Wittick suggested that the committee have a tour of this facility soon. At Hudson's query concerning the sound quality in these high tech classrooms, Thomas replied that it varies according to the needs of that room, all the way from "traditional" to "surround-sound."
Blosser mentioned that, from his conversations with Karen Rivard, it appears that few new video materials are being captioned, contrary to information we received last semester. Eulenberg volunteered to inquire of Blievernicht as to the current policy on captioning of new video materials produced by MSU.
6. Adjourned (Renuk; Allen) 2:36pm.
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Last updated 21 April 1999.