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Feb 14, 2000

General Assembly's New Video Teleconferencing System Puts Springfield Legislator In Class With DePaul Students


Technology will allow political science students at DePaul University to learn how a bill becomes law from State Rep. Judy Erwin (D-Chicago) and to ask questions of the legislator while she remains in Springfield. The General Assembly's new video teleconferencing facility will make its first Chicago connection on Feb. 16 from 1:30 to 2 p.m. in Schmitt Academic Center, 2320 N. Kenmore Ave., Classroom 262, on DePaul's Lincoln Park campus.


     Although "distance learning" through computer technology has made education more accessible to students by allowing them to plug into the classroom at their convenience, the State of Illinois's new video teleconferencing facility is being used this way for the first time. The facility in the state capitol will be inaugurated the week of February 13th with four events around the state. Erwin's lecture at DePaul is the only teleconferencing planned for Chicago.

     "The state leadership - representatives, senators and the governor - are seeking to make Illinois the leader in technology," said the Rev. John P. Minogue, C.M., president of DePaul. "That begins with educating all levels of society, so that Illinois can have the premier workforce in technology. It is a great pleasure to use this advanced technology to link Springfield with Chicago to enable citizens/students to be part of the political processes that shape our destiny."

     Doug Kucia, a political science instructor, believes that the technological experiment that will take place in his class on "Political Parties and Elections" is the wave of the future. "It allows the professor to deal with theoretical concepts and applications, and to be able to hit home by connecting the theory to the practice," said Kucia. "If I stand up there and lecture, it could be hit or miss, but bring a practitioner into the classroom and there's greater impact."

     Via video monitors, Erwin will deliver a lecture to the students on the process a bill goes through to become a law. Students will be able to engage in discussion with Erwin and pose questions during and after her talk.

     "I think it's exciting to be part of a political science course on DePaul's campus at the same time the legislature is actually in session," said Erwin. "I think that bringing real-life government and real-life politics right into the classroom will hopefully make [the students'] course in campaigns and elections more meaningful."

     DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the United States, is a leader in technology education. A recent study conducted by the Illinois Board of Higher Education showed that DePaul graduates 42 percent of the information technology workers in Illinois. DePaul's School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems (CTI) graduate program has the largest enrollment of any computer science program in the country.