What follows is a look at the technologies students are using on a daily basis during their college years. One wonders, when they graduate will they find the same technological advances on-the-job at local park and recreation agencies?

Classroom technology has evolved from blackboards and filmstrips to video cassette recorders, overhead transparency projectors and document cameras/opaque projectors. More recently, direct computer projection allows students to view a document in progress, view commercially produced CD-ROMs (compact disc-read only memory) or access materials from anywhere in the world via the WWW (World Wide Web).

As the new millennium approaches, classroom walls and lack of transportation will no longer barriers to a college degree or continuing education. With the aid of technology, students and practitioners now have expanded opportunities for attending classes without traveling long distances. Most Illinois state universities have the technology to provide distance learning courses which consist of a professor and students at one university video-conferencing with students in a classroom at another university. In the spring of 1996, the Recreation and Park Administration program at Illinois State University (ISU) offered a graduate course entitled Management of Sport and Leisure as a distance learning class, with students simultaneously participating in the course from classrooms in Normal and Peoria.

In addition to distance learning, technology is also available for the creation of interactive CD-ROMs which provide opportunities for independent study off-campus as well as serve as supplementary class material. For students learning anatomy and physiology at Illinois State University, interactive CD-ROMs allow students to create their own tutorials and to review the materials at their own pace.

Another remote educational opportunity is the availability of college courses on the Internet. Offering a course online will make it possible for someone in the state of Washington to receive course credit from a university in Illinois. This technology will make continuing education easier for both students and practitioners.

Access to the WWW through a university account provides students a valuable resource and deserves further mention. The e-mail function enhances student communication access to instructors, fellow students, and professionals. In the spring of 1997, Illinois State University will be experimenting with distributing "personal digital assistants" to out-of-state interns to enhance communication among the intern, agency supervisors and university supervisors using the Internet.

Personal digital assistants are like mini-computers. They resemble personal data managers that look like oversized calculators with an alphabetic key pad. They are less powerful than a laptop computer, but they provide the capability of connecting to a full-size keyboard for word processing and communication via the Internet.

To facilitate student interaction across the country a list-serve for tourism and recreation has been established for undergraduate students to share their experiences and expertise with each other on the Internet (contact jns116@email.psu.edu). List-serves are Internet discussion groups to which participants

32 * Illinois Parks & Recreation * November/December 1996

subscribe by sending a request to subscribe and their e-mail address to the list-serve. Once a member of a list-serve, partici- pants receive every message posted by other members of the list and can respond to the messages or "lurk" (only read). List- serve and bulletin boards also exist for every conceivable recreational activity. This provides students an opportunity to ask questions, collect information, engage in a discussion, or conduct research on a topic of their choice.

The Internet represents an enormous reference for virtually any question a student may have about the profession. Many professional recreation organizations have a home page which offers information about their membership services, conference dates, and links to other useful Internet resources (e.g. the National Recreation and Park Association at www.als.uiuc.edu/nrpa/; [As of May 2000 the Web address has been changed to: www.nrpa.org/; the site is also accessible at: http://www.activeparks.org/] the Illinois Association of Park Districts at http:/www.als.uiuc.edu/iapd/; [Changed to: http://ilparks.org/] and the Illinois Park and Recreation Association at http://www.als.uiuc.edu/ipra/; [Changed to: http://www.il-ipra.org/; also accessible at http://il-ipra.org/]). National parks, state parks, and a growing number of park districts and departments have home pages providing information about their programs, facilities, and staff.

For students seeking internships, the Internet (www.vicon.net/~internet) provides information about agencies across the nation that are actively recruiting interns. Information about graduate and undergraduate recreation programs can also be accessed via the Internet. A good starting point for exploring academic recreation programs and other resources related to the profession of leisure and recreation is the Leisure Information Network (www.lin.ca).

In addition to these hardware technologies, students are exposed to a wide variety of software enabling them to create dynamic presentations, create attractive flyers, construct budgetary spreadsheets, create databases for program participant information, and create newsletters. For example, at Southern Illinois University students use Excel (a spreadsheet program) to better understand the budgeting process. Filemaker Pro (a database application) enables students at Illinois State University to search for intemship information. Presentation software such as Power Point and Harvard Graphics are widely available on campus computer labs at ISU. Students are encouraged to use these software programs when preparing class presentations.

As students become familiar with using the technology during their college career, they may in turn expect this technology to be available to them in the workplace. On the other hand, the familiarity and comfort level graduates have with technology may be useful for easing into the future.

As the new millennium approaches, are recreation agencies prepared for the techno-wizard professionals of tomorrow? 

Cynthia J. Wachter, Ph.D., is an instructor in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Illinois State University. She earned her bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in Leisure Studies from the University of Illinois.