Wow, this is a hard question. I think that every minute I invested to incorporate technology in my courses was worth it and I would do it again. However, one cannot know the amount of investment when one starts. It is huge and all consuming. It is like a love affair, a passion that you cannot turn away from once you seriously start.

With regard to accomplishing things with students...hmmmm. That is a mixed bag of observations. Students are so variable. However, I can offer some observations and these may help. The first computer I got for p-chem lab was so welcome that students stood in line to use that 286. I had to give permission for security to let them in the lab to do home work. They loved the multicolor graphs they could prepare with the plotter. Later I got a 386 and color printer. That was even better. However some students were afraid to use the computer. They were very unsure of their skills and needed a lot of help to get started. This goes back about 10 years and I still find students resist the machines because of their lack of experience. One of the problems is that they see it as another task that adds to their burden of study rather than a tool to use to learn better.

Well how do I know what students are accomplishing? This is a moving target question. Once I get one problem solved the problem changes and new challenges appear. First was the spread sheet problem. Students learned this and then the software got more sophisticated and I had to change the method of instruction. The software moves and then I move and then the students move to learn. The important thing is to set reasonable goals and then match challenge with support. I spend a lot of time with the students helping them to master software so they can get on with the job of using it to learn chemistry. I am committed to this because they will need to constantly learn software throughout their careers. So perhaps we should teach them how to learn on their own and get out of their way so they can learn. It is important to match challenge with support. It is important to let them have time to grow. Most come to p-chem with poor computer skills. My students now are doing amazing things with symbolic mathematics software. I help a lot but they are starting to teach me things. That is how I know they are successful. I listen to the types of questions they are asking me. The questions get more sophisticated as the use the software in conjunction with studying chemistry. Software usage in context of the normal curriculum. It is just like learning to use a calculator. I also know because the students teach each other. I must sometimes step back and let them do this. I have seen real growth in the class this year. Growth from resisting my unorthodox methods of teaching to acceptance and now even looking at my demands as a challenge. But I match challenge with support and sometime need to give them a day in class to just unload all their software questions or work on homework in class.

My goal in using technology is two fold:

1. Spark student's interest.
2. Explain concepts better.

I'm not sure yet, we are just starting to implement the most aggressive approach to IT in the CS 310 class.

Yes it is worth it--I accomplished what I set out to do, and the results were verified by comparing the scores of the traditional approach to the class using technology.