MRC News Brief, September 27, 1993. Vol. 2, No. 5

College Environmental Technology (ET) students are taking notes, picking up assignments and outlines, and getting help with problems all without leaving the comfort of their own homes – or, rather, their home computers.

MRC’s Chemical and Biological Sciences Bulletin Board System (BBS) enables students taking Natural Science and Aquatic Biology courses to gain access to information by phoning from their home computers and downloading the files.

“It’s the wave of the future – an interactive way to remotely deliver information,” said Ray Sloan, ET instructor. “Not only can students access information, they can communicate on-line with instructors to solve problems.”

The system uses IBM hardware and existing BBS software that was tailored by MRC instructional assistant Steve Swettenham.

“The possibilities are endless,” Swettenham said. ‘This type of system could mean increased access for long-distance users and the handicapped. For the future, we’d like a system that could be entered from anywhere in Canada.”