 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
..............................................................................................................................................................
     |
Smith Professor is Developer of Volcano WebsitePeople in such widely separated locations as Seattle, Mexico City and Naples, Italy, are constantly at risk from a number of volcanic hazards. Although most of us need not fear the menace of a nearby volcano, we do find information about how volcanoes form, what causes them to erupt and the risks such eruptions present to be endlessly fascinating. Robert Burger, Achilles Professor of Geology at Smith College, is helping the public understand the volcano phenomenon through his work on a new Web site that is part of the Annenberg/CPB (Corporation for Public Broadcasting) Projects exhibit collection on the World Wide Web. The goal of the web site, which adds a new exhibit on a new topic each month, is to provide high quality interactive learning experiences electronically. Burger chose the topics for the volcano site and developed the content for the exhibit, which includes written text, diagrams and activities. The exhibit, which first became accessible on the Web in October, includes information on why volcanoes erupt in different ways, when volcanoes erupt, how to cope with the risk of eruptions, and offers links to more than a dozen other web sites that provide related information. According to Burger, the site is intended for a mature audience, rather than for school children, "We tried to keep the site fairly simple, but it is aimed at the college student and casual adult learner. It is a broad overview from a certain perspective, because there was a limit of what we could include for learning materials." Located at http://www.learner.org/exhibits/volcanoes, the site is the second in a series that will cover more than 35 subject areas. The collection, of which the volcanoes exhibit is a part, is an effort to extend the Annenberg/CPB Projects' original multimedia collection, which included educational material on videos and CD ROMS used by colleges, high schools, corporations, organizations, and informal learners. Through the new technologies offered by the World Wide Web and the Internet, each month the project will provide a new exhibit on its web site. In upcoming months, exhibits will feature science, art, writing, literature, psychology, geology, and other subjects. A member of the Smith faculty since 1966, Burger is on sabbatical leave this year and is developing a multimedia-based CD for use in a geology course he teaches. The CD is intended to enhance student visualization and comprehension of course material Some of the courses he has taught at Smith are: natural disasters, structural geology, environmental geophysics, mineralogy, petrology, and field geology. Burger holds a B.S. from Yale University and an A.M. and Ph.D. from Indiana University. |
..............................................................................................................................................................