In the fall of 1987, Northwest Missouri State University embarked upon the Electronic Campus initiative and became one of the first state universities to have computer mainframe access in every student residence hall room and faculty office. The original Electronic Campus initiative used text-based computer terminals. In recent years, graphical user interfaces such as Macintosh and Windows-based systems as well as access to the Internet became more prevalent. As a result of the vast technological changes since its inception, a new Electronic Campus Plus (EC+) initiative was begun. This new initiative began with the fall 1995 freshman class.
    The EC+ project focused on the use of notebook computers by participating students and faculty. Notebook computers were distributed to about 20 faculty members who were expected to use them in general education classes and other professional activities. Participating freshmen students agreed to rent notebook computers for $375 per semester. These students were then enrolled in at least three general education courses where extensive use of computer technology would be incorporated. Two classrooms were designated for use in this project and were modified to provide the latest multimedia technology for the faculty. In addition, student desks were wired to provide local area network (LAN) and Internet access.
    Approximately 100 freshmen participated in the original pilot study. General education courses such as computer literacy, English composition, oral communication (speech), American history, geography and mathematics were targeted for the initial offerings. Faculty that participated were given special training on the use of notebook computers in the classroom and on utilization of the LAN and Internet. Enrollment in the special courses was limited to students who were participating in the EC+ study.
    Notebook computers were selected for use because they provided students with a unit that was both accessible and mobile . The results of the pilot study were somewhat mixed; however, students gained in their ability to use the technology. Ultimately the decision was made to continue the project another year and expand the course offerings to other subject areas. Because of the expansion of EC+ it was no longer feasible for the University to purchase notebook computers and rent them to the students; consequently, students were required to purchase their own. A university store was established to enable students to purchase IBM Thinkpad computers at a reduced price. Students were also allowed to purchase comparable notebooks on their own. Approximately 350 of 6,000 students elected to participate in the EC+ project during the 1996-7 academic year.
    In the fall of 1996 music appreciation was selected to be one of the courses offered in the EC+ initiative. The purpose of this project was to study the effectiveness of using notebook computers as an instructional resource and a means of delivery.

Method

    Subjects

    In order to investigate the educational impact of EC+ in music appreciation, data from three sections of the course 19-201 The Enjoyment of Music were used. One section of 13 was taught during the fall of 1996 under the guidelines of the EC+ initiative. The other two sections of 39 students were taught by the same instructor during the fall of 1995.
    Students enrolled during the 1995 fall semester had access to computer labs with PC's containing CD-ROM drives and network access as well as text-only terminals; in their residence hall rooms which were connected to a mainframe. EC+ students each owned a notebook computer. The units purchased through Northwest were equipped with Pentium processors, Ethernet cards, and CD-ROM drives. The EC+ students not only had network access in their classrooms and labs, but also had access in their residence hall rooms. Students who lived off campus were provided with a low-cost option to purchase network access through a local Internet provider.
    Faculty members participating in this initiative were also subjects in a sense. Upon agreeing to teach an EC+ course, the university issued that professor a notebook computer. The teacher was then expected to attend some 16 hours of training on the use of the computer. Training focused on using various elements of Microsoft Office such as Word, Excel, and Power Point. Some time was also spent helping faculty learn to write Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents which could be posted on the Northwest web server. During the semester of teaching courses in this project, these faculty were expected to meet weekly to share strategies.
    Design
    The educational impact of the EC+ initiative in music appreciation was studied with an experimental and control group design. The three sections used for the study were taught by the same instructor who used the same objectives in teaching them. Scores on exams taken by students in the fall 1995 semester were used as control group data. Scores on exams taken by the EC+ students in the fall 1996 semester were used as experimental group data.
    In order to provide the most accurate control group data, scores taken from both sections taught by one of the researchers in the fall 1995 semester were used. A total of 78 students were in the control group, and only 13 were available for study in the experimental group.
    Materials
    The first unit of the course addressed musical elements. In order to take advantage of the level of motivation inherent in using the technology at the student's disposal, MIDI files were incorporated into classroom and out-of-class activities. Students were asked to find and download MIDI files on the World Wide Web. Most of the students had computers with sound cards installed; however, their web browsers were lacking MIDI plugins. Although they were given instructions on how to download and install the necessary software, most students needed assistance.
    A tool that made the use of MIDI even more powerful for the students than just listening was a sequencer. Demonstration versions of popular sequencing software such as Cakewalk were available for free. The sequencer allowed the students to manipulate the tempo, dynamics, and timbre of a composition and observe the musical effect. The notation feature was also very helpful in providing a representation of melodic movement and contour. However, a problem with this medium was that the poor quality of most sound cards detracted from the overall musical experience. 
    Computer-administered tutorials were available to help students prepare for exams. The tutorials provided drill and practice for both informational and aural objectives. The informational objectives were tested using locally developed software which was stored on the university's mainframe computer. The aural objectives were addressed using PODIUM multimedia authoring software written by Fred Hofstetter. Students were able to copy a runtime version of this application to their own notebook computer. They did, however, have to go to the library to get audio compact discs since they were issued cassette tapes for the class. The specific files for each unit were stored on the university's web server.
    Elements of Baroque musical style were addressed in the second unit. A sound-under-stills presentation illustrating the descriptive quality of Vivaldi's Four Seasons was presented. While the first movement of Spring played, students were shown the text of its poem during the appropriate musical passage. The use of the sequencer was employed once again in the study of a prelude and fugue from the Well-Tempered Klavier. Each student was given a MIDI file of the work for study outside of class as well.
    The next unit centered on Classical style. Another unique opportunity that was provided in the EC+ classroom was that of having students gather information from the Internet and share it with others via HTML documents.
    One activity that was used in this unit required students to form study groups and locate information about a composer that they were assigned to research. While most of them had at least passing knowledge of HTML, the three that seemed most confident were selected as group leaders. All of the students were introduced to Internet Assistant in Microsoft Word in order to facilitate the construction of an HTML document.
    This HTML assignment was designed as an exploratory activity and was completed early in the study of Classical style. Each group was assigned a composer and was instructed to locate five World-Wide-Web sites that were relevant to their topic. They were also instructed to have at least one site that had pictures and one that had MIDI files. A representative from each group demonstrated for the entire class the links the group had found. Links to each group's HTML document were created in the home page for the course.
    The researchers found that strategies used for the second and third units did not appear to have a positive impact on exam scores. Based on those results, activities were designed to more directly address course objectives.
    The PODIUM software mentioned above could also link to specific World Wide Web locations. This feature was useful in developing activities which required students to find specific information on the Web. This was particularly helpful in that the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for some sites were very complicated. Tutorials were written which asked very specific questions related to course objectives, provided links to specific web sites, and evaluated the students' responses to the questions.

Results
    The scores comparing the control and experimental groups are given in Table 1. The mean scores were higher on exams one and four in the experimental group and were lower on the other two. The difference was not significant on any of the four exams (p < .05). 'Me small number in the experimental group would seem to call for the study to be replicated, however.
    Since it was difficult to determine whether the use of notebook computers in music appreciation was an advantage or disadvantage, data collected from the Computer Literacy course was examined. During the 1996 fall semester the Computer Science-Information Systems Department taught the Computer Literacy course to nearly 800 students with approximately 200 EC+ students. There were 27 sections of Computer Literacy taught by twelve different instructors. Furthermore, the EC+ students were not separated from the other students as was the case with the music appreciation sections. Every student took the same written exam.

Table I
Summary of t-test Results Comparing the Mean Scores of the Experimental
Group (1) and Control Group (2) on Four Exams

Table 2
Summary of Mean Scores on Four EX21uS Comparing EC+ Students (1) with
Others in Computer Literacy (2)

    In Table 2 the scores comparing the EC+ students with others enrolled in Computer Literacy are listed. The mean scores of the EC+ students were higher on all four exams taken. Since the raw data was unavailable for analysis, no statistical test of significance could be performed. Therefore, the means and number of students are given for information only.

Discussion
    The results of the music appreciation element of the EC+ initiative were surprising to the researchers. It was wrongly assumed that students who volunteered to participate had an above average level of motivation because they had to be willing both to purchase the notebook computer at considerable expense and learn how to use it.
    As the course progressed and scores on exams became available, the researchers noticed the challenge that lay ahead. Just because a high level of technology was available to students did not guarantee that they would use it. Certainly more study must be done with technology to reach firm conclusions since only a small sample participated; however, similar results were obtained by other faculty who participated in the EC+ initiative.
    Part of the challenge for professors interested in incorporating technology into their classes is to devise learning strategies and evaluation instruments that are compatible. For example, the strategy incorporated for introducing Classical composers was exploratory by nature; however, the evaluation instrument was objective and was directed toward specific concepts. Seemingly greater success was achieved when activities were directed toward specific objectives in the fourth unit.
    While the prospect of teaching a course in this technology rich environment was stimulating, it was also daunting. The required level of preparation was much higher than a normal class partly because it was the first time the course was taught in this manner. The time required to set up equipment before class and dismantle afterward was substantially higher as well.
    Another challenge in teaching the EC+ class was helping students learn to use their notebook computers in ways not previously used. A student assistant was provided for EC+ faculty to help mitigate this problem. While the notebook computer can serve as a fantastic learning aid, it can also serve as a distraction for some. There were times when students gave more attention to their computers than to the class. Another impediment to classroom activities was that students frequently had problems with their computers. Regardless of the activity, students are not generally inclined to complete it without sufficient reinforcement.
    Because the results of the study in music appreciation were based on a small sample, the researchers used data obtained from the Computer Literacy course for comparison. It was believed that the use of notebook computers was the most relevant to a course of this nature. Further, it provided data obtained from a number of different instructors. Even in this setting it was difficult to determine a significant performance advantage for EC+ students.
    Overall, however, there was a very positive effect for the students obtained from the integration of the technology of notebook computers and the interconnected features of the World Wide Web. Students and faculty are challenged in new ways and are therefore required to grow in both their knowledge of technology and their ability to use it.