K-State professor's Provost's Lecture to address how distance education, internet and globalization affect teaching in Kansas

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Source: Alfred W. Cochran, 785-532-4372, cochalw@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Thursday, April 12, 2007

K-STATE PROFESSOR'S PROVOST'S LECTURE TO ADDRESS HOW DISTANCE EDUCATION, INTERNET AND GLOBALIZATION AFFECT TEACHING IN KANSAS

MANHATTAN -- Many excellent teachers and learners are ashamed to admit they can't Google their way out of an empty box, according to a Kansas State University professor who asks whether they should have to be embarrassed by their lack of technology skills.

Roger McHaney, K-State professor of management information systems and Coffman Chair for University Distinguished Teaching Scholars, will present "If the World is Flat, Why am I Trudging Uphill?: Musings on How Distance Education, the Internet and Globalization Impact Teaching in Kansas" from 1:30-3 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, in the Hemisphere Room at Hale Library. The free presentation is part of the Provost's Lecture Series and is open to the public.

"Academics are finding words and phrases such as globalization, the world is flat and emerging technologies sprinkled liberally throughout the new literature," McHaney said. "Even the stodgiest keepers of the most turgid disciplines have begun grumbling that a revolution of sorts is under way."

McHaney will show that Kansas has been "flat" far longer than the rest of the world and that many K-State teachers are no strangers to adopting technology. McHaney also will describe how distance education techniques can be brought back into the traditional classroom.

McHaney is a Faculty Fellow in K-State's College of Business Administration. A K-State faculty member since 1995, he teaches courses in enterprise systems, information resources management and systems analysis. His areas of research include discrete event simulation, computer-mediated communication systems and organizational computing. McHaney has bachelor's and master's degrees from Lake Superior State University and a doctorate in computer information systems and quantitative analysis from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas.

He is the current director of K-State's business and international education grant program and has lectured overseas, including in New Zealand, Australia, China, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Greece, Belgium and The Netherlands. McHaney has been published in numerous journals, written textbooks and developed a variety of instructional materials.