1994 computer use institute breaks records.

Students at the NRPA/Oglebay Computer Use Institute challenged instructors and set new records at the third annual program sponsored by NRPA and the Oglebay Department of Continuing Education. Nearly one hundred students, regents, and faculty challenged one another in scheduled classes and open labs. Seven premier recreation and parks commercial software exhibitors were swamped during scheduled demonstrations by interested recreation and Parks professionals seeking to obtain computer applications. Private meetings with vendors and users allowed prospective buyers to evaluate available options as never before. Commented Dan Sharpless, Indiana University professor and Chairman of the Board of Regents, I've been using computers since 1960, but I've never seen the likes of this forum for Parks and recreation computing."

This year's computer school included scheduled classes such as a Computer Primer, a variety of computer applications specifically for recreation and parks, CADD/GIS, and future technology. Each day, two vendors presented their unique applications and met privately with interested parties. The computer lab included three dozen networked work stations in various operating system environments provided by the Board of Regents, as well as every conceivable specialty device. A special one-step digital photo-i.d. system took student pictures and made badges with bar codes. students used laser entry point scanners at the lab and classroom as a test for possible use by NRPA at future Congress education sessions and events. Hundreds of computer applications were available in DOS, Novell, UNIX, and Apple Macintosh environments. Students were able to spend open lab time learning and trying these applications as well as in informally scheduled lab sessions about specific topics.

This five-day school had to turn away students after offering a new triple track teaching schedule, adopted by the Board of Regents after last year's school. The tracks provide for classroom, computer lab, and commercial vendor sessions, which were selected among by the students based upon his or her perceived need and capability level.

Commercial participants served as computer exhibitors, teachers, and non-voting, advisory members on the Board of Regents. According to Bill Hopkins, Oglebay's Director of Continuing Education, "Computers and computer applications are produced by the commercial environment Many students said they would not have come were it not for the participation on the part of commercial applications providers."

User Group Roots

The NRPA/Oglebay Computer Use Institute is an offshoot of a parks and recreation computer user group which has been meeting since 1976. Its initial meetings, which included five members of this year's Board of Regents, were held in St. Louis, New Orleans, and later, at Indiana University. It has only been the last three years that Continuing Education Units (CEUs) have been available under the auspices of NRPA and Oglebay. Alan Carmichael, a student from Tonawanda, New York, said, "It's likely every student has gone away from this school with the same feeling that I have. I'm sure that I have learned many things that will result in savings to my agency of several times the fee for this experience."

Registrations are already being accepted for the 1995 NRPA/Oglebay Computer Use Institute. Sign up NOW-space is limited! For more information, please contact. Sue George, Assistant Director, [phone], Internet address: GEORGESE[at]Delphi.com.