Joshua E. Raffaelli '02 has been bedridden for a week with pneumonia, unable to attend class or leave his room.

Nevertheless, he has not missed a single lecture for Chemistry 5, "Introduction to Principles of Chemistry."

Beginning this semester, all "Chem 5" lectures have been digitized and posted on the course web site. Students can access the lectures from their rooms and view them using Real Video.

"The digitized lectures are awesome. I can't get out to go to class, [but I can view them on my computer]," Raffaelli said. "They're perfect."

The digitized lectures are designed to benefit all students, not just those who miss class. Students can use the lectures to review their notes, clear up misconceptions or study for a test.

"If you miss a piece of information in lecture, you can go back and get it really easily. They're also good to review before a test," said Tova A. Serkin '02.

Praise for the Real Video lectures is nearly universal, from both students and faculty members.

"Students don't have to go to Cabot to reserve the video and the television room. It's a tremendous boost in efficiency," said Chem 5 instructor James E. Davis, a senior lecturer on chemistry and chemical biology.

"The little stuff that I saw was really neat. It was like a glimpse of the future," said Gregory C. Tucci, head laboratory teaching fellow for Chem 5.

But Tucci stressed that the digitized lectures were not designed to replace classes.

"One of the reasons this was instituted was not as a substitute for lecture but as a substitute for going to Cabot and watching the video," he said.

Despite the course's early 9 a.m. start time, most students have resisted the urge to grab a couple more hours of sleep and watch the lecture later, according to Tucci.

"[The lectures are] already available on video, so that might minimize skipping class," said Robert S. Hill '02.

The technology to digitize lectures and post them on the Web was developed over the summer.

The Instructional Computing Group (ICG) of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Computing Services (HASCS)spearheaded the program's development andimplementation.

While the new technology has been successful,there are no long-range plans to implement thesystem throughout the College.

"It's too early to tell if this will become astandard College or University-wide practice, butICG hopes to offer the service to three or fourcourses next term," ICG Manager Paul F. Bergenwrote in an e-mail.

Chem 5 was originally selected as atrial subject because of its large size--more than350 students--and prior use of computer technology.

"Jim Davis has been very active in employingcomputer technology, and we've worked with thecourse in the past," said HASCS Director FranklinM. Steen. "It's a big class, so more people arebenefiting."

"I was just a guinea pig," Davis said.

Steen stressed that the ultimate goal is not toreplace traditional videotaping of classes butsimply to make the technology available to allinterested professors.

"We'd like to try a few more courses," he said."We don't go around and say, 'Hey, we've got greattechnology here, why don't you try it out?' It hasto be faculty-driven."

For their part, professors of large courses aredivided in support of the new technology.

"I'm definitely in favor of it. I'mpro-technology," said Warren Professor of AmericanLegal History Morton J. Horwitz, who teachesHistorical Studies B-61: "The Warren Court andthe Pursuit of Justice, 1953-1969."

But Porter University Professor Helen H.Vendler, instructor of Literature and ArtsA-22: "Poems, Poets, Poetry" said digitizedvideos are no substitute for human contact.

"If it was universal everyone would be stayinghome glued to their computer monitor," she said.

Vendler said she videotapes her lectures only"when a large number of people are going to beabsent for a legitimate reason."

But Chem 5 Head Administrative TeachingFellow Dennis M. Hausmann said students will notabandon traditional learning methods. "I thinkthat people realize that it's more beneficial toattend lecture," he said.

The new technology has also drawn positiveresponses from outside of the University. Hausmannsaid the lectures can be transmitted over astandard modem, making them available to anyonewith access to the Web.

"There's a dimension of globality," Hausmannsaid. "We've gotten e-mails from otheruniversities and people asking about ourresources. I think it's great.