The orientation leaders walk into to the CATS training lab ready to learn what they will have to do to make the new technology work for them.

Amita Bhargav, technology specialist for CATS, leads the group through the in’s and out’s of how to use the new Turning Point technology.

Turning Point is a type of audience participation technology that allows the audience to use remote controls to interact with the standard Power Point presentation.

The orientation leaders are being trained to use the technology in conjunction with their new alcohol module presentation, which will replace the standard alcohol awareness presentation.

The biggest advancement will be the use of the Touch Point technology for this year’s orientation day on May 30.

The Office of Orientation’s main goal is to use it as the technology for the new AlcoholEdu course.

AlcoholEdu is a web-based course that gives students an exam to test their opinions, beliefs and knowledge about the dangers of alcohol and evaluated their performance with actual facts.

The program has been said to have success in University of Southern California and Stanford University, and Eastern will be the first university in Illinois to use it.

The program has received support from Dan Nadler, vice-president of Student Affairs, and Eric Davidson, assistant director of Health Services.

Nadler said that the program would help the administration modify existing alcohol prevention programs and develop new strategies and programs for the future.

Kimberlie Moock, director of the Office of Orientation, with the aid of Bhargav and CATS, is bringing in several new advancements to help get incoming freshmen interested in Eastern.

The Office of Orientation has been using technology to aid new students in the Academic Advising Office.

Julie Sterling and Debbie Kidwell of the Academic Advising Office helped create the original Power Point presentation that is still being used for orientation.

“We have some interactive links to the website,” said Kidwell describing the new additions to the academic advising presentation.

“We want to introduce students during that orientation to our website.”

Moock plans to update the orientation website to help students who are out of state or just cannot attend the orientation day still get a good understanding of what Eastern has to offer.

Bhargav and the staff of CATS have been involved in the development of the new additions.

Bhargav has been involved with the orientation program since they requested her to setup the online orientation.

Bhargav said programs and additions will be used in the future streaming video introductions as well as program called Camtasia, which records actions on a computer and uses them in video or other presentations.

Orientation leaders are planning on bringing in their own addition to welcome students.

Moock said that staff is planning to create mini-commercials that will be shown before events, and a movie about what it is like to live on campus.

The Office of Orientation is well aware of networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, but instead of using the new technology to aid students, the office will warn students of the dangers these sites present.

One of the biggest changes technologically for orientation will be the integration of podcasts.

The idea is that students with iPods can download podcasts with introductory information on the university and use them as a sort of tour guide.

The goal is that students will be able have customizable tours of the university, said Moock.

With the new technologies that are tying to be integrated into the program and trying to help plan events in conjunction with the six-week Panther Prowl, the Office of Orientation will be busy for the next few months.