Professor stops burglary attempt during online class
Hattiesburg-American
University of Southern Mississippi professor Marge Crowe knows how to
get the attention of her students. But they aren't the only ones.
Crowe,
a faculty member of the Department of Curriculum Instruction and
Special Education, is credited with inspiring a would-be burglar to
reconsider breaking into the home of a student in one of her online
classes. The incident occurred near the end of the spring semester Dawn
Lindley of Ocean Springs, an undergraduate student in the class, said
she was participating in the course's online chat one evening when she
heard a noise in another part of the house. She discovered someone had
thrown a brick through her son's bedroom window and was attempting to
enter her home.
Lindley
took her cellphone and a gun and hid inside a closet in the computer
room, all the while using the phone to text a classmate to tell Crowe to
continue with her lecture. Only by chance was Lindley using the
speakers on her computer at home to hear Crowe, when normally she uses
her laptop computer and earplugs.
"The earplugs weren't working that night," Lindley said.
While
in the closet, Lindley called the police, who arrived and caught the
alleged intruder in the woods behind her house. The officers told her
that after giving them an alias, the would-be burglar gave his real
name, then said the reason he didn't enter the house was because he
heard a voice after at first thinking no one was home.
The voice was Crowe's, coming over the computer speakers.
"All I could I do was continue speaking, hoping that would scare the intruder off," she said.
Crowe
said the experience was unlike any in her 33 years in education, and
she was relieved that it resulted in a positive ending. She added that
the outcome was also a real tribute to the advancement of technology.
"In
this situation, you saw several aspects of technology at work, with the
online class, the chat room, the cellphone and text messaging," she
said.
Susan
Rayborn, an interactive course design specialist with Southern Miss'
Learning Enhancement Center, has assisted Crowe over the last few years
with her online courses, incorporating Wimba online learning technology.
Wimba combines interactive technologies such as voice, video,
podcasting, instant messaging, application sharing, polling and
whiteboarding.
"In
general, technology can present some interesting challenges and Marge
has always met those challenges with humor," Rayborn said. "But I don't
think anything could have prepared her for this particular lesson."
Lindley,
who is pursuing dual certification in elementary education and special
education, praised Crowe not just for likely saving her life but also as
a teacher. "She
incorporates what she's learned from all her years in education in her
lessons, and is always willing to go the extra mile to help her
students," Lindley said. "And she proved it that night."
