Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Current News
LTAs – Replacements for the Missing “Professional Development”
3/10/2004
Remember back in the early days of IT's transformation of higher education? Every IT department was offering classes in "how to" this and that-how to use word processing software, how to use database or spreadsheet software, how to use a Web browser, how to use e-mail, and so forth. But we couldn't get the faculty (or the higher level administrators and managers) into those classes. Some combination of innate stubbornness and a fear of being seen as inadequate kept those classes full of secretaries and administrative assistants. Some universities and colleges hit upon the technique of sending trainers into faculty and managers' offices for not-as-visible, one-on-one sessions, which worked a little better.
Probably most IT managers feel they still lack adequate resources and cooperation with regard to IT training, or what in more general terms could be called professional development with regard to IT tools. But guess what: "professional development" relating to IT, as poor as it often is, is light years ahead of professional development with regard to the other parts of the work life and responsibilities of institutional staff. One initiative to substitute for some of the missing professional development on campus (and of course it d'es more than that) is the collection and sharing of Low Threshold Applications (LTAs).
Here at SCUP, we found ourselves recently facing some unexpected and untimely technical issues with our annual survey of campus space, the Campus Facilities Inventory (CFI). We've built a data collection tool that provides the various campus space planners with password-protected access to provide online information about the amount of campus space devoted to various functional categories. This year, we are building several new features, some aimed at providing last year's users with editorial access to their previous data-but we ran into glitches.
I don't understand the glitches. Not because I am incapable of understanding them, but because I don't have the time to, plus it is someone else's job to do so - a very capable someone else. But I do understand the sever time constraints we are under to get the data collected soon. As I awoke one morning early this week a solution came to me. It was a Low Threshold Application solution, an LTA. Though it turns out we didn't have to use it this time, I'll share that potential solution here along with some great resources for LTAs.
What's an LTA?
Coincidental to our database issues with the Campus Facilities Inventory, Steve Gilbert, of the TLT Group, was scheduled to drop by my office later that morning for a meeting and lunch. The TLT Group is an independent nonprofit organization probably best known for Teachin. Steve, who has been active in teaching, learning, and technology issues for a quarter-century, was formerly with Educom as early as 1983, then with AAHE (the American Association for Higher Education), from which the TLT Group was "spun out" a few years ago.
Steve defines an LTA as "a teaching/learning application of information technology that is reliable, accessible, easy to learn, non-intimidating and (incrementally) inexpensive." The TLT Group has a portion of its Web site devoted to LTAs.
Recommended Reading
- Campus Security :: November 14, 2008
:::::: SECURITY SPOTLIGHT
: Smart Phone Security: New Challenges for Road Warriors
:::::: CAMPUS SECURITY NEWS
: SMobile Releases Antivirus To Protect Google Android Phones
: Blue Coat Integrates Network Appliances
: e2Campus Provides Twitter Integration in Emergency Notification System
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities
: Rave Wireless Adding BlackBerry Devices to Notification Service
: U Miami Trades IPS for Top Layer Security System
: Cornell Hardens Campus Network with Gigabit Wireless Radio Links
: U Pittsburgh Turns to Verizon Business for Automated Notification Services - IT Trends :: Thursday, November 13, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
:: Cornell Takes Visual Approach to Data Analysis
:::::: IT NEWS
:: Panopto Launches Hosted Lecture Capture System
:: Microsoft To Add Smooth Streaming in IIS7
:: Agile Solution Provider Rolls Out Java SDK
:: Salem CC To Enhance Self Service with Unified Digital Campus
:: Parallels Desktop 4.0 Get Performance Boost, DirectX 9.0 Support
:: Brandon U To Automate Employment Processes with EmpCenter
:: SMobile Releases Antivirus To Protect Google Android Phones - C-Level View :: November 12, 2008
:::::: EXECUTIVE VIEW
: Delta iTunes U Enhances Learning in a Familiar Web 2.0 Environment
:::::: WORTH NOTING
: Caltech Completes Parking Structure Solar Array
: Schools Take Recruitment Virtual with Online Education Expo
: Blackboard Managed Hosting Rolls Out Virtual Operating Environment
: Higher Ed Help Desk Platform Adds Web 2.0 Tools
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities - SmartClassroom :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
:::::: TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
: Microblogging and Relevancy
:::::: NEWS and PRODUCT UPDATES
: Open Source Java Libraries Debut for uPortal
: Dimdim Launches Hosted Virtual Classroom
: ASU School of Engineering Posts 10,000th Lecture with Mediasite
: Lyon College Plans Student Laptop Rollout
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities - News Update :: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Caltech Completes Parking Structure Solar Array
: Schools Take Recruitment Virtual with Online Education Expo
: Salem CC To Enhance Self Service with Unified Digital Campus
: Brandon U To Automate Employment Processes with EmpCenter
: Open Source Java Libraries Debut for uPortal
: ASU and Obsidian Collaboration Seeks to Boost Long-distance Bandwidth
: Blue Coat Integrates Network Appliances
: e2Campus Provides Twitter Integration in Emergency Notification System
: Plagiarism Detection System Adds URL Filtering, Reporting Groups - IT Trends :: Thursday, November 6, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
:: Small College Makes Big Leap in Wireless
:::::: IT NEWS
:: Washington U Healthcare Researchers Turn to Virtual Storage
:: Cornell Hardens Campus Network with Gigabit Wireless Radio Links
:: BYU-Idaho Turns to Web-based Facilities Management System
:: U Pittsburgh Turns to Verizon Business for Automated Notification Services
:: Universities Turn to Oracle for Web-based Services
:: Delgado CC Expands Outsourced Support Agreement with Presidium Learning
:: Security Concerns May Slow Cloud Computing Adoption
