Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Case Study
Teaching with Technology: Facilitating the Process
Part 1: Strategies for adopting instructional technology
8/29/2007
This means staying very current in technology developments in general and staying up on the instructional use of technology. Faculty and department heads regularly consult the director before making purchases that run from thumb drives to laptops, even copy machines. Additionally, the director and computer programmer have been the driving force behind the development of the college's very own electronic portfolio system that has been used as models by several other colleges/universities. Having created the portfolio system allows considerable flexibility in not only the training of faculty concerning its use, it provides for remarkable adaptability for responding to faculty needs and input.Step 3: Planning and Providing Resources. The college has made a commitment to providing the resources necessary for faculty and students to effectively use technology in instruction. This commitment officially began in 1992 when the dean of the college named a director of educational technology and assigned the director the task of creating a vision for the use of technology in instruction and a mandate to seek funding to implement the vision. Since then, the college has added another full-time position, two full-time temporary positions, seven graduate assistants, and two undergraduates to the staff of Educational Technology. The manager of the Educational Technology Center (ETC) is responsible for the day to day operations of the ETC and necessary programming for the college's Management Information, Accountability, and Electronic Portfolio systems. One full-time temporary staff is responsible for the maintenance and operation of classroom equipment, and the other provides assistance for Web pages and online courses. The graduate and undergraduate students provide front-line help, check out equipment, and staff the ETC.
In addition to the support provided by Educational Technology personnel, the college provides extensive hardware and software. Every classroom in the college is equipped with an LCD projector; a VCR; sound; and a lectern containing a computer with Internet and intranet connectivity, DVD drive, and appropriate software (Technology Assisted Classroom). At least half of the classrooms are also equipped with a document camera and electronic whiteboard or interactive panel and Bluetooth interactive panel (Multimedia Classroom). There are also two "smart classrooms" housed in the College's Educational Technology Center. These classrooms contain fully equipped student computers that can be viewed and/or controlled from the instructor's station. The instructor's lectern contains the same equipment as the multimedia classrooms and the necessary equipment to view, control and manage the student computers in the room.
Funding for the technology in the college has come from several sources. Personnel have been funded by reallocation of both faculty and staff positions to Educational Technology and by new funding from the University.
Recommended Reading
- Tiffin U's New Online College to Use Pearson's eCollege for Course Management
Beginning this fall, students in Tiffin University's newest online program, Ivy Bridge College, will use eCollege, a course management system from Pearson, for all of their online courses. The 2,350-student Tiffin U is located in Tiffin, OH and offers both on-campus and online classes. Since 2005, those online courses have been managed through Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution.
- California Community Colleges Adopt SunGard Banner Software
California's Rio Hondo College and Sierra College have selected software from the Banner Unified Digital Campus and other solutions from SunGard Higher Education to help address their growing enrollments and to help improve student retention and services.
- Luidia Releases eBeam Interact 2.1 for Interactive Whiteboards
Luidia has released a new version its eBeam software for use with classroom-based interactive projection environments. eBeam Interact 2.1 offers both new and upgraded features, including enhanced screen recording and a comprehensive online image gallery, as well as the company's Scrapbook Image Writer feature.
- McGill U Library Scanning Rare Books with Kirtas
McGill University Library in Montreal will be using a Kirtas Technologies APT BookScan 2400RA to digitize its collections. The company says that the 2400RA is capable of acquiring page images at the rate of 2,400 pages per hour. The library will be working with Ristech, a Canadian reseller, to implement the digitization solution.
- Ball State U Web Sites Now Managed with Sitecore
Ball State University in Muncie, IN has gone public regarding its deployment of a Web site content management system from Sitecore. Ball State chose Sitecore's software to revamp its 220-plus sites, integrating common new media applications and garnering a next-generation user experience that has won several awards from education and new media marketing organizations. Now, Ball State maintains uniformity across all university Web sites and said it has enhanced its recruiting efforts through the site's new look and interface.
- Bio-Key Launches Emergency Alert Platforms for Schools
Bio-Key International has announced the release of two new emergency alert and management solutions for the education market. MobileSRO is designed specifically for the K-12 environment, while MobileCampus caters to higher education and other campus-based organizations.
