Finding the Right Fit for Faculty IT Development

Tina Green, Mississippi State University

Heather McCullough, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Kenley Obas, Alabama State University

EDUCAUSE Southeast Regional Conference June 2007

Three Universities, Three Solutions

• Alabama State University– Peer Faculty Development

• Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte– Target discipline-specific uses of technology– Coordinate with campus IT units

• Mississippi State University– Engaging and Supporting Faculty

Kenley ObasALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITYKOBAS@ALASU.EDU

Peer Faculty Development

Founded 1867Historically Black InstitutionLocated in Montgomery, AL5600 students150 full-time facultyNation’s number one producer of

African-American Educators

Adopted Blackboard in Spring 2005 Fully Integrated with SIS

Adopted Elluminate in Fall 200510 completely online courses as of

Spring 200750 + blended/hybrid Courses

Comprehensive Training 3 hours Emphasized quantity vs. quality One college at a time…. Almost 30 faculty members attended

each sessionTraining Manual

50 pagesWebsite with Documentation

“Too long...”“I need more”“Insure everyone is at the same

level”

Most sessions conducted at the begin of semester

Workshop Emphasized Applications Basic Blackboard MS Access MS PowerPoint

Blackboard Café Drop -in Session Peer training Break out sessions Emphasized social aspect Over 100 faculty attended Food and Prizes!!

Concept/ Instructional Design Driven Moving Your Course Online Using Online Collaboration Teaching a Blended Course

Technology Liaison Attended Summer Technology Seminar Speak with vendors Video iPods for Everyone! Attend presentations during semester Leaders during Blackboard Café Conduct workshops

“Just right…”“What I expected”“Perfect”

More Faculty TrainingFurther Development of Faculty BlogRecording SessionsReaching More Adjunct

University of North Carolina at Charlotte Heather McCullough

hamccull@uncc.edu

Discipline-specific training ininstructional technology

UNCC – The Way It Was

• Technology Support Divisions

– Information Technology Services– Faculty Center for Teaching and eLearning– Desktop support by department

• No discipline-specific IT support

• Focus on technology training over pedagogy

Heather McCullough

UNCC – Faculty Comments

•“Too generic” •“Too inconvenient”•“Does not meet my needs for teaching”

Heather McCullough

UNCC – A New Approach

•Language Resource Center

•Serves Foreign Languages & ESL

•I-Tech Showcases•I-Tech Workshops

Heather McCullough

UNCC – A New Approach

• LRC I-Tech Showcases– Faculty-led demos

• 4-5 per semester• 20-30 minutes• 1-3 presenters • Discipline-specific and general IT• Teaching first! Focus on pedagogy and use of

technology in class

Heather McCullough

UNCC – A New Approach

• LRC I-Tech Workshops– Occur just after showcase– LRC Trainers– ITS and FCTeL Trainers come to LRC

Heather McCullough

UNCC – A New Approach

• Outcomes– Attendance steady– Online video recordings– Meet faculty on their “turf”– Increased communication

• Full-time, part-time instructors, Librarians, FCTeL Consultants, ITS Services, across languages

– Faculty service– Faculty research

Heather McCullough

UNCC – What’s Next

• Technology for discipline-specific research

• Librarians and other information specialists

• RSS feed added for recordings

• Develop virtual showcases

• Showcase model adopted by other campus units

Heather McCullough

Center for Teaching and Learning

Tina M. Green

tgreen@ctl.msstate.edu

Engaging and Supporting Faculty

• Land-grant institution, research-oriented

• Located in Starkville, MS • Approximately 16,000 students• Approximately 1100 teaching

faculty• 10 Colleges• Designated as Doctoral/Extensive

About Mississippi StateAbout Mississippi State

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Adopted WebCT in 1998– Integrated with SIS in 2004– 891 courses Spring 2007– MBA, Engineering, Geosciences have completely

online degrees• Also use Wimba, podcasting and an

interactive video network• Standardizing with eInstruction – Fall 2007 • All Banner modules 7.x, Banner Web for

products• Luminis Platform III.3.3, WebCT Campus

Edition 4.x, Luminis Data Integration Suite (LDIS)

eLearning @ MSUeLearning @ MSU

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Grass roots effort• More prevalent interest in course

management tools• No “standard” for tool - both

WebCT and Blackboard• Faculty were requesting more

support• Support spread across numerous

units and not faculty centered

The Way it WasThe Way it Was

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Established in January 2006• Renovations began Spring 2006,

completed in December 2006• Full time staff

– 2 instructional resource consultants– 3 graduate assistants

• Provide faculty instructional technology support– Phone, one on one, seminars, workshops

• Located in Mitchell Memorial Library

The Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• All instructional technology support was transferred

• ITS and Library now focus on applications

• Center focus on pedagogy• Teaching and Learning Seminars• Brown Bags• Grisham Master Teacher Series• Observations of teaching

The Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• WebCT

• Respondus Lockdown Browser

• Podcasting

• Audience Response

• Classroom Technology Lecterns

• Wimba

The Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Module training model developed• Introduction workshop introduces

concepts• Additional workshops - more detail on

each area - 8 total workshops1.Assessment2.Communication Tools3.Content Modules4.Dreamweaver5.Grade Management6.Preparing Documents7.Web Graphics

WebCTWebCT

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Hired and trained Graduate Assistants• 45 hours a week coverage• Immediate one-on-one phone

assistance• Assistance in person by appointment or

drop-in• Opened from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Monday – Friday• T-metrics and Magic • IT support became an option on Help

Desk phone tree

One-on-One AssistanceOne-on-One Assistance

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Growing demand for one-on-one assistance at semester startup– Held the week prior to the start of classes– Week begins with Introduction to WebCT– Followed by 3 days of open lab with ITS

consultants– ITS consultants are available to answer

questions and assist with semester startup– No instruction is planned for the open lab

times– WebCT and Classroom Technology Lectern

JumpStartJumpStart

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

Boot CampBoot Camp

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

• Boot Camp– 3 day intensive training– Laptop incentive– Representation from each college– College pays 50%– Can opt to send additional

representatives at full price– Center organized and led– Library and ITS also provide training

• Upgrading to Blackboard Vista• eInstruction Standardization Fall 2007• Continuation of Boot Camp• Podcasting• Continued growth of workshops and

seminars• Continue to develop relationships with

campus organizations• Continue to represent teaching and

learning on university committees

FutureFuture

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

To foster a university culture where quality teaching and engaged learning is universally revered and practiced.

Questions?

EDUCAUSE Southeast Regional Conference June 2007