New Ed Tech Initiatives Aim to Improve Learning

UO focuses on applying student technology fees toward enhancing the classroom experience

Ron Renchler
Director, Library Communications
ronr@uoregon.edu

Moseley points to the way the Educational Technology Steering Committee (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/edtech/) has restructured its annual distribution of student technology fees as evidence of the new focus.

Funding is now being distributed in four phases:

• Phase I, deans' allocations, for routine or ongoing technology purchases and discretionary needs
• Phase II, a major new initiative to create improved classroom environments that maximize instructional technology use
• Phase III, for new large-scale projects at the college or school level
• Phase IV, for assisting individual faculty members in developing new instructional tools.

Project Proposals Sought

In January 2006, the Ed Tech Committee, as it is popularly known, issued requests for proposals (RFPs) for Phases III and IV.

The Phase III RFP (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/edtech/Phase 3 final.doc), entitled "Enhancing Student Learning and Student Engagement through Instructional Technology," invites schools, colleges, and academic support units to submit requests for large-scale projects that will add a strong technology component to curriculum and educational services delivery. Some $750,000 is available for these projects. Proposals selected for funding will be announced by April 1 for the 2006-7 academic year.

The Phase IV RFP (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/edtech/Phase 4 final.doc) seeks proposals from individual faculty members who would like to integrate technology more deeply into their teaching or develop new teaching and learning tools for particular courses. Faculty members can request up to $50,000 in development funds for this purpose. Proposals selected for this phase will be announced in May.

Deborah Carver and Greg Bothun, committee co-chairs, believe the entire campus community will benefit from the changes in the distribution process. "We have a great opportunity to make improvements and invest at several different levels--from the departmental classroom, to the individual course, to the academic program," Carver says.

Terri Warpinski, vice provost for academic affairs and a key player in the deployment of educational technology on campus, is excited about the potential for creating positive advancements in the way education can be delivered. "We encourage all interested faculty members to consider new ways to integrate instructional technology more deeply into their teaching," Warpinski says. "Our goal is to give university students a new and different educational experience, add to their body of knowledge in their areas of study, and help them develop an array of technology skills they'll be able to use after they graduate."

Other Progress

Several other developments over the past two years show that new energy is being directed at increasing the use of instructional technologies.

• Top-level administrative support. In August 2005, Don Harris joined the university as the vice provost for information services and institutional chief information officer. Harris fully supports the use of information technology resources in instruction and research by faculty and students. "I am excited about working with faculty to explore the options for utilizing IT resources in ways that, hopefully, will not only engage students, but also lead to deeper understanding of course content, " Harris says.
• Blackboard success. Since its implementation in September 2003, Blackboard use by faculty as a course management tool has grown significantly. As of November 2005, more than 1,100 faculty and GTFs were using Blackboard for managing courses, and about 85 percent of all students were enrolled in at least one course where Blackboard was used. "The continuing demand for more powerful course management tools within Blackboard indicates that this is not a passing fad--faculty and students alike have learned how powerful, convenient, and essential these teaching tools can be," says the library's J.Q. Johnson, who oversees Blackboard with support from the Computing Center.
• Workshops and project support. Last year, the Office of Academic Affairs began sponsoring a faculty support program (http://oaa.uoregon.edu/itif/) to advance teaching through instructional technology. The program offers a series of summer workshops on important topics, including an introduction to instructional technology and the use of multimedia in teaching. A second program component allowed six faculty members to receive a 2005-6 Instructional Technology Resident Faculty Fellowship Award, which funded their work with campus IT service units to develop teaching tools for use in their courses (see "Instructional Technology Fellows Named for 2005-6," http://cc.uoregon.edu/cnews/winter2006/itfellows.htm).
• A new educational technology service unit.

Last year the University Libraries created CET, the Center for Educational Technologies (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/cet/), a central production unit for faculty members who want to use technology more efficiently in teaching. CET offers assistance with graphics and digital images, digital video and audio, Blackboard, scanning, instructional design, and web design and development.