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TLTR Home Page
Definition and Characteristics of a TLT Roundtable
A TLT
Roundtable (TLTR) is a diverse group
that meets regularly, considers issues, and (usually) provides advice to
the Chief Academic Officer, other leaders, and many constituencies.
A TLTR is designed to bring together people who would
not otherwise work together on educational improvements (for example, technology leaders
with faculty who
are not yet enthusiastic users of technology for teaching). TLTRs are often asked by
Chief Academic Officers for advice on a regular basis, e.g., on
new faculty development initiatives, internal grants
programs, or budgets
that affect resources and support services available to improve teaching
and learning with technology.
Through the TLTRs meetings,
action teams and reports, the Roundtable can help its institution make better-informed decisions,
sustain collaborative change, and develop better strategies for using technology to
improve teaching and learning. When operating properly, TLT Roundtables reduce the confusion, frustration,
unrealistic expectations, and wasteful duplication of effort that often accompanies the
explosive array of opportunities offered by educational technology.
Characteristics
Roundtables often have
other names but they share the following characteristics:
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Roundtables meet
regularly (sometimes in subgroups, sometimes as a whole)
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Roundtables are
composed of a diverse set of
members
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Roundtables provide
advice for the Chief Academic Officer and others on professional
development, policy, budget and
other matters. Roundtables have often been concerned with barriers
that slow the 'mainstreaming' of technology use (e.g., the support
service crisis) and with opportunities to use technology to improve
the educational program.
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Roundtables help move
information, from outside into the institution and across the
institution's many boundaries, helping the institution notice and act
on problems and opportunities more quickly.
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Not sure if
your institution has the equivalent of a TLT Roundtable? Ask yourself whether it
has a single formal or informal body including representatives
from the faculty, library, academic support services,
administration, etc. that performs the functions described
above. If not, your institution may be ready for a TLT
Roundtable!
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