 |
     |
Teaching,
Learning, Technology Roundtable + Mary
Sorensen, Associate Dean, Co-chair TLTR, Implementation
Steps I.
Vision “A
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable (TLTR) is a uniquely
diverse group—representing
all those who can and should work together to improve teaching and
learning with information technology. Through regular focused
meetings, a TLTR can help institutions:
Roundtables
can reduce the confusion, frustration, unrealistic expectations, and
wasteful duplication of effort that often accompanies the explosive
array of opportunities offered by educational technology.” With
the above description in mind, the Forward Technology Committee of
the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) set out in January of
2000 to implement and launch, September 2000, a Teaching, Learning,
Technology Roundtable at MATC.
In order to do this it was necessary to clarify the purpose
of
a TLTR
and to delineate how
it would differ from
the Forward Technology Committee:
The
Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable would: 1.
focus
exclusively on vision and planning. 2.
seek the answers to technology questions posed by the
Forward Technology Committee as well as the college community. 3.
function strictly as an advisory group. At MATC it will
advise the Forward
Technology Committee, the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, and
the President
The
Forward Technology Committee would
continue: 1.
to structure and update the District Technology Plan 2.
to implement the prioritized Action Steps of the Plan
3.
to function as the Steering Committee of the TLTR The
Forward Technology Committee’s top priorities for the 2000-2001
school year were:
II.
It was also necessary to develop a concise statement of the
benefits to be realized by launching a TLTR.
The TLTR benefits a campus since it: A.
**Brings together representation from all parts of the college to
work collaboratively to improve teaching and learning through
technology B.
Gives valid input to updating of the college's Technology Plan. C.
Encourages collaborative "communication and cooperation"
with all parts of the college D.
Reflects local politics of the college E.
Facilitates better and more efficient planning, decision making, and
support for faculty and students F.
Exchanges candid information among institutions, helping to develop
more realistic goals, measurable against realistic benchmarks G.
Taps into a broad array of support services and products, especially
from the TLTR Network H.
Provides connections and outreach to the K-12 Community III.
With these benefits in mind, the Forward Technology Committee
charged the TLTR with the following in its first year, September
2000-September 2001: ·
Identify
and research designated issues that will help the college community
move forward with technology integration.
·
Inform
Forward Technology Committee on current research and help them in
their planning and decision-making regarding the use of
instructional technology at the College. ·
Serve
as a resource to IT Division, Administrators, and faculty for the
communication of current and future technology trends and
innovations. ·
Inform
negotiating teams of the College, especially in the distance
education area, and accept and fulfill data requests from the
negotiation teams on instructional technology topics. ·
Bring
the right "players" together to be able to smooth the way
for seamless technology integration into the college community and
into the teaching/learning process. IV.
To begin its work, the TLTR had to implement: A.
Procedures
to identify issues and B.
Ways
in which those issues would be communicated to the Roundtable.
ACTION: It
was agreed that a web page and a discussion board would be designed
and implemented for the TLTR to communicate with the college and the
college to communicate with the TLTR.
On this page college faculty and staff could input issues,
which they wanted the Roundtable to discuss and/or research.
In order to help the college identify the specific areas on
which the Roundtable would focus, specific examples would be given
on this web page. Timeline:
3/1/00 C.
Delineation of the process to determine if an issue
“belongs” to the Roundtable or needs to be referred to another
group. ACTION: Several
criteria were discussed, and it was determined that the Roundtable
issues would deal primarily with “technology tools for delivering
and supporting instruction.” The main criteria, printed on the web
site, was determined to be: Issues
which involve
“technology for delivering and supporting student, faculty,
and staff learning.” This
will include hardware, software, faculty and staff training, student
services support, and new and emerging technologies.”
Roundtable
members felt that it was important to remind the college community
that ** the TLTR was not for day-to-day technology support
problem.** For those
support problems, all should call the HELP DESK. It was agreed that
the help desk number would be linked from the TLTR web site.
Timeline:
3/15/00
D.
Focused
vision of the
roles of the Instructional Divisions and the Information
Technology Division (IT) in Technology Planning/Support.
1.
The Role of the Instructional Divisions in Technology
Planning/Support included: ·
The
key task of
**bringing into focus a vision** of
what the Division will be like with the technology in place, and
what type of support from IT is needed to move the Division from where
it is to that state. ·
Regular
assessment and evaluation
of technology support services delivered by IT Division, compared to
Instructional Divisions expectations. ·
Considerations: a.
How these technological changes will help students learn and
instructors teach more effectively and efficiently. b.
The content-specific information that is the reason to use the
technology and ways in which that purpose can be supported. c.
What instructors will be able to achieve with the technology that
they cannot achieve without it. 2.
The Role of Information Technology Division in Technology
Planning/Support included: ·
Provide
optimal support for the development, implementation and delivery of
instruction/curriculum using technology. ·
Establish
a clearly defined, ongoing process that provides time, incentives
and /or training to support the integration of technology into the
curriculum. ·
Establish
an integrated, customer-centered technology support system that
provides easy, timely, one-stop access to network services,
telecommunications, etc. ·
Establish
sets of minimum technological competencies (Skill Levels) required
of all faculty and staff. ·
Implement
appropriate technology tools. ·
Immediately
upgrade existing software to current versions and upgrade hardware
to meet the needs of the required software. ·
Provide
Division administrators and staff with the technology tools required
to do their jobs. ·
Provide
computers for identified staff who do not currently have access. ·
Upgrade
current staff computers not meeting minimum college standards for
workstation configuration. ·
Hire
and train of the personnel necessary to provide optimal
technological support for labs, networks and classrooms. ·
Provide
technical expertise to recommend equipment that will mesh with the
Division’s budget and instructional goals. ·
Provide
all SUPPORT Needed: *
Hands-on
Training *
Follow-up
Training *
Tutorial *
Help
Desk Support 24/7 ·
Create
an infrastructure that uses technology efficiently and effectively
across the Divisions. ·
Provide
regular assessment and evaluation of technology support services
delivered to Instructional Divisions compared to IT expectations. Action
Steps: §
Define
the vision for the technology support partnership
§
Inventory
existing hardware and software and Security §
Interview
pilot Division faculty / staff concerning their perceived technology
support needs Timeline:
7/1/00 E.
The most often expressed technology support need was the
concern about a better PROCESS of coming to consensus concerning how
and when “things” would be changed by IT.
ACTION:
A
consistently updated list of coming IT Changes will be displayed on
the MATC intranet website (as of 9/1/00).
All MATC faculty and staff will be aware of what is
going to happen when. ACTION: §
A
“SuperUsers” Web Site will be created (by 10/1/00) with a
listing of expert users in all software/hardware used by the
college. Faculty and
staff will be directed to this site to seek help from their
colleagues BEFORE calling the Help Desk. §
At
the MATC intranet web site, there will be a Help Desk listing (by
7/1/00) where faculty and staff will be able to check on the
status of their Reference Number for outstanding Help Desk calls. §
A
target date for resolution of all Help Desk problems will be listed
at this web site (by 8/1/00). §
IT
will implement a “Rapid Support” option (by 9/1/00) to
speed up fixing day to day operational problems. ACTION: §
Each
Division will have one faculty member released 25% of the time to
act as a technology facilitator.
§
Training
will be provided by IT to those faculty members who are the
technology “pioneers.” These “pioneers,” who often teach
much of their load in computer labs could do some of the basic
maintenance on the PC’s in those labs such as printer issues, thus
reducing some of the Help Desk calls.
Many of the Help Desk problems are simple “wear and tear”
issues that become exacerbated because of 12 hour per day use, and
these issues could be addressed by the “pioneers” with a
relatively small amount of training.
Training Pilot to begin by (2/15/01). §
Summarize
current technology support needs vs. current support available What
skills are missing? What
time commitment is missing? The
current technology support needs vs. adequate support appear to
“boil down” to:
1. Communication
2. Timely and Rapid Troubleshooting
3. Frequently Asked Questions 4.
Training F.
Proposed an enhanced IT support level for Instructional
Divisions Action:
§
Better
Communication and answering of FAQ’s at MATC intranet web site Timeline:
9/1/00 §
Mentoring
of colleagues in software use and answering of simple questions by
SuperUsers Group Timeline:
10/1/00 §
At
MATC intranet web site a listing of everyone who works for IT along
with a description of what assistance they might be called upon to
provide. Timeline: 2/1/01 §
New
Web Link at the MATC intranet web site that will help speedup
classroom/Lab Software Request. All requests are processed as soon
as they are received. All
funding is through individual Divisions and must be approved by the
Associate Dean or Dean. Timeline:
4/15/01 V.
Future Initiatives In
the 2001-2002 school year the TLTR/Forward Technology Committee
Partnership will “look at” ·
the
customer/student perspective of e-customers, ·
implementation
of and training for a Learning
Management System, ·
security
issues ·
series
of email problems ·
benchmarking
in distance education ·
eTech
Wisconsin ·
"Learning
how to use learning technologies” (perhaps, technology tracks.)
Help in the process of “If
your goal is x………., here is the path you need to follow.” In
this fast paced, sometimes chaotic arena of teaching, learning, and
technology, the Milwaukee Area Technical College has found that
strategic vision and planning for college wide technology
implementation are definitely what is needed to help all college
faculty increase their instructional effectiveness. |
learn about tltg || events & registration || programs || resources || listserv & forums || corporate sponsors || related links || home