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Academic Technology in the College of Sciences : A Plan for the Future

March 2008

Centuries ago, the introduction of slate and blackboards dramatically changed the manner in which information could be delivered in a classroom.  The integration of the new display technology, blackboards, did not change the academic content but it did require professors to teach differently and for students to acclimate to the use of additional format of instruction.  The concerns associated with the current integration of electronic technology and resources in the academy may seem more dramatic; however, it is likely that the academy of centuries ago faced some of the same challenges.  Assuredly, the resolve to provide the most appropriate academic experiences for students, the anxiety that comes with learning new technology and concerns about the resources to ensure that appropriate technology is available as needed has been shared across generations.

Technology and electronic resources have changed many aspects of our academic, research, and service endeavors in higher education.  Ready and reliable access to the Internet for communication, work, study, and entertainment is the expectation of faculty, staff, and students.  Technology and electronic resources are essential to the educational mission of the College and University.

The College of Sciences expects its faculty, students and staff to have the technological literacy and competencies to function and compete in the rapidly changing global community.  The curricula should reflect the knowledge and skills that yield learning outcomes which demonstrate technology literacy and the competencies our students need for successful lives after graduation and reflect best in class programs.  Faculty access to appropriate technology for teaching and research is essential for our commitment to excellence in the classroom as well as the research environments. The administrators and staff members of our department and College offices should demonstrate appropriate technology competencies to support the academic programs.

A.                Technology Literacy and Competencies

While each department in the College of Sciences will define technology literacy according to the competencies needed for the discipline, some common competencies were identified by the department chairs and faculty.  These competencies are applicable to students, faculty, and staff.

1.         Competency in word processing, presentation software, spreadsheets, databases, web pages, electronic communication such as

·         MSWord, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Outlook, WebCT/Blackboard, Xythos, Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver)

2. Competency in the use of course management and delivery software such as

·         WebCT/Blackboard which enhances traditional classroom environments and provides a delivery platform for asynchronous courses.

ü  EIU has made a 3 year commitment to WebCT/Blackboard

·         CATS will provide training sessions in departments

ü  CATS has launched the Online Course Development Institute (OCDI)

·         Elluminate to increase access and to enhance communication with students who are not present on campus for classes, advisement, communication associated with student teaching or internships, for professional conferences or lectures

ü  EIU has made a 3 year contract for Elluminate which would allow up to 200 persons to use Elluminate concurrently

·         Echo³⁶⁰System to provide a platform that captures, manages, and publishes class lectures and other classroom materials and products

·         TurningPoint, a student response system for classrooms

·         Technology to support pod casts of lectures, review sessions, supplemental course materials, samples of student products such as presentations, speeches, debates

3.      Selection, evaluation and use of authentic and appropriate Internet/electronic resources to search for and assemble academic journal articles to support quality course assignments, class projects, and student research activities.  For example, several of these resources are regularly used by

·         Political Science:  JSTOR (The Scholarly Journal Archive), Social Science Abstracts and PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service), LEXISNEXIS, FINDLAW, THOMAS and GPO-ACCESS

·         Chemistry: SciFinder

·         BIO: BIOSys, Wilson Index

4.      Competent use of computer-based statistical analysis programs and interpretation and application of quantitative and qualitative data and findings such as SAS, SPSS, STATA, SHAZAM, MINITAB

5.      Support and enhancement of course content with access and integration of electronic academic support provided by textbook publishers

·         Facilitate policy and procedure changes with the Textbook Rental Service at EIU.

6. Examples of discipline-specific competency for technology literacy

·         Competent use of scientific drawing, visualization, simulation and mathematical software such as

• Chemistry students and faculty use ChemDraw, 3D, or PCSpartan, GaussView
• Mathematics and Computer Science students and faculty use computer algebra systems, dynamic geometry software, statistical analysis software, compilers, programming environments, system simulators, and use LaTeX to enhance the writing component of their curriculum

·         Biological Sciences and Geology and Geography students and faculty use ArcGIS^®, ENVI^®, AutoCad^®, Surfer^®, MapViewer^®, Adobe CreativeSuite^®, Microsoft Office^®  for GIS Labs; Stereonet®, Tri-shear®, FaultKin®, and P-T Dihedral® for basic analysis of collected data and ENVI®, 3-DEM^® and Lizardtech^®  for remotely sensed data to visualize and critically analyze collected and reported data in advanced geology labs

·         Economics faculty and students use WDI Online, World Bank eLibrary, GDF Online, and electronic version of International Financial Statistics, a large macro and financial database maintained by the IMF which includes information on exchange rates, interest rates, money, prices and other financial data

·         Biological Sciences, Geology and Geography, Political Science, and Sociology and Anthropology faculty and students use GIS and state of the art GPS systems for classes and field work

·         Communication Disorders and Sciences faculty and students use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems and software for classes, labs, and for use with clients in the EIU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic.  AAC systems and software used within the department include the Mercury II, Dynavox IV, MightyMo, Springboard, Talara, 7 Level Communicator, Intellikeys, Boardmaker Speaking Dynamically Pro, Salt and Pepper, Stages software and Evaluware.

·         Competency in the use of record file management software such as

ü  Communication Disorders and Sciences use of On-Base to store and access client information

ü  Nursing students will need access to simulations of electronic medical records and point of care technologies incorporated into the use of PDAs

·         Symbolic and numerical computational software systems such those used in Mathematics and Computer Science and Physics: MATLAB, Mathematica, Maple

B.        Technology and the Curriculum

1.      Establish University minimal technology competencies for students including word processing, spreadsheets, data bases, communication, and ethical conduct for the use of technology as EIU has done with speaking and writing across the curriculum.  Suggestions for strategies to ensure student competencies are achieved:

·         Create a specific course for general education that focuses on the minimal competencies

·         Use course assignments or projects in general education courses or introductory courses in the major which require demonstration of minimal skill levels

·         Use Booth Library training sessions for students who need training to meet the minimal skill levels

·         In collaboration with CATS, develop training modules to teach and/or assess minimal skills

2.      Establish program-specific technology student learning outcomes for the major

·         Each program identifies appropriate technology learning outcomes to be demonstrated by the students at the completion of the program

·         Develop training modules or training sessions to teach technology competencies

·         Use course assignments or projects to demonstrate technology learning outcomes

·         Integrate program technology learning outcomes into academic assessment plan

·         Incorporate technology assessment data into department planning for curriculum and technology

3.      Develop sufficient technology delivered and/or enhanced courses to provide access and meet the demands of students who are not physically located on campus

·         OCDI to support training for online instruction

4.      Enhance programs by bringing off-campus constituents to campus through the use of technology to communicate in a synchronous environment

·         Alumni, experts in the disciplines, research collaborations for students, interns, student teachers, and off-campus students through the use of technology to communicate in a real-time environment

·         Elluminate

·         Video conferencing

C.        Infrastructure for Academic Technology

1.      Campus environment equipped to meet the technology needs of the academic programs

·         Classrooms

ü  ATAC upgrades of classrooms

ü  Increase interactivity with upgrade with Starboards and Smartboards and other emerging display technology

ü  Regional labs

·         Collaborate with other unit within and across colleges to create regional labs which will serve as computer classrooms as well as open labs

·         Collaborate for access to computer classrooms where the primary use is in other units or colleges

·         Department/specialty labs will develop an ongoing plan for replacement funded from within the department or units that utilize the labs

ü  Laptop majors/programs

·         Student-owned laptops may provide solutions for departmental/specialty labs

·         Laptop programs provide opportunities for creative change in teaching and course delivery

·         Upgrade furniture to accommodate a computing environment

ü  Adequate wireless hubs

·         Ensure adequate connectivity to accommodate increased laptop usage and the increased demand for wireless access throughout the campus

ü  Ubiquitous access to software and applications

·         Key servers

·         Citrix servers

ü  Appropriate security to safeguard data

ü  Adequate and expandable data storage

·         Xythos

2.      Establish purchasing priorities to encourage hardware and software sharing

·         Establish a hardware and software clearinghouse so that prior to making a purchase, fiscal agents can determine if sharing and volume purchase opportunities exist

·         Provide financial incentives for shared use/purchases and return savings to the units

·         Provide incentives and encourage adoption of open-source and public-domain software when appropriate

·         Technology support

ü  College ISS

ü  ITS

ü  CATS

ü  Department IT support (assigned or ad hoc)

D.        Financial and Resource Opportunities

1.      Funding sources (most reliable to least reliable)

·         Student Technology  Fees

ü  Regional labs

ü  Classroom display technology

ü  Widely used and shared software

·         Student purchase

ü  Laptop programs

ü  Student owned desktop computers

·         Entrepreneurial initiatives

ü  Such as GIS contracts in Geology and Geography which funds hardware and software in the GIS lab

·         CATS Grants

ü  Collaborative software purchases

·         Booth Library

ü  Subscriptions to database resources

ü  Subscriptions to electronic journals

·         Department operating and equipment reserve funds

ü  Departmental specialty labs

ü  Servers

ü  Software purchases

ü  Faculty desktop computers

·         Grant funding

Next steps

2.      Departments technology plans  (Spring 2008)

o   Determine student competencies and student learning outcomes

o   Determine strategies for training competencies and student learning outcomes

o   Determine computer lab availability and opportunities

o   Determine specialty software needs

o   Determine feasibility of maintaining department/specialty labs

o   Determine opportunities for laptop programs

o   Determine opportunities for technology delivered programs and courses

3.      College and campus coordination for technology planning

o   Campus inventory of software to determine sharing opportunities (Spring 2008)

o   Determine location of regional labs (Spring 2008)

o   Determine costs (Summer 2008)

o   Determine funding responsibilities (Summer-Fall 2008)