WCET Selects WOW Winners
The
WICHE
Cooperative for Educational
Technologies (WCET) has presented its annual WOW Awards to four institutions
that are implementing exceptionally creative, technology-based
solutions to
challenges in higher education.
This
year's awards have gone to projects that
involve everything from virtual reality to math readiness and the use
of
open-source materials.
The
winning institutions are:
- Boise
State University, for its virtual reality nursing simulation
that allows students to practice sterile procedures in a digital gaming
environment;
- The NROC
Project's EdReady online college math readiness
system helps students hone their math skills without having to take
remediation
courses;
- The University
of Central Florida's Direct Connect to UCF
Pathway is an academic support tool designed to help transfer students
planning
to attend UCF; and
- The University
of Maryland University College's open
educational resources (OER) initiative has enhanced the use of OER
materials in
more than 700 undergraduate courses at the university.
"These
four award recipients represent creative innovation,
hard work and deep commitment to students and their success in higher
education," said Janet Atkinson, director of the Boise State University
eCampus
Center and chair of the WOW Award committee.
WCET,
a division of the Western
Interstate Commission
for Higher Education, each year presents its WOW
award to colleges,
universities and organizations that are trying out "exceptionally
creative, technology-based solutions" in response to challenges in
higher
education.
The
four winners were picked from 38 projects that were
submitted to the awards program. The winners will be recognized during
the WCET
Annual Meeting in Denver November 11-13.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.