Making Faculty Smarter about Smart Technology

By David Starrett

New hardware and software tools arrive on our campuses carrying much hope for significant impact on teaching and learning, productivity, or other aspects of campus function. For faculty, these tools are made available with some level of instruction, which tends to be technical or “how-to.” Much less likely is any direction about the “why” behind the use of the tool, or enlightenment about “what” might be done with the tools in order to enhance learning.

In other words, the IT instruction d'esn’t involve striving for effective use of the tools – particularly when it comes to technology that supports teaching and learning. Yet, faculty development opportunities and support for faculty to enhance teaching and learning with technology are key pieces that need to be provided wherever possible. So, let’s take a look at model-worthy faculty development programs and approaches at various campuses...

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Grad Student Web Site Helps Split the Dinner Bill

Three Carnegie Mellon University graduate students have designed a program that could make haggling over dividing the restaurant check or utility bill a thing of the past, the Associated Press reported...

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Melbourne Institute of Tech Integrates Library Management

Australia’s Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) chose Voyager, an integrated library system from Endeavor Information Systems Inc., to strengthen enterprise library automation, and integrate library access and management across its campus library hubs...

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Response Devices Keep FSU Students Focused

By Linda L. Briggs

Attendance is up and the number of students dozing off in class is down in J'e Calhoun’s economics classes at Florida State University (FSU). And that’s despite an increase in class size recently, with new lecture halls that seat up to 500 students at a time.

Calhoun has had great success in boosting attendance and keeping students engaged through use of personal response systems, or PRS – commonly called clickers – that require students to answer periodic questions throughout class. Answers are totaled immediately, giving Calhoun the ability to gauge who is present, and when he needs to explain a topic more thoroughly.

The devices, InterWrite PRS clickers from GTCO CalComp, cost $50 per device. Each student is responsible for purchasing a clicker from the bookstore at the beginning of a school year. The bookstore guarantees it will purchase it back at year’s end for $25...

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Data-Driven Decision-Making: Data Pioneers

By Linda L. Briggs

Everyone on your campus needs information, and if your institution is like most schools, you have plenty of it to share. But which types of data warehousing and business intelligence systems you choose, and how accessible, usable, and meaningful those tools make all of that information, remain the big questions for many technologists and administrators. Fortunately, there are always those brave pioneers, willing to move forward into uncharted territory. It’s from those who go first that the rest of us take our cues... (Campus Technology)

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We want to hear from you!

What d'es "smart" classroom technology mean to your campus? Share your viewpoint, experiences, and questions with your peers by writing to us at [email protected].

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