Educational Technology Committee

Final Report for Academic Year 2005/2006

Committee Members

• William Anderson ex officio, CIO
• Alain Brizard
• Steve Burks ex officio, Library Director
• John Devlin
• Susan Breeyear ex officio, ITC
• Dennis Voigt ex officio, CEPC rep.
• Greta Pangborn Chair
• Joanna Ellis-Monaghan

Proposal for the Teaching with Technology Workshop

The committee submitted a proposal to the Provost to allocate a portion of the McGrath funds to the Teaching With Technology Workshop. This proposal was approved, and the remainder of the cost of the program will be covered by the IT budget. The committee views the TWTW to be the most successful venue for engaging faculty with the topic of how technology can be used in teaching. The faculty participants learn how to make effective use of the resources now available in the classrooms, in the faculty development lab, and on office laptops. The week also includes time to discuss the use of technology in teaching and work on course-related projects. Each participant works with a class project of his or her own design, and presents the project to the group during a session on the last day of the workshop.

SMC Creative Commons

The committee worked with Cynthia Kelley to promote the new SMC Creative Commons program. The SMC Creative Commons is a way for SMC faculty members to share ideas for teaching using eCollege and other technology. When a faculty member agrees to place a course in the Commons all of the instructional material of an eCollege course is copied into the SMC Creative Commons - syllabus, assignments, quizzes, course materials and webliographies – so that these materials may be shared with other College faculty for their teaching purposes at the College. (Student specific information such as grades, class discussions, student submitted assignments and announcements is not be copied as part of the SMC Creative Commons course.)

Tablet PC Discussion

The committee has been looking at the possibility of including tablet PC’s in the next round of faculty lifecycle replacements. We met with Gateway representatives to see a demonstration of these machines. A pilot program is taking place currently, and at the end of the semester the involved faculty members will report their impressions of the machines. A second pilot program will occur this summer; one possibility is that the tablets will be tested by a class. (This issue is also being discussed by the Tech Steering Committee.)

Mandate Discussion

The committee has also discussed some of the potential pros and cons of requiring all incoming students to purchase a college mandated laptop. (This issue is also being discussed by the Tech Steering Committee.)

Additional Business

Other issues discussed by the committee this year included the new password requirements, the IT budget, the JEM renovation plans, and the makeup of the faculty email list.