Learning Resources and Educational Technology Applications

Workgroup Members: Carolyn Argentati (Leader), John Ambrose, Jabari Bell (?), Josh Boyer, Duane Larick, Scott Payne, Alan Schueler, Scott Watkins

Two key elements of our workgroup’s topic are digital content and educational technology software applications. We have spent our first few meetings exploring some of the key examples of these resources and applications, in order to formulate plans for investigating NC State’s current strengths and weaknesses, benchmarking against our peers, and developing a vision, goals, strategies, and recommendations.

Course management software (CMS, currently WolfWare and WebCT) that is supported on campus. Its users have a wide range of skills and needs. Which needs are these systems meeting, and which are they not? Is there an ongoing, participative process for analysis and forward evolution of these systems? Are we seeking and considering the students’ experiences with and perceptions of these systems?

Resources and support for CMS and online course development: who provides this, and do faculty and students know where to go for assistance? Are there multiple “stops” needed for various types of services? How is quality (at least basic editing and organization) assured? Vision: faculty member takes their content and ideas to one place for assistance with instructional design, choice of best tools, and optionally production. Funding for development is provided at appropriate levels.

Portals: DELTA has developed a portal for distance learners (http://my.ncsu.edu/), but currently the campus lacks a portal that integrates academic resources with student services and other information. Demonstrations of the PeopleSoft Campus Portal have taken place recently, and we understand that more demos are being planned by a group of campus administrators. Interoperability between multiple campus databases and resources is valuable.

Campus software licensing is coordinated by ITD/Computing Services (http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/software/index.html). Are there enough products licensed for campus-wide use? Is there a systematic process for continuous review and discontinuation or addition of licenses? How is this process shared, communicated, and coordinated among the service providers and colleges?

Each college/discipline may use specific software applications for teaching and learning. Changes/upgrades to these tools probably occur more rapidly in some fields than others. Are the processes for selection, acquisition, access, and support adequate to meet needs?

Digital Asset Management: Faculty members and campus units possess images and other multimedia resources in both analog and digital formats, for which they face many challenges of organization, management, and access. A scalable, enterprise-wide application for this purpose is seen as desirable, one which could readily feed content into online courses, portals, etc. A process of investigation and consensus building among all the stakeholders is needed – who will lead?

Virtual Collaborative Space: Tools that are part of students’ experience/culture such as Instant Messenger may have a purpose in facilitating real-time learning interactions. What should the university do to encourage disciplinary/learning communities to meet in this space, beyond the confines of individual courses?

Synchronous learning tools are being explored by the LTS and TLTR.

Office/productivity software plays a role – can it be taken for granted?

NCSU Libraries provides (e)books, (e)journals, databases, e-reserves, GIS/Data Services, online special collections, real-time interactive reference/instruction, etc. (http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/) and seeks partnerships with colleges, LTS, and ITD to deliver curriculum-integrated content and instruction. Are these collections and services meeting campus needs? How could they be improved and more integrated into CMS, portals, and other educational delivery mechanisms?

Citation management software (EndNote) is supported by the Libraries.

Potential areas of overlap or collaboration with other groups:

Student Information Fluency

How are or could student portfolios or other software tools be used for assessment of skills?

Faculty Engagement

Is the university concerned about supporting the extension side of its mission, as well as the academic, in the use of educational technology applications and development of digital content?

High Quality Distance Education and Distributed Learning Environments

CMS, Portals, Virtual Collaborative Space
Library/information resources for distance learning

Instructional Systems and Facilities/Educational Infrastructure

CMS, Portals, Virtual Collaborative Space
PDAs and wireless networking being used by a relatively small number of courses, but may have broader applications.
Tablet PCs are an evolving technology to watch.
Libraries’ Learning and Research Center for the Digital Age, opening Spring 2003 as a centrally available facility for faculty and students engaging in consultation, technology training, and creation/development of digital materials, with guidance from LTS and library staff.