Becoming a Millennial

212. Winning a 90% Faculty Satisfaction Rating

The ETC recently received a 90% satisfaction rating from the faculty on instructional technology support provided.  The question was part of a larger survey completed by 109 of TU's 135 faculty. In an age of competing platforms and demanding constituents how was this accomplished?  Several factors come to mind.  Beginning in 2000 a careful strategy has been followed to standardize on key platforms and provide universal easy-to-use classroom technology, scheduled computer refreshes, high-quality training opportunities, one-one tutoring, and immediate help response.  The "we will help you" spirit of the 6-person ETC team has won the trust of the faculty, resulting in a thriving academic technology environment.

Here are the specific factors that I believe has led to the ETC's success in working with faculty:

1. Ten years of "we will help you" spirit that has won the confidence and trust of the faculty.
2. ETC's uniquely gifted staff:  Steve--digital media, Leon--computing/electronics, Beth--administrative/service, Scott--one-one/first responder, Tony--supervision.
3. The ETC team provides immediate answers/assistance when a professor has a problem, including one-one "to your door" assistance.
4. The ETC provides a place for faculty to go when they have questions or need to complete a technology project.
5. A consistent 4-year faculty computer replacement schedule.  Professors are provided good equipment in a timely manner.
6. Since 2000 we have had a solid base product, Blackboard, upon which much of our instructional technology has been built (In the faculty survey the satisfaction rating for Blackboard's performance was 90% and for Blackboard as a product was 70%, both very high marks)
7. By 2004 every classroom on campus was equipped with a ceiling projector and computer/multimedia podium (TU was one of the first schools in the nation to accomplish this).  This helped immensely in getting faculty to use technology on a consistent basis in the classroom.  
8. Since the WordPerfect-to-Word switch in 1997 we have not changed platforms on faculty but have consistently built upon our core products -- Blackboard, MS Office, Respondus, Campus Pack, Turning Point, DyKnow Vision.
9. Every year there is offered a wide selection of opportunities for faculty to learn new technologies -- T4T Conference, Mini-Grant Week, technology luncheons and other workshops, informational email messages.
10. Consistent and timely communication to faculty on technology-related issues via portal announcements, email, and faculty meeting "rolling PowerPoints".
11. Eagle Recognition incentive program -- I don't know if this resulted in any more faculty attending training opportunities (my sense is that it did not), but I believe it provided a positive morale boost, especially over the past several weeks as 41 faculty cashed in their points for very nice prizes.

211. Using a Wiki to Assess Student e-Portfolios

We have pulled off a significant initiative over the last few years in repurposing our course management system, Blackboard, to facilitate student e-portfolios.  The Blackboard Learning System has all the capabilities to organize and post artifacts, in a professional-looking format. 

This fall we figured out (actually, it was the brainchild of one of our education majors) how to use Blackboard's wiki tool for assessment purposes.  This is now in place for Education portfolios, and Social Work is working on something similar. It's a fun thing to come up with unintended applications for some of these digital tools. Click here to view a short video to see how this all works.