Summary from the iLevel Advisory meeting September 24, 2003
ILevel Meeting, September 24, 2003
Members Present: Tony Drommi, Tom Jeffrey, George Libbey, Chris Odionu, Marcel O’Gorman, Gerard Stockhausen, Sarah Swart, Mike Witkowski
Agenda:
1) Smart Classroom updates (Marcel)
Reno Hall: The Reno Hall classroom renovation (Reno 1), which represents the Psychology Dept.’s portion of the grant in year 4, is well underway. The class will be equipped with a projector and teaching podium (vcr, computer, dvd player). The tables in the room will have “power-up” and “data-up” modules for students with laptops. The room should be ready for winter term.
Ford Life Sciences: Furniture for Ford Life Science 115 has been ordered, and it will seat 90 students in a lab-table type of setting with “power-up” and “data-up” for students with laptops. This room will also feature a powerful projector and an instructor podium with computer, vcr, dvd player. The idea is to completely improve the aesthetics and functionality of this auditorium.
2) Revised training plan for Summer Institute (Sarah)
Sarah has recommended some changes to the Summer Institute schedule, based on comments made by last year’s participants. First of all, the first day will concentrate on instruction, rather than involving a guest speaker. Participants wanted more instruction time, but also felt burned out after a week of full-day seminars. In response to this, the Institute might span a two-week period, and may be increased to 6 full days instead of 5. This will allow more time for the participants to digest and apply what they learn.
Sarah noted that they may offer courses later in the summer instead of spring. Attendace at IDS classes were good in mid-summer last year. The dates have not yet been scheduled, however, and depend on many factors.
George suggested that it would be a good idea to enlist former participants as mentors to next year’s group. This is a good way of supporting IDS’s teaching efforts, and also a good way of insuring that participants continue to act as models for other faculty regarding the integration of IT into teaching.
3) Level I Credential update
The Core Maintenance Committee has yet to respond to the proposal of Emmy, Tony and Chris. However, Michael Barry said that most were positive about the Level I concept, although they see it as a union issue if we try to replace CIS100 with a self-paced, computer-delivered test. Michael advised that I attend the next meeting to present a revised proposal and to clear things up, especially regarding confusion about the Level II Credential. Meeting attendees agreed unanimously that Level II should not be a Core discussion at all.
There is still some concern over whether the test should be worth credit hours or not. If it works as a placement exam, then do students get credit for succeeding? What does this allow them to place out of, just CIS 100 or the computer requirement?
The consensus “seems” to be that the test would offer students a way of opting out of CIS 100. But they would still have to take a computer requirement. CIS 103, a course that teaches web development, might be a very good alternative. Other possibilities (for the future) might be to allow students to take discipline-specific IT related courses for their computer requirement (but this is not simply a “maintenance” issue).
Another issue is motivation. Why would students want to opt out of CIS 100 if it is a good way to pad their grade point average?
All of these questions need to be brought to the Core Maintenance Committee. With the permission of the ad hoc committee, Marcel will draft a revision of the proposal based on Michael Barry’s recommendation, and pass it by Emmy, Chris and Tony for further editing and comments.
4) Level II Credential
The Level II Credential, it seems, is pretty much already in place at UDM in the large majority of our departments and programs, including: Nursing, Health Services Administration, all of Engineering, Computer Science, Architecture, CIS, English (forthcoming), Electronic Critique, Criminal Justice. Just mentioning the credential to Dept. Chairs and Deans has spurred thought about the creation of new I.T. related courses in many departments. Once again, it is important to keep Level II separate from Level I in discussions with the core maintenance committee. The two can work independently although they have a logical connection.
5) Student Portfolios update
Marcel has been working with the Co-Op Department on revising their current portfolio system. Tom said that he could develop a portal-style portfolio system for any UDM students, and this could be integrated into Co-op classes. Co-op also said that they would offer open workshops on this portfolio if it is put in place.
Tom noted that students could have a control panel that allows people to look at their information on a password basis. The could create accounts for individuals, companies, or make it completely open. Information will be secure, but it should be considered public.
Chris raised a resource capacity issue. Would we have to limit what students are able to put into their portfolios? Tom suggested that we could offer 20-40 megs/student if we have a new server. There is funding for a new server in year 4 of the grant. Students doing multimedia work would have to consider bandwidth issues.
Sarah asked how long the students would get to keep the portfolio online. Most students are on the job market for years after they graduate, and might want to return to the portfolio when changing jobs.
Essentially, the portfolios could be used as a retention item, and a way of catering to alumni. George suggested that all alumni could have access to the service, but they would have to pay for it. Students could keep the portfolio for up to two years after graduating.
Tom will work with Co-Op admin in further brainstorming this issue.
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