ILevel Meeting, July 24, 2002
Members Present: Elaine Bell, Dina Dubuis, Tom Jeffrey, Mark Ottenbreit, Sarah Swart, Marcel O’Gorman
1) Assessment and Evaluation
Elaine, Tom, Emmy, and Sarah have worked diligently on designing surveys to implement to students, staff and faculty this fall. They are designing a faculty IT survey and a student survey that assesses their exposure to technology at UDM. They will present with beta surveys at the next meeting. The faculty survey will be implemented during the second week of classes. Implementation date for the student survey remains to be determined. There is a need for additional staff to assist in implementing the survey and compiling results. We will contact the Psych Dept. for volunteers.
It would be good to track students who have taken the Basic Skills Exam. How many students came back for additional instruction/mentoring after taking the exam.
The survey assessment will look at specific skills and see where problems are. We could also track the faculty teaching classes that these students have taken. Then we could get faculty feedback, and let them know that their use of IT is being assessed.
The Grant indicated there were problems with local high schools, and that the grant would help students coming from those schools. Elaine will look into data from the Basic Skills exam to check for proficiency levels based on high school attended.
Mark stressed the fact that the important part of the surveys is how we respond to the data. We need to track the students and show that they are improving. If they are not improving, we need to take action.
PROBLEM: How do we legitimate the test so that students will actually take it? What is their incentive? We need to look at integrating the exam into the new core curriculum, and we could try to convince colleges/departments/classes to make the exam mandatory. For example, the exam could become a requirement for students taking freshman writing classes.
2) Wireless
We have wireless quotes for the Student Union and the Library. The installations will begin as soon as possible so that the buildings can be ready by the fall.
It’s important to inform Student Life of the wireless implementation. The task force covering the campus move should also be informed so they can integrate the wireless into their solutions.
It’s also important to notify all students, faculty and staff about the new wireless capabilities. The Book Store should carry wireless cards, and online instructions for use must be readily available and advertised.
3) Kiosks
In addition to the wireless in the Student Union, the committee has decided to install computer kiosks as well. This is in keeping with our decision to better serve students. The plan is to put 3 kiosks in the fountain lounge, one upstairs, and one in the game room area. The kiosks will serve students, maybe help increase traffic in the Student Union Lounge, and will give exposure to the iLevel project. This will be funded with surplus from Year 1.
4) Mini iSmart Classrooms
After discussing the iSmart classroom situation with Judy Miller (UDM Architect), it seems that there are buildings on campus where students are very often making use of presentation equipment for course projects. We can support this, and support faculty as well, by installing "mini iSmart Classrooms." These classrooms would have a ceiling mounted projector and a presenter workstation, but would not have additional power outlets or ethernet installed (that's what makes it "mini"). We should be able to put at least 3 or 4 of these on the McNichols Campus. Judy Miller suggested Architecture, Briggs, and Engineering. C&F and Ford Life Sciences were not considered because they will be undergoing renovations, and should be getting ismart classrooms as a result.
However, Mark Ottenbreit noted that Life Sciences could indeed use these resources right now in high-traffic classrooms, and that not all rooms will be renovated. Before installing these resources we will consult more intensively with Deans and Dept. Heads. We have to consider security, maintenance and scheduling.
We must also consider the move of Education to McNichols. Can we ease their transition with carefully planned resources?
Sarah suggested that we could start looking at more innovative resources such as handhelds equipped with Presenter2Go that can interface with projectors. We will look at this in Year 3 of the grant. Right now we are playing “catch up” with the resources. A permanent projector and workstation is the most convenient setup for faculty who are just beginning to use IT.
Sarah also suggested that we install VHS and DVD players in the rooms. This will be decided on a case-by-case basis, but is a very good plan, given funds.
We need to run this whole idea by the iSmart subcommittee.
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