Description of the Title III iLevel Grant Project

The iLevel Project is made possible by a federal Title III grant. This five-year grant was awarded in June 2000 with funding beginning in October 2000. The iLevel project is focused on the use of technology by undergraduate students and their faculty. There are two broad goals:

• UDM undergraduate students will graduate with the technological and analytical skills needed to become responsible consumers, producers, and evaluators of electronic information and knowledge in the workplace and in their personal lives.
• UDM faculty will effectively use instructional technology as an enhancement to the undergraduate teaching-learning dynamic.

To meet those two broad goals the iLevel Project will implement the following.

Student Focused


1. All undergraduate students will need to complete and pass the Level 1 IT Certification exam. This exam is designed to measure the basic set of IT skills necessary to complete a degree at UDM. Students not passing the certifying exam will be able to receive training, tutoring, and other remediation assistance through the Student Tech Mentors program.
2. A new technology course will be created to meet the core curriculum 3a requirement. This course will focus on the practical application and implications of technology with an emphasis on the social, ethical, and spiritual impact technology makes on our personal lives.

Faculty Focused


3. Each year of the grant, money will be invested to create iSmart Classrooms. In short, iSmart Classrooms are technology enhanced classrooms. The specific technologies put in place will be heavily dependant on the needs and desires of the faculty will utilize the classrooms. Examples of iSmart Classrooms could be a portable cart with 20 wireless laptops or a permanently installed data projector and teaching station.
4. The Local Heroes program is designed to encourage, support, and reward those faculty and staff who are willing to take on the role of technology evangelist/supporter in their area. The Title III Grant supports faculty in this program with the opportunity to request mini-grant funds (up to $1000/each) for their department to foster the use of technology to improve teaching.
5. The Title III grant provides funds to license Blackboard's CourseInfo online course management server. This server, knowledge.udmercy.edu , is available for UDM faculty and faculty in the Greater Detroit Partnership for Training to put course materials online. The Instructional Design Studio provides workshops and training sessions for faculty on the use of technology in teaching. Workshops and training includes help in using the knowledge.udmercy.edu server.