Faculty integration of computer-mediated learning technologies into teaching praxis

The purpose of the study was to examine organizational structural, cultural, pedagogical, and economic (reward system) elements of a traditional research-oriented university for influences on faculty adoption of computer-mediated learning technologies (CMLTs). Emergent driving and restraining societal and organizational influences (Lewin, 1951) on faculty members’ adoption of CMLTs were examined. Faculty members’ perceptions of the extent to which university policies and practices were aligned to support the successful design, development, and implementation of CMLTs were explored. A case study of faculty members, who had led CMLT development teams in a provincially funded Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) initiative at one university between 2000 and 2005, was conducted in four stages. In the first stage of the study, focus groups and members’ checks were held with instructional designers in order to identify potentially information-rich CMLT projects. Findings from this included an examination of the social negotiation process among members of CMLT development teams, and provided the bases for selecting faculty members to invite to participate in the study. Stage Two was a pilot of the faculty interview protocol that resulted in protocol refinement. In Stage Three, seven faculty members and one graduate student participated in interviews and members’ checks of the results. Faculty members were asked to describe their motivations for adopting CMLTs into teaching praxis, any resultant changes to their scholarship of teaching, the compensation they received for time invested in pedagogical and technological innovation, and the extent to which institutional structures, cultures, and policies had supported or impeded their efforts. Stage Four involved an environmental scan of institutional and provincial documentation of the TEL initiative as an avenue to corroborating interview data.In this study, it was found that faculty motivations for CMLT adoption included individual responses to departmental initiatives, curricular renewal and standardization activities, personal-professional development, integrating research into teaching, enhancing student learning, increasing the flexibility of student access to learning opportunities, and improving communications with students. Participants reported a variety of resultant changes to their scholarship of teaching: (1) a shift away from traditional lectures and toward learner-focused tutorials, small group and peer-to-peer discussions, and independent learning opportunities for students accessing electronic learning resources; (2) a new or renewed interest in using innovative instructional strategies and learning environments; and (3) a new or heightened interest in researching educational effectiveness. Organizational support for CMLT projects included fiscal support from the TEL program, and in some cases, additional funding provided by departments or colleges; project management support from the institution; pedagogical support from instructional designers; technical and aesthetic support from information technologists, media developers, graphic artists, and a medical illustrator. Organizational and cultural impediments to successful completion of projects varied across college settings. Lack of sufficient time to devote to CMLT development projects, balancing competing research, teaching, and administrative responsibilities with project activities, and therefore, coping with a mismatch between tenure and promotion requirements and necessary time commitments to CMLT projects were pervasive. Difficulties in coordinating large development teams, the slow pace of acquiring approvals for new programs, problematic project management models, and colleagues’ skepticism about and fear of integrating technology into teaching were common themes. This study surfaced implications for organizational change that could better enable faculty efforts to adopt CMLTs. Expanding tenure and promotion criteria to include CMLT development work (Archer, Garrison, & Anderson, 1999; Hagner & Schneebeck, 2001) and revising intellectual property policies for CMLT artifacts to better acknowledge faculty efforts (Hilton & Neal, 2001; Tallman, 2000) could do much to encourage the integration of technology into teaching. Promoting educational effectiveness research studies (Chyung, 2001), and bringing CMLT efforts in from the margins to become a core activity in the scholarship of teaching (Bates, 2001) could erode current skepticism and fear about technologies displacing faculty members (Olcott & Schmidt, 2000). Finally, in this study, theoretical implications for organizational change were posited. Traditional centralized and bureaucratic management styles are not well suited to supporting CMLT initiatives in higher education (Bates, 2001). A more distributed approach to leadership (Knapper, 2006) could better support necessary efforts to innovate, experiment, prototype, evaluate in order to incrementally improve project outcomes (Suter, 2001), create synergies between teaching and research activities, and garner faculty commitment to integrating computer-mediated learning technologies into contemporary teaching praxis

Developing a WebCT Support Program to Take Teaching to a Higher Level

As educational institutions increase the use of technology in their teaching, it becomes key to examine how we are integrating its use into our curricula. A challenge to campus wide adoption of course management systems is the support needed by faculty and designers. Learning Objectives: By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to: Describe the elements of an effective faculty/staff collaborative model for teaching with technology. Discuss key factors in building campus WebCT user innovations group. Understand the value in building support models based on participant needs. As educational institutions increase the use of technology in their teaching, it becomes increasingly important to examine how we are integrating its use into our curricula. Experience and research has shown one of the challenges to campus wide adoption of a course management system is the support needed by faculty and designers to feel adept and effective in the use of this potent and complex teaching technology. In academic year 2004-2005 the University of Massachusetts selected WebCT Vista as the new course management system. In response to this initiative UMass Medical School designed and implemented Phase I of a required training program for faculty and staff. The faculty development effort was championed by a collaborative between three of the school’s offices and departments: the Office of Faculty Administration (OFA), Information Services (IS), and the Lamar Soutter Library (LSL). The OFA and IS partnered to develop and implement the faculty and staff development programs, and the LSL took on the responsibility of student orientation to WebCT. This strategic alliance brought together the expertise of three distinct departments with interconnected work. The results being enhanced student learning through pedagogically sound use of the new technology, as well as increased faculty adaptation with course offerings growing from approximately 120 to 330 online courses. Phase I of the program consisted of required workshops addressing both best practice content and tool training in WebCT. Phase II, the next level, moved to as-needed deskside training; each time an instructor activates a new course tool additional instructional design consultation and targeted technical assistance is necessary. Phase III emerged from these targeted sessions with the goal of taking teaching with WebCT to the next level; a higher level. As a result an ‘Innovations in Teaching with Technology User Group’ was implemented. The group represents the only forum with designers, teachers, technologists and librarians in one room actively sharing, collaborating and presenting. Sessions are built around participant needs and requests. This cross collaborative real-time feedback loop has provided fertile soil for on-going innovation from all involved in this community of learning. It has heightened awareness of the art & science of teaching with technology, in the service of student learning, and a process is in place to move participants\u27 work to scholarship. This workshop will demonstrate the importance of integrating a new course management system into the operational structure of an institution, in order for growth to occur in a synchronized and supportive infrastructure. We will share the keys to the successful implementation of this type of institutional enterprise

Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Abstracts 2005

Proceedings of the Advances in Teaching & Learning Day Regional Conference held at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston in 2005

VCU Media Lab

We propose the establishment of a VCU Media Lab – a professional creative media technology unit whose mission is to support the development, design, production and delivery of innovative media, multimedia, computer-based instruction, publications and tools in support of VCU education, research and marketing initiatives. This centrally administered, budgeted and resourced facility will acknowledge, refine, focus and expand media services that are currently being provided at VCU in a decentralized manner

2017-18 VCU Faculty Handbook

The VCU Faculty Handbook contains information about the university, its campus and the surrounding community. The Handbook is not a complete guide to academics, research and other services, but is intended as a reference guide to orient new and continuing faculty to the university and provides additional sources for information. For detailed school or department information, please reach out to the specific departmental office. The VCU Office of Faculty Affairs is committed to updating the Handbook on a yearly basis

Courseware in academic library user education: a literature review from the GAELS Joint Electronic Library project

The use of courseware for information skills teaching in academic libraries has been growing for a number of years. The GAELS project was required to create a set of learning materials to support Joint Electronic Library activity at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and conducted a literature review of the subject. This review discovered a range of factors common to successful library courseware implementations, such as the need for practitioners to feel a sense of ownership of the medium, a need for courseware customization to local information environments, and an emphasis on training packages for large bodies of undergraduates. However, we also noted underdeveloped aspects worthy of further attention, such as treatment of pedagogic issues in library CAL implementations and use of hypertextual learning materials for more advanced information skills training. We suggest ways of improving library teaching practice and further areas of research

Digital Dissemination Platform of Transportation Engineering Education Materials Founded in Adoption Research

INE/AUTC 14.0

Courseware in academic library user education: A literature review from the GAELS Joint Electronic Library Project

The use of courseware for information skills teaching in academic libraries has been growing for a number of years. In order to create effective courseware packages to support joint electronic library activity at Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities, the GAELS project conducted a literature review of the subject. This review discovered a range of factors common to successful library courseware implementations, such as the need for practitioners to feel a sense of ownership of the medium, a need for courseware customization to local information environments, and an emphasis on training packages for large bodies of undergraduates. However, we also noted underdeveloped aspects worthy of further attention, such as treatment of pedagogic issues in library computer‐aided learning (CAL) implementations and use of hypertextual learning materials for more advanced information skills training. We describe how these findings shaped the packages produced by the project and suggest ways forward for similar types of implementation