Teaching Thursdays

Lori Swinney, Director of the Center for Instructional and Learning Technologices (CILT), University of North Dakota

In my role as the director of the Center for Instructional & Learning Technologies (CILT) at the University of North Dakota I have the privilege to work with an incredible team of professionals whose primary focus is to help others learn how to use technology. Our mission is “to collaborate with the University community to provide support for students, faculty and staff in the pursuit of innovation and excellence in teaching and learning with technology”. Our webpage, listing the services we offer is located at http://cilt.und.edu.

Initially, about 15 years ago, our Center was established to support faculty integrating technology into teaching and learning. We created a warm and safe environment to introduce faculty into the new world of teaching with technology. The thought of changing the way one taught a course after 20 years of teaching was a little scary for some faculty and like falling off a cliff without a net for others. Our goal at CILT was to introduce little changes, make it fun, and, to use an old adage, “teach the faculty how to fish”. We didn’t do the work for them, we showed them how by teaching workshops, hosting forums, and celebrating successes by showcasing faculty examples.

It worked and UND started the journey into a new world of teaching and learning with technology. We have seen many changes over the past decade. In classrooms, the old desk in the front went away and was replaced by a Smart Teaching Station and the classroom became “smart”. Overhead projectors got dusty because they were replaced by digital projectors mounted on the ceiling. Chalkboards became interactive whiteboards so instructor notes and diagrams could be saved digitally and sent to the students.

We also saw changes in students. Students are bringing laptops, PDAs, smart phones and netbooks to class. They want to get their course information online; syllabus, handouts, faculty contact information, and most important – grades. They want help with how to use the technology, how to plug in their headset, what laptop to buy, how to order an electronic textbook, and how to post their assignments in the Learning Management System (LMS).

Have these changes affected the way faculty design, develop, teach and assess their courses and how our Center supports teaching and learning at UND? Higher Education, as an institution, has always moved very slowly. Technology seems to have sped things up. The New Media Consortium and the Educause Learning Initiative have collaborated since 2004 to publish the annual Horizon Report. The report describes the top six emerging technologies thought to have a significant impact on teaching and learning. Three of the key trends noted in this year’s Horizon Report 2010; mobile computing, open content and electronic books when looked at together point towards significant changes in how faculty teach. Students want to bring their electronic devices to class (virtually or face-to-face) and read their textbooks online. Faculty can share their teaching materials with colleagues and use, with permission, others’ content in their courses – open content. What a change from 10-15 years ago when it was difficult to even get an instructor to share an electronic copy of the syllabus.

Not all faculty are embracing these changes. There are so many unique and diverse needs that vary by the discipline, faculty, and student. What works for an instructor teaching political science may not work for his colleague in the same department. The same applies to the students. The changes have affected everyone, some adjust quickly, some struggle, and some will not change. I recently received a call from a new parent inquiring whether his daughter will be able to use electronic textbooks for her courses. He was concerned about the weight of carrying all of the books around campus. When checking with her instructors I found a mixture; electronic texts, hard cover books, handouts and library articles, some traditionalists and some innovators.

An example of how technology can help UND meet the changing needs of students is the explosion of online courses. Students want the flexibility to take classes without having to come to a classroom or even to campus. We have seen a significant increase in the number of online courses offered and student enrollments in the past two years. Some faculty embrace these changes and some believe the traditional face-to-face model of teaching is the only way their course can be taught. CILT’s role is to work with faculty to help develop the course in a different way so that it can be taught online. We have staff with degrees in Instructional Design & Technology who partner with the faculty to create online courses. Faculty report after going through the process of designing and teaching their first online course, they find themselves changing their traditional course by adding some components from the online section.

Technology has become such an essential tool in the teaching and learning process both inside and outside of the classroom. CILT recognized the critical need to provide support for more than just the faculty and has recently expanded its services to include students and staff. We have also increased our support hours into the evening and on weekends. We, in higher education, are moving into the 24/7 access and availability arena that the consumer market already provides for its customers. This is one of the bigger challenges I see for CILT. How do we provide the appropriate level of support that is needed for faculty and students? Is it more time, 24/7? Is it more staff, no waiting time? What is appropriate for us to do for the student or faculty, do we teach them to fish or do we fish for them? Many of the support calls we receive ask us to “just do it for me”, is this right? How do we keep up with the new technologies and make current recommendations? Our challenge is to provide the right amount of support and incorporate the most appropriate technology tools so that both students and faculty can focus on the teaching and learning, not on the technology.