Technology in the Learning Spaces

Technology in the Learning Spaces Sande Johnson-Byers Assistant Vice President Information Technology

Working Committee Members Sande Johnson-Byers, Chair Rhonda Dixon Jeff Falcone Alex Gaughan Laura Hardesty Michael Homan Mark Kasselhut Brad Lawton Cathy Leist Sherry Ross Joe Steffen Uldis Strepis Chris Weaver Joanna Wolfe

Establish a Baseline • Assessment of technology in UofL’s learningspaces • 108 of 167 (65%) classrooms on the Belknap Campus and 6 of 33 (18%) had little or no technology capability • Overall, 57% of classrooms needed to be equipped or upgraded with technology • Update: UofL’s Phi Beta Kappa initiative will newly equip 30 rooms with technology

Research • 2008 ECAR (Educause Study for Applied Research) Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology • students preferred only a “moderate” amount of technology in the classroom • students preferred “face-to-face” interactions in the classroom and with faculty and classmates

Develop a Committee Represent: • Students • Faculty • Business Affairs • Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning • Information Technology • Libraries • Resources for Academic Achievement (REACH)

Literature Review • When Computers Leave Classrooms, So Does Boredom (Chronicle of Higher Education) • “Teach naked” by removing technology from the classroom • Make lectures available online for student review outside of class • Reserve class time for active discussion

Literature Review • Learning Spaces: Involving Faculty to Improve Pedagogy (Educause) • Involve faculty and students in the planning phase • Aim to understand faculty member’s learning objectives • Assess the technology to determine educational value

Literature Review • Space Strategies for the New Learning Landscape (Educause) • Create collaborative and immersive learning spaces • View the entire campus as a learning space • Create flexibility in the learning space

Literature Review • Assessment: The Key to Creating Spaces that Promote Learning (Educause) • Faculty facilitate the learning experience when they are comfortable with pedagogical practices • Students are most engaged when they are encouraged to interact with faculty and fellow students • Territoriality and departmental ownership of highly prized rooms decrease the use of the space

Literature Review • Charting the Course & Tapping the Community: The Educause Top Teaching & Learning Challenges 2009 (Educause) • Balance promoting technology with encouraging teaching and learning using technology • Explore solutions to top challenges in teaching and learning through “Challenges” project: www.educause.edu/eli/challenges

Literature Review • Signposts of the Revolution? What We Talk about When We Talk Learning Spaces (Educause) • Outdated industrial model prepared learners to perform repetitive factory jobs • Industrial model continues to dominate higher education • New inquiry model encompasses active, social, continuous and holistic learning

Literature Review • The 2009 21st-Century Campus Report: Defining the Vision (CDW-G) • Campus community defined by access to technology, resources and each other • Year over year, students are placing more importance on technology in the learning space

Survey Benchmark Institutions • Survey UofL’s benchmark institutions about their classroom technology • Funding model • Standards • Support • Equipment • Learning management software

Survey Benchmark Institutions • Completed with seven respondents

Survey Benchmark Institutions • 100% of responding institutions fund instructional technology in the classroom with a combination of centralized and decentralized funds • 71% of responding institutions have an ongoing budget for sustaining instructional technology in the classroom

Survey Benchmark Institutions • 100% of responding institutions have classroom technology standards • Responding institutions have a range of 50-100% of their classrooms equipped to use technology • 71% of responding institutions report their requests for technology-equipped classrooms outnumber classroom availability

Survey Benchmark Institutions • 71% of responding institutions provide laptops for faculty instruction • Faculty are using these laptops to integrate technology into the curriculum

Input from UofL Faculty • Administered survey • 81 respondents -School of Public Health & Information Sciences -Arts and Sciences -College of Business -College of Education -Speed School of Engineering -Kent School of Social Work -School of Dentistry -School of Law -School of Medicine -Libraries

Input from UofL Faculty • 88% of respondents have taught classes in a technology equipped classroom during the current academic year • 37% of respondents have been denied use of a technology equipped classroom due to lack of availability

Input from UofL Faculty • 65% of respondents agree or strongly agree the use of technology in the classroom has improved learning outcomes for students • 67% of respondents agree or strongly agree technology in the classroom has allowed them to more actively engage students

Input from UofL Faculty • 61% agree or strongly agree they are satisfied with the current level of technology in the classrooms they use • “Agree only if the rooms are equipped but disagree if there is no technology available” • “My problem is the frequency with which I am scheduled to teach courses in classes which have no technology in them at all” • Faculty want more technology equipped classrooms

Input from UofL Faculty • Faculty focus groups • Conducted by an associate professor of biology

Input from UofL Faculty • Faculty focus groups common themes • All learning spaces need a basic level of technology, including Internet access • Improve faculty training • Improve technology documentation • Offer students collaborative learning spaces

Input from UofL Faculty • Online discussion board • One faculty respondent • Expectation of WiFi access and electronic projection equipment in every classroom • Recommends professional development for faculty to better incorporate technology in the classroom

Input from UofL Students • Administered survey • 132 respondents -Arts and Sciences -College of Business -College of Education -Speed School of Engineering -Kent School of Social Work -School of Music -School of Law -School of Medicine -School of Nursing • 97% of respondents take face-to-face classes

Input from UofL Students • Most used technologies by respondents in courses this semester: • Email (98%) • Office applications (88%) • Social networking (44%) • Text messaging (43%) • Blogs or wikis (32%) • Classroom capture (17%)

Input from UofL Students • 98.5% of respondents prefer to take courses in which the instructor uses some (67.9%) or makes extensive (30.6%) use of technology. Less than 2% prefer no technology. • 74% of respondents agree or strongly agree their instructors effectively use technology in the classroom

Input from UofL Students • 64% of respondents agree or strongly agree their instructor’s use of technology in the classroom keeps them engaged during class • 58% of respondents agree or strongly agree their instructor’s use of other technologies (Blackboard, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) keeps them engaged outside of the classroom

Input from UofL Students • Student focus groups • Conducted by • Libraries • Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning • Resources for Academic Achievement (REACH)

Input from UofL Students • Student focus groups common themes • All learning spaces need a basic level of technology • Prefer a moderate amount of technology • Prefer face-to-face learning • Like using I-Clicker technology • Social networking between faculty and students should be student-initiated

Committee Recommendations • Create a new minimum classroom technology standard • Current standards provide an“overkill” of technology, limiting scope to few classrooms • New standards should provide basic technology: • Data projector • Electric screen • Input panel • Internet access • Base i-Clicker system

Committee Recommendations • Create a new minimum classroom technology standard (continued) • Estimated $5,615 per classroom, excluding room prep and desktop computer • Philosophy of upgrading as many classrooms as budgetarily feasible

Committee Recommendations • Develop a plan to equip 100% of UofL’s learning spaces • All responding benchmark institutions plan to equip 100% of their classrooms • Equip UofL classrooms at the new minimum standard over a three-year period (estimated $640,110) • Update: $168,450 of the funding is included in UofL’s Phi Beta Kappa initiative

Committee Recommendations • Encourage departments to replace faculty workstations with laptop or tablet computers • Design technology classrooms with appropriate connection cables • Provost and CIO strongly encourage units to buy laptops for faculty in lieu of desktops • Over 3-4 years, centrally fund laptop/desktop cost differential for all full-time faculty (approximately $300 each, total $468,300)

Committee Recommendations • Establish an ongoing process for sustaining technology in the classroom • IT develop an ongoing classroom technology management approach • Create a central budget for classroom technology maintenance and upgrades • Fund at 20% ($224,600) assuming maintenance of equipment for 200 classrooms at the minimum standard

Committee Recommendations • Make all classrooms available for scheduling through Resource 25 • Several units restrict access to technology classrooms by not listing them on Resource 25 • Maximize learning space usage by making all classrooms available for scheduling through Resource 25 • Give priority scheduling to units that currently invest in technology using student fees

Committee Recommendations • Improve training, documentation and support for using technology in the classroom • Each classroom contain a printed set of instructions • Review instructions on a semester basis • Maintain instructions on the web for instructors to download

Improve training, documentation and support for using technology in the classroom (continued) • Offer training to instructors teaching in technology classrooms • Offer group training at the department/school level

Committee Recommendations • Develop a process to assess the impact of technology in the classroom • Technology in the classroom is an investment • Assessment provides data to evaluate effectiveness

Committee Recommendations • Develop a process to assess the impact of technology in the classroom (continued) • Institutional Research develop a process to assess the impact of technology in the classroom on student outcomes • Use National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE) as a guide

Committee Recommendations • Include technology classrooms and collaborative learning spaces in new construction and renovations • Ensure all classrooms meet/exceed the new minimum technology standard • Assure the development of collaborative learning spaces to stimulate and enhance active student engagement

Committee Recommendations • Increase use of blended courses to maximize use of available technology classrooms • Meet face-to-face on a limited basis • Utilize Blackboard (or other technology) to interact outside of the classroom • Charge 115% of tuition rate to fund initiative

Committee Recommendations • Increase use of blended courses to maximize use of available technology classrooms (continued) • Incent individual instructors who develop and offer blended courses • Officially recognize blended classes as a unique class/category

Committee Recommendations • Strongly encourage faculty to increase use of Blackboard • Currently in use by less than 50% of all courses at UofL • Provost’s office, academic deans and department chairs encourage a minimum usage standard for Blackboard

Committee Recommendations • Strongly encourage faculty to increase use of Blackboard (continued) • Include at minimum posting syllabus, faculty information and course description • Strongly encourage posting of grades in Blackboard, even if Blackboard is not used to administer tests and assignments

Committee Recommendations • Strongly encourage use of Tegrity and I-Clickers in the classroom • Delphi and IT offer classes and training designed to encourage innovative Tegrity use • When possible, place in classrooms microphones which support Tegrity and other recordings • Stock recommended microphones in iTech Xpress and have them available for checkout through IT’s classroom support services

Committee Recommendations • Strongly encourage use of Tegrity and I-Clickers in the classroom (continued) • Include I-Clicker base units in technology capable classrooms • Delphi Center and IT continue offering training and support for I-Clickers

Committee Recommendations • Acquire the appropriate tools to improve virtual learning spaces • Current Blackboard chat/virtual classroom tools do not ensure meaningful web collaboration • Difficult to use • Not stable • Not full-featured

Committee Recommendations • Acquire the appropriate tools to improve virtual learning spaces (continued) • Purchase a full-featured web collaboration tool to use in conjunction with Blackboard (estimated $80,000 CAR) • Implement at the enterprise level to support instruction and provide administrative support to faculty and students

Committee Recommendations • Allow use of social networking tools to be initiated by the student • Students view faculty-initiated social networking as an intrusion • Allow students to initiate faculty/student social networking • Investigate ConnectYard to facilitate one to many communication from Blackboard

Technology in the Learning Spaces