Technology Advisory Committee Meeting

10-2-06

Members Present: Little, Davis, Burdis, Mader, Crowther (recorder in-turn), Marchetti, McZee, Diller

Corrections of minutes from meeting noted to correct spelling of Cdigix

Old Business

Little, Mader, McZee working on recommendations to give to faculty regarding the use of laptops in the classroom.

Cdigix is a work in progress

The examination of WebCt and Blackboard in regards to which one to use for course management continues

New Business

Discussion on how the information technology infra structured handled the September 27 pandemic preparation.

1) use of  cdigix was a problem that day

2) one faculty member reported difficulty opening attachments

3)  4 students needed passwords

4) 1 administrator working from home didn’t have JAVA installed to allow her to work from home

5) Student payroll reported no problems

6) Web CT/mail had 1,600 hits @ the 10:00 am hour

7) Controlling the chat room for instructors was an issue for some instructors and students.  Suggestion is to use discussion board

8) Library did not report any problems

9) Student voiced concerns of the day being just to complete homework assignments versus actual teaching taking place

10) Issue of faculty preparedness was brought up, and the realization that some course simply can’t be taught online.

11) The day gave faculty the opportunity to try out a different method of pedagogy

12) A majority of the classes can be taught on line, and this will help the college not have to reimburse students for cancelled classes in the event of a pandemic

Discussion on the use of laptop computers

1) The committee felt it was best to give faculty members suggestions on best practices for the use of a laptop instead of coming up with a policy for faculty

2) Disruption of the class from the use of the laptop needs to addressed by individual faculty just like other  disruptive behavior in the classroom

Little and Davis will be attending EDUCAUSE information Technology conference soon in Dallas

Davis passed out a self-assessment report for the Information Technology department. This self assessment is done every 4 years. The report will be going to the planning committee for review.  The report points out that staffing is a concern for the department, and the information technology department is committed to staying up to date for students and faculty

Davis brought up the need for an all campus student survey to find out information regarding such things as how familiar students are with various software, how students use the computer, and what type of computers students are using.

Meeting adjourn 10:50am