As technology and education continue to blend, University information technology departments are reacting. According to representatives from N.C. State’s Office of Information Technology, one of the department’s top priorities is helping faculty implement technology in the classroom.
Marty Dulberg, senior coordinator of learning technologies for the Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications Office, said his department offers a variety of different mechanisms of support for faculty, including a help desk, workshops and one-on-one consultations.
“Faculty members are embracing technology more to teach in the classroom,” Dulberg said. “New faculty are coming in more fluent in technology and are leading the charge toward many interesting things.”
Megan Glancy, a lecturer and advisor in sociology and anthropology, said that she uses several digital tools to support her online and offline classes.
“In lessons, I use a variety of resources such as audio clips, interactive web browsers and websites to illustrate the subject matter I teach,” Glancy said. “Technology allows me to do a wider variety of activities with my students and democratize the classroom to accommodate a wider variety of individual learning styles.”
Stacy Gant, director of support services for DELTA, said that in the 2012-13 year, her office helped host 130 workshops and seminars, 522 instructional consultations and answered 5,380 faculty help calls.
Although this initiative isn’t brand new at N.C. State, it reflects a broader concern of university IT officers across the United States. Last week, Campus Computing Project released its annual survey of senior technology administrators, which was based on answers from representatives of 451 two- and four-year public and private colleges. The survey found that as technology continues to grow on campuses, nearly 80 percent of university IT departments consider helping faculty members implement technology into the classroom a top priority.
Dulberg said he sees a wide range of technology used at N.C. State.
“A lot of it has to do with the faculty member’s area of discipline, how long he or she has been here, or how much money the department is spending on the initiative,” Dulberg said. “But I think more faculty are trying than have given up.”
Susan West, director of technology support services for the Office of Information and Technology, said her department’s top priorities align with those at DELTA. OIT offers open houses for faculty at the beginning of each semester and one-on-one training. Employees also inspect the hardware each classroom weekly. There are 159 ClassTech-enabled rooms across campus, along with various other technology-enabled classrooms supported by each one of the colleges, West said.
Glancy said she doesn’t use the OIT office nearly as much as she could.
“A lot of what I have done is trial and error in terms of learning about new technological resources for the classroom,” Glancy said.
Even so, an OIT faculty survey last semester found that 85 percent of faculty members or scheduling officers requested a classroom with instructional technology to teach their course. The two most popular types of hardware were a computer in the lectern and a document camera.
“We try to make it so that any professors can use all the tools available in classroom, but the next person can come in behind them and not trip over all the new stuff,” said David Ladrie, assistant director for Learning Space Support at N.C. State. “We try to make the classrooms comfortable for all professors, even if they want to use less technology.”
Glancy said she thinks technology can assist professors working to adapt their teaching styles and courses. Still, she said, some lessons are better taught offline.
“Depending on the material, using a traditional method to convey your information and engage your students in authentic learning may be the best method,” Glancy said.
Glancy also said there can be a downside to technology in the classroom.
“As an instructor, having internet access in my classroom can be both a blessing and a curse,” Glancy said. “With internet and Wi-Fi in particular, technology can offer a distraction to students during class time. At times I have found students more engaged with their smartphones than with the class session.”
In the end, professors determine how much technology is used in the classroom. Gant said DELTA partners with departments across campus, but that her department is a service organization.
“The drive and initiatives [to implement new technology] come from instructors or the departments and colleges,” Gant said.
