FACIT Notes 1/29/2009

Introductions and announcements

Members present: Marcy Uyenoyama, Chris Roy, Mark Goodacre, Chris Erlien, Sheila Dillon, Michael Morton, JoAnne Van Tuyl, Shai Ginsburg.

CIT/Library and A&SIST staff present: Hannah Arps (A&SIST), Diane Harvey (Perkins Library System), Shawn Miller, Randy Riddle, Andrea Novicki, Amy Hendrix and Amy Campbell (CIT).

1. Introductions

New member Christopher Roy (Chemistry) replaces Dick MacPhail

2. Discussion of the "Horizon Report" on emerging instructional technologies

Background: The Horizon Report is an annual report authored by combined efforts of some of the "big names" in the instructional technology field. In it, 6 "nearly here" or "coming soon" technologies are discussed, along with their implications. Please read the Executive Summary about these 6 technologies before the meeting, if you can, at http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/chapters/technologies/.

NOTE: the online version of the document is published in a way that public comments are allowed, paragraph-by-paragraph. When you look at the link above, the content of the document will be on the left, the table of contents will be on the right, and the comments panel (if any) will be in the middle. Feel free to read as much of the document as you like, but if you could read the one-page section above, that would be great.

Notes:

Marcy was interested in the cloud computing concept. Shai mentioned there are copyright issues with cloud computing (e.g. Google blocked someone they thought had violated copyright). Shawn described how there may be concerns related to student privacy when using cloud resources. Mark mentioned cloud computing will negate the “computer crash” excuse for students. Could Google Docs be connected directly to Bb somehow, to make its use easier and more streamlined?
Shai took issue with the Horizon Report proposition that there is a trend toward “increasing globalization” – the devices you get in the States aren’t really globally compatible. To truly have international experiences, tools need to be designed to work around the world. Related to this, JoAnne mentioned that many places in Russia it’s still hard to get wireless, have to look for hot spots.
Sheila mentioned section of the report focusing on mobiles, and that it was hard to imagine really exploring this if it wasn’t centrally supported, such as by Duke providing mobiles to everyone. Doing this type of exploration takes time and money. Related to the idea of mobiles and communications, Mark reiterated the “old-fashioned” aspects of Bb announcements – where is the RSS feed or the text messaging that should be possible here? Students are “there” already using these and “we” are clunking along behind.
JoAnne felt it was a matter of making things mobile so teaching/coursework can be worked on anywhere. It’s not a matter of changing a teaching approach, which may not be worth it just for technology change.
Sheila mentioned there is a tension between keeping courses/teaching the way it is, and innovating. E.g., shifting to active learning is totally different from standard lecture method of teaching.
JoAnne asked if others felt technology change is getting faster or leveling out? At some point one has to just pick a spot to stop and try something (like when buying a new TV – right after you buy it, there will be better, cheaper ones, but who can invest the money continually to keep up constantly?)In terms of specific technology adoption, Chris mentioned he has really seen uptake in netbooks (mini-laptops) in his students this year. We agreed that most of these students probably have a “regular” laptop as well as a netbook.

3. IT portal site?

Background: Discussion of the idea of an IT portal site that would allow people to get information about technology across the university and customize their own portal to show the things that they care about. How/would this be useful to you?

Hannah framed the question as “how to ‘get’ what’s out there? Do you know where to find information you need?”
Marcy asked about a link between Bb and STORM, to see permission numbers. What about a course menu item not visible to students?
JoAnne likes the idea of a personalized help site, show the how-tos you need, your favorites.
Mark suggested being able to put a Bb announcement into the Bb site from the SISS Faculty Center – would really help.
Shai feels searching the Duke site works, not sure what the question is here, or why some other site would be needed.
Sheila looks at OIT Help Desk’s log for FAQs (short discussion of whether people actually READ FAQs….most agreed that they can be quite useful).
Hannah – part of the idea is to answer specific questions, part is to illustrate to novice users what is available for use at Duke.
Michael – people have different ways they work and have stumbled upon, but may not be an organized approach. There’s not a common denominator – in developing this type of help, should pick the lowest. In his case, he’s not sure what questions to ask.
JoAnne – there are different levels of knowledge; beginner level needs ideas, to start with.
Chris asked if there is a new faculty seminar which includes technology? This relates to the IT portal idea, with a focus on new faculty.
Shai asked whether students are really excited by new technology? Does it make them more engaged? Depends on how it was implemented – as a “tack-on,” no….but if part of a course designed to focus on student learning and active learning methods, yes.

4. Feedback on printed CIT spring newsletter

Amy handed out copies of the CIT printed newsletter and asked FACIT members to read it and send back the feedback survey included in the newsletter, if they hadn’t already.

5. Library Guides in Blackboard

Background: CIT and Library Instruction and Outreach sought comments on library information presented in Blackboard ("Library Guide" links which have automatically been added to all Bb sites for Spring 2009 and which link to general or discipline-specific library resources).

Generally it seemed that only some of the FACIT members (perhaps half) had been aware of this before it was demonstrated in the meeting. All seemed to feel putting this information there was a good idea.
JoAnne mentioned that she can at least show it to her students, could use it in some courses more directly. Even helping students understand there is a librarian for their disciplines is a good thing.
Overall response positive, this is a move in the right direction.