Division of Instructional and Information Technology
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From Debra A. Brum, Ph.D.
Vice President, Instructional & Information Technology
The Division of Instructional & Information Technology has been really busy – and really productive – since we last updated the campus community. While we have communicated with you on a number of specific projects, it’s been a while since we provided a comprehensive update. The summer was particularly eventful, so it’s a long report!
Here’s a short list of the ways in which we’ve been working to support learning:
Continuing to provide faculty laptops through the learning-centered technology initiative ;
Completing upgrades of 31 classrooms over the summer! ;
Continuing to provide mobile computing resources. Last year we made 18,000 deliveries of classroom technology. While the number of learning-centered technology classrooms has risen from 17 to 52, the demand for technology in learning spaces is growing as well;
Refreshing workstations in open labs ;
Upgrading Blackboard and transitioning off of WebCT ;
Supporting 4 innovative course redesigns through the DOLCE program;
Supporting faculty interest in Breeze and podcasting ;
Contributing to the enhancement of K-12 education through participation in the TQE grant ; and
We hope you’ve learned to love the new Exchange-based email system . And yes, we’re working on improving spam filtering as part of the intranet replacement project - we know how desperately this is needed.
In the categories of other news, activities and challenges:
We are recruiting for 4 important positions and would be very grateful for any help in identifying promising candidates ;
We set new records with our June commencement streaming video ;
The intranet replacement is a major overhaul of most of the core campus services and the infrastructure that supports them. We’ve had great participation in 4 open meetings to discuss the project and the requirements of the new services. Read all about this year-long project ;
Like the other divisions, we have been actively engaged in prioritization and recovery. Check out our P&R activities at P&R.
I&IT Web Development has rolled out a new campus directory, Bronco411;
I&IT has been tasked with a major revision of BroncoData, the campus reporting and analysis toolset, and with leading the implementation of an Executive Order on accessibility of IT resources. Stay tuned for news on these two important initiatives!; and
Finally, we’re very fortunate to be supported by very active IT Governance committees. Check out the list of 2005-06 accomplishments in the Annual Reports section of the IT Governance website .
I&IT provided laptops to the 40 new tenure-track faculty members who started this fall quarter. Faculty members chose a Dell Latitude 620, a Dell 420 or a MacBook Pro. In the two years of the lottery-funded program, I&IT has distributed nearly 600 laptops to faculty members, who are using the machines in their offices, in the classroom, at home or on the road. For full specifications, see laptops.
I&IT and Facilities were very busy in the classrooms this summer. In the latest phase of the LCTI TELS project we completed installation of technology in thirty-one classrooms throughout campus. This included equipping all of the new classrooms in the Music Bowl as well as classrooms for all eight colleges. Standard equipment installed in all LCTI TELS includes projector, motorized screen, computer, document camera, VCR, speakers, and podium equipped with easy-to-use controls and laptop connections. The list of learning centered technology classrooms is at LC Classrooms. You can find a list of wireless classrooms and other spaces at wireless.
We replaced 210 computers in our open labs and training labs.
At its June meeting the IT Governance Executive Committee approved a recommendation, brought forth by the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Committee, to adopt Blackboard as the campus’s single learning management system. I&IT currently supports both Blackboard and WebCT. Both systems will be supported through June 2007 to ensure ample time for a smooth transition of faculty and courses currently using WebCT. WebCT was introduced as our first LMS in 2000. Following its introduction in 2004, Blackboard quickly overtook WebCT in popularity among faculty. By last spring the number of faculty using Blackboard outstripped those using WebCT by more than four to one. I&IT will spend the year upgrading our Blackboard infrastructure, migrating WebCT courses to Blackboard, and training faculty in the use of Blackboard.
The Teaching, Learning, and Technology Committee of IT Governance also recommended the creation of the Designing Online Learning-Centered Environments program. Four faculty teams from Computer Information Systems, Economics, Mathematics and Statistics, and Mechanical Engineering have been busy all summer redesigning their courses for online and hybrid delivery. I&IT and Academic Affairs have collaborated in supporting these teams with instructional design expertise from I&IT Learning and academic support from the Library to prepare their courses. All four redesigned courses will be offered beginning with the fall quarter. As part of their summer work these faculty participated in an online course, the eLearning Academy, facilitated by Dr. Teshia Roby of I&IT Learning.
During the past year I&IT conducted a pilot of Adobe Breeze as a new elearning application. Breeze allows instructors to incorporate audio and video into PowerPoint to create dynamic and interactive live and streamed online presentations. Breeze is currently being used by faculty in many courses including Education, Economics, Kinesiology, Computer Information Systems, and History to name only a few. The program is also being used to create training modules on information security, BroncoDirect, and Blackboard. Faculty and students alike have given Breeze high marks. Given the success of the pilot, I&IT is currently upgrading Breeze to a production service available to all faculty and staff for use in courses and development of training programs.
As we reported in June, Cal Poly Pomona, along with several other CSU campuses, was chosen by Apple as an iTunes U campus. As a result of the popularity of iTunes U within the CSU, the Chancellor’s Office has negotiated the final agreement with Apple to ensure that important issues of copyright and intellectual property are adequately addressed. Stay tuned for more news on podcasting as an iTunes campus!
The TQE grant, also known as Teacher PREP: Teacher Pathways Reaching Excellence through Partnerships, is a comprehensive model of reform aimed at significantly improving the preparation of teachers for the challenges of the region’s diverse 21st century classrooms. I&IT Learning designers and technologists offered the innovative "Teacher Quality Enhancement" (TQE) Technology Workshop this summer. The goal of the workshop was to provide faculty with the knowledge and skills needed to improve teaching and learning through the relevant use of instructional technology. An enthusiastic participant reports, “Attending such a workshop as this one solidifies my belief that technology does help my students and myself to continuously learn, explore, discover, experiment, and achieve what we set out to do.”
Migrating all of the faculty, staff, and student users to Exchange took up most of our summer. There were more than 48,000 mailboxes to be moved with more than 400 gigabytes of mail in more than 13 million messages. For more on the email upgrade, see Exchange. Check out the eHelp page on Outlook at Outlook and the page on Outlook Web Access at OWA. .
We are recruiting for Director of I&IT Systems, Data Warehouse Administrator, Information Security Officer, and Director of I&IT Web Development. This is our second attempt to fill the Systems Director position. The DWA is a new position to support the campus’ BroncoData effort. The other two searches are to make permanent positions that have been in place for some time. All of these positions are posted on the HR website positions. The DWA is a staff position and the others are management positions.
Once again we set records with our streaming video of Cal Poly Pomona’s commencement ceremonies. We had over 15, 000 live viewings of commencement from every state and more than fifty countries. And the celebration of commencement goes on… To date we have had over 36,000 total viewings from 79 countries. That’s almost 400 viewings per day!
I&IT also welcomed new employees recently. Sara Ayers joined the vice president’s office as projects & services support coordinator…Cassandra Reyes joined I&IT Operations as Administrative Support Coordinator…Karen Walker transferred to I&IT Applications, where she is PeopleSoft Administrator in Applications…Desiree Baker is the new campus information operator…Giovanny Arteaga is the new Information Technology Consultant in I&IT Support’s 2nd Tier group. Welcome to our new employees!
This page was last updated on October 17, 2006.
