IS news

State Budget Cuts & Future of TILE

manthoney — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:59:45 +0000

A mid-year emergency 10% budget cut at The University of Iowa has necessitated the reallocation of ARRA funding away from the TILE project. For further information, see UI President Sally Mason’s budget cut proposal to the Board of Regents on Oct. 29, 2009.

The TILE project will continue with alternate funding. There will be less learning spaces developed because the TILE project lost ARRA funding. But there will now be more time to better plan teaching and learning in these spaces.

Tremendous faculty interest is driving the TILE project forward. The TILE Project Team plans to continue developing materials to assist instructors. General information about teaching and learning in TILE has been added to the Teaching Strategies section. Example modules for TILE spaces will be added to that page in the upcoming weeks.

If you have questions or ideas that you would like to see added to the Teaching Strategies section of the TILE website please share your ideas.

4CAST ‘10 – January 14, 2010

dmlong — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:43:31 +0000

The Campus Academic Strategies & Technology (4CAST) Conference will be held January 14, 2010.

Visit http://its.uiowa.edu/4cast/2009.html for information about last year’s conference.

ITTA and IIA Funding

manthoney — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:37:59 +0000

Two funding sources are available to The University of Iowa instructors who may wish to redesign course(s) for TILE spaces.

- Innovations in Teaching with Technology Awards (ITTA)

Priority will be given to applications that support the TILE project. A total of $100,000 is available for awards.

Proposals are due Thursday, October 23, 2009 at 4pm.

Additional information along with instructions for submitting an application can be found on the ITTA website:

http://its.uiowa.edu/instruction/atac/itta/

- Instructional Improvement Awards (IIA)

IIA provides special funding to support instructional initiatives that will make exceptional and specific contributions to learning. Awards do not exceed a funding level of $5,000.

Proposals are due by Friday, November 6, 2009.

Additional information along with instructions for submitting an application can be found on the IIA website:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~cot/IIA/iiamenu.htm

Advisory Team Meeting – Thursday, Nov. 12

manthoney — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:42:45 +0000

The next Advisory Team Meeting for the TILE Project will be on Thursday, November 12th at 1:30pm in room 2520D of the University Capitol Centre (Old Capitol Mall).

Thursday, Nov. 12th

2520D UCC

1:30pm

CANCELED Advisory Team Meeting Friday, Oct. 23

manthoney — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 13:38:26 +0000

The TILE Advisory Team Meeting for Friday, October 23rd is CANCELED.

The next Advisory Team Meeting for the TILE Project will be on Thursday, November 12th at 1:30pm in room 2520D UCC.

Thursday, Nov. 12th

1:30pm

2520D UCC

Advisory Team Kickoff – Sept. 24

manthoney — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:21:50 +0000

TILE (Learning Spaces to Transform, Interact, Learn, Engage) will have its first Advisory Team meeting on September 24th at 4pm in room C107 of the John Pappajohn Business Building.

September 24

C107 PBB

4pm

TILE Project Receives ARRA Funding

manthoney — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:18:29 +0000

***UPDATE (10/29)***

ARRA funding for the TILE project has been reallocated to cover unanticipated budget cuts at UI. The project will still proceed with funding from alternative sources. The overall scope of the project will be noticeably diminished.

***

Executive Vice President and Provost Wallace Loh and Senior Vice President and Treasurer Doug True have announced the proposals selected for funding as part of a $15.5 million allocation of federal stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Most campus classrooms are designed for lectures. TILE is an initiative that will create six to 10 classrooms of varying sizes for (a) self-paced, independent learning in skills courses, and (b) small-group learning in problem-solving courses. The ultimate goal is increased student retention.

The University received $35.5 million in non-recurring federal stimulus dollars under ARRA for use in FY2010.

For more information, view the University’s press release about the ARRA grants.

‘Clickers’ add another dimension to the classroom experience

Ken — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:28:47 +0000

Information Technology Services (ITS) is offering faculty a new way to increase student engagement in the classroom.

Clickers – also referred to as student response systems, audience response systems, or personal response systems – allow students to answer an instructor’s questions via a small wireless device that records responses using a radio frequency receiver. Instructors create content with built-in response indicators and ask students to use their clickers to respond at the appropriate times during a lecture. Instructors can create questions in PowerPoint with TurningPoint 2008, or they can use TurningPoint AnyWhere with any application.

For more information about student response systems, visit the clickers website.

The campus standard for clickers at the UI is provided by Turning Technologies. The University has adopted a bookstore model for purchasing the devices. Faculty should contact the bookstore and let store personnel know if they plan to use clickers for a particular course. Faculty should be prepared to tell the bookstore an approximate number of clickers to order for students. Students enrolled in courses using the devices will need to purchase a clicker for $37.35. Students can use the same clicker for multiple classes, and they will register their clicker through ICON starting in the fall 2009 semester.

ITS-Instructional Services is offering faculty several basic and advanced clicker training sessions. To register for two-hour sessions on Aug. 12 or Aug. 13 click here. Check out the “Upcoming Training Events” section on the front page of the ITS Training website for more information about fall training sessions.

ITS also is hosting a Clickers Conference on Sept. 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visit the clickers website for more details.

Faculty who plan on using clickers in the classroom for the fall 2009 semester should contact ITS-Instructional Services right away for help in getting started:

Primary Contact – Lora McKee-Anderson, 335-5543 or lora-mckee-anderson@uiowa.edu
Secondary Contact – Annette Beck, 335-6043 or annette-beck@uiowa.edu
Turning Technologies Graduate Student Intern – Amanda Kirchner, 384-2726 or amanda-kirchner@uiowa.edu
Technical support e-mail – clicker-support@uiowa.edu

General Assignment Classrooms are equipped with the Turning Technologies software. Contact Lora McKee Anderson directly for a receiver.

SITA law wiki grabs Chronicle headline

sgsilva — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:46:17 +0000

UI Law professor Lea VanderVelde had a problem. She wanted students to dig into a topic not covered in standard law textbooks. A SITA team by Leighton Christiansen pulled together a vast amount of case law and worked with Prof. VanderVelde to create a wiki her students could really sink their teeth into. Read about it in the Wired Campus Newsletter from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

UI Faculty Working with Wonder of Wikis

dmlong — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:09:28 +0000

The latest issue of fyi features an article about the work of the Student Instructional Technology Assistants (SITAs). The SITA group is part of the Campus Technology Services department in ITS. Student Instructional Technology Assistants are innovative problem solvers who help faculty use technology to enhance the student learning experience.

Click here to read the fyi article.

The story in fyi focuses on wikis, which are easily editable collaborative web spaces. The article points out the many pedagogical uses of wikis, as well as projects ITS has undertaken to deploy them in UI courses. The piece focuses on how wikis can fit in with other social networking strategies in instruction. ITS launched its wiki service about a year ago.

Check out the UI wiki service to learn more. In addition, the SITAs have developed – what else? – a wiki space with information on how this technology can be used. The SITA program also provides one-on-one training and support to instructors who would like to develop a wiki for course use. More information on the SITA Program is available at http://its.uiowa.edu/sita.