Instructional Technology Support
About Teaching with Technology
About the DWU Virtual Learning Environment (e.g., Online Learning)
About the DWU Physical Learning Environment (e.g., Classrooms)
About Equipment Services

These questions are asked by a hypothetical faculty member.

Instructional Technology Support

Does DWU have an office where I can get help with instructional technology?

Yes. Dakota Wesleyan’s Title III grant has funded a position for an Instructional Technology Specialist (ITS) for this specific purpose. The ITS is here to help you use technology effectively in your teaching – to help you solve instructional problems, develop online courses and learning materials, and help you learn how to use the technology resources available to you. His office is listed as “Instructional Technology” in the DWU directory.

Our Instructional Technology Specialist is Dr. Mike Albright. His office is in Smith 404, and his door is almost always open. Or contact Mike at 995-2638 or mialbrig@dwu.edu. Feel free to talk with him at any time.

Does he know anything about this stuff?

A little. Mike has been in this business for over 30 years. He is a recovering former university administrator who finally realized that working as a consultant with faculty was his calling, rather than cutting budgets and fighting fires. He served as director of campuswide academic technology centers at Augustana College, the University of South Dakota, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and California State University, Monterey Bay. Mike also spent 12 years at Iowa State University, in the same kind of faculty technology consultant role that he fills here. He has extensive experience in instructional development, faculty technology training, and online learning, and is co-author of a best-selling book on distance education.

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About Teaching with Technology

Why would I as a faculty member ever want to teach with technology? I've heard about all that "no significant differences" research.

The professor is referring to the conclusions of many research studies that show no significant differences between using technology and not using technology to teach the same content. The fatal flaw in most of those studies is that the researchers compared learning on tasks that COULD be taught both with and without technology. Technology allows you to enhance learning in ways that are difficult or impossible without technology, such as allowing your students to visit Neptune or witness cell division or converse in real time with a scholar in Australia. You don't find learning tasks like these used in comparison studies.

Everyone knows that conventional classroom media are dead and that computer-based technologies are the future of education. Why does the Title III grant have funds for building more "technology-enhanced" classrooms?

Conventional classroom technologies won't be dead until the lecture as a form of teaching is dead. The last we checked, DWU classrooms were still full of faculty teaching and students taking notes. Conventional classroom media are still valuable for allowing students to share simultaneous learning experiences and permitting faculty to integrate these technologies into their lectures and engage the entire class in discussion of the materials viewed. Wireless technologies ultimately will enable Dakota Wesleyan faculty to extend the classroom throughout the campus, but physical classrooms will be with us for quite a while.

Why are the "new" technologies so effective?

Good question! The old technologies (e.g., overhead, slide, film projectors) were used by the instructor, with the “media” integrated into lectures, unless students experienced these media independently in a learning resources center, for example in the library. The new computer-based technologies are more personal and individualized, because they provide "hands on" learning experiences and are often available on an "anytime, anywhere" basis. They are ideally suited for use in a learner-centered instructional environment because they so strongly promote active learning, collaboration, mastery of course material, and student control over the learning process.

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About the DWU Virtual Learning Environment (e.g., Online Learning)

Does Dakota Wesleyan have a course management system?

Yes! As of Fall 2004, we have the Jenzabar course management system in place (which we call TigerNet) and ready for faculty to use in online learning activities. This is not a trial with another campus or a product hosted on someone else’s server. It sits on one of DWU’s own servers and is integrated with the Jenzabar administrative systems. It is supported by our own staff. We anticipate having this system in place for quite a while.

Just exactly what does a course management system do?

Essentially what a CMS does is allow you to move elements of your face-to-face class online, or the whole course if you wish. For example, TigerNet allows you to post your syllabus, announcements, course calendar, handouts, lecture notes, images, assignment instructions, course-related web links, quizzes, and grades on your course web site, as well as conduct discussions and group activities online.
Why would you want to do this? For several reasons:

1. Course materials are available to your students on an anytime, anywhere basis. They are always there, even if paper handouts are lost.
2. You can provide archival access to materials and information presented during lecture, such as photographic slides and PowerPoint presentations. This can be a great help to students for review purposes.
3. You can make a wide range of additional, content-related resources available to students for use in assignments and discussion preparation, for example other web sites.
4. Course activities such as discussions can be conducted outside the classroom, allowing students to participate anytime, from anywhere. Online discussions also enable students to

Faculty who are skilled in teaching online often transform their courses to take advantage of the enormous power of the Internet in facilitating learning. These professors “think out of the box” of traditional classroom teaching and use the web to engage students intellectually with the course content and each other, promoting learning at the higher cognitive levels. See the Teaching Online section of this web site for examples and guidance.

Sounds good. How can I get set up with a course on TigerNet?

If the course is in the official list of classes, and if you are identified as the course instructor, the course shell will be automatically created for you and should appear in your list of courses on your home page when you log into TigerNet. If it isn’t, contact the Registrar’s Office at 995-2642.

Can I get help putting my course online?

Sure. That is one of Mike Albright’s primary responsibilities. Call him.

Does DWU provide other support for faculty related to online learning?

Absolutely. First of all, Mike offers professional development opportunities to help faculty learn to teach online effectively and, specifically, to use the many tools in TigerNet. He offers online course design consultation to faculty, related to either part of your course or the entire course. In other words, he can help you think through the powerful learning experiences the web can provide for your students. With limits, he can also help you develop “learning objects”, or digital media, that can be embedded in your web course.

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About the DWU Physical Learning Environment (e.g., Classrooms)

What is a "technology-equipped" classroom?

A "technology-equipped" classroom, also called a "smart" classroom, is one that has been equipped with a permanently-installed projection system, VCR, and an instructor workstation with a computer and full network access. Cables for laptop connection are also provided in some classrooms. Here at Dakota Wesleyan, we currently have 10 technology-equipped classrooms and continue to build more through the Title III grant. See the Media Services technology-enhanced classrooms web pages for detailed information about each of these rooms.

Most of the other campus classrooms have an overhead projector and VCR and monitor permanently installed.

I've been assigned to teach in a technology-enhanced classroom, but I don't have a clue how to use that stuff. How can I get help?

Call Rod Brown, the Media Services technician, at x2685, or e-mail him at robrown@dwu.edu. Rod will be happy to meet with you in the classroom and go over the equipment with you, one-to-one.

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About Equipment Services

I need to show some 35mm slides in my class next week. Is there a slide projector available somewhere?

Yes. The McGovern Library Circulation Desk maintains a collection of audiovisual equipment that may be checked out on a short-term basis by DWU faculty. Some equipment is also available for student checkout. This inventory includes digital still and video cameras, laptop computers, multimedia projectors, overhead and slide projectors, TV/VCR units, DVD players, and a boombox/portable stereo. To reserve an item, fill out a blue “AV Equipment Reserve” form at the Library Circulation Desk, or contact Judy Lehi at x2894 or julehi@dwu.edu. Equipment can also be scheduled for classroom delivery and pick-up.