Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Building Confidence in Faculty Technology Mentors
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By: Rich Ranker |
Abstract
East Tennessee State University developed a program that helps develop technology mentors from faculty with limited technology skills but a desire to help. The presentation describes the technology development Plan at the foundation, the curriculum for the program, and how a web-based self-assessment survey was used to assess progress of the cohort in relation to the Plan and how it was used to shape the curriculum. Finally it discusses how this approach might be adopted by other campuses.
Description
This presentation describes a process used at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) to build a cohort of faculty instructional technology mentors. It summarizes the interplay between the Faculty Technology Professional Development Plan's "core technology competencies," the Faculty Technology Leadership curriculum, and the self-reported confidence of faculty.
The IT Strategic Plan at ETSU included a strategy to develop a plan for training of faculty on instructional technology. The draft plan, formally called the Faculty Technology Professional Development Plan, was floated through numerous faculty committees and after 14 months and 43 iterations, was approved by the Faculty Senate and Academic Council. The Plan included a "Core Technology Competencies" chart describing what technology skills are precursors to the more advanced instructional technology tracks, which are described later in the Plan. Our observation is that these core competencies are the basis for developing personal technical confidence.
Recognizing the research by Rogers (1995) as incorporated into AAHE's Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtables, ETSU wanted to build a cadre of faculty technology mentors within their disciplines. The idea was to ford the chasm between the early adopters and the early majority by placing technology mentors within the disciplines. The FTL program was designed to take faculty with minimal technology skills and help build their technology skills, perspective, and confidence. It consisted of two sequential 3-credit graduate courses. The curriculum had three major objectives: competence in the core technology skills, skill in developing and delivering web-based courses, and multimedia classroom certification. Four surveys of faculty confidence in their ability to satisfy the core competencies were taken.
The same survey on the core technology competencies was administered four different times throughout the year. Administered using Blackboard, the survey collected faculty self-reported confidence in their ability to perform basic technology skills. Each time the survey was administered it was used in two different ways. First, the average results were discussed with the students, who were encouraged to take personal responsibility in achieving competence in the skills. Second, the instructional team used the collected data to shape the curriculum. For example, if the data indicated a particular skill was lacking, a workshop would be included in the curriculum to increase student competence and confidence in that skill. The data from the four surveys increased steadily; the average confidence level reported on the four iterations went from 3.6 to 4.0 to 4.3 to 4.6.
Finally, the presentation describes how this same approach might be used at other institutions.