Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
The UNC Teaching and Learning with Technology Collaborative
|
By: Sallie Ives, Ray Purdom |
Abstract
This presentation examines collaborative stragtegies that have been initiated by the sixteen campuses of the University of North Carolina to enhance teaching and learning, in general, and to effectively integrate technology into that process. The presentation includes an overview/demonstration of the strategies, including the UNC TLT Professional Development Portal, followed by an exchange of ideas about other collaborative strategies, both within an institution and across institutional boundaries.
Description
The increasing complexity of teaching and learning in higher education has led to new thinking about how collaboration and cooperation might enhance that process. Within a given institution we may see alternative strategies, such as the creation of what Steve Gilbert has called TLTC(V) or Virtual Teaching and Learning with Technology Centers, or the actual reorganization of support units into service units that support teaching, learning and technology (http://www.tltgroup.org/). One of the assumptions of this strategy is that there are such units in place in the institution, and the key task is to get those units to collaborate, or to contribute to connected learning.But what happens when those units do not exist or are under-funded and under-staffed for the level of demands that are being placed upon them? Even in the best of circumstances there is a need for connection and collaboration with other institutions to share successful practices, challenges and strategies for the future.Because of these circumstances, a series of formal and informal strategies for connection/collaboration/cooperation to enhance teaching and learning and teaching and learning with technology, are unfolding throughout a large public university system. The participating campuses vary significantly in their size, role within the state system, historical circumstances, and funding levels, especially in support of teaching and learning. In spite of these differences, the 16 campuses have found ways to interface with each other in many ways. The formal strategies include the following types of activities: development of system-wide associations for collaboration in teaching and learning, and teaching and learning with technology; development of a dynamic “smart” portal; system-wide funding of symposia and workshops on topics of interest to multiple campuses and multiple service units within the campuses; small collaborative instructional grant programs; and the negotiation and payment of licensing agreements for programs like the AAHE TLT Group Roundtable and Flashlight Programs, for campuses that could not afford them. The informal activities include an exchange of expertise to teach workshops at sister institutions; and the exchange of job descriptions, strategic plans and reports. Most of these strategies require the participants to step beyond the boundaries within which they typically operate. Many of the activities require that teams of individuals from each institution include directors of teaching centers, librarians, instructional technologists, administrators and faculty members. The workshops are about topics of mutual concern but the emphasis is in understanding the perspective of the other service units, and in bringing those perspectives into a problem-solving context. Minority-dominated institutions share their insights, successes, and concerns with predominantly Caucasian institutions. This presentation begins with an overview/demonstration of several of the collaborative strategies, followed by an exchange of ideas among the session participants about other collaborative strategies, both within an institution and across institutional boundaries. The results of the discussion will be posted on the system-wide portal (described in the presentation) to stimulate further discussion beyond the attendees of the Conference.