Goal 3

Goal III. Create a technology-assisted learning environment faculty and students can use with ease, and promote greater user self-sufficiency

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In partnership with faculty and staff from the Provost's Office, the University Library, and academic and administrative offices across the Grounds, ITC works continuously to develop new programs that simplify the academic computing activities of students and faculty. Various programs and services are offered that encourage the creation of instructional technologies. Well-equipped and -supported classrooms and laboratories provide a technical foundation for the effective integration of IT in teaching and learning. Faculty-development programs such as the Teaching + Technology Initiative/Support Partners program foster the vision of faculty members for using technology to deepen student learning. Use of the Web-based course management program, the Instructional Toolkit, has become nearly universal. Underpinning academic computing activities are technical training programs, offered through several offices across the Grounds, that are responsive and timely.

Instructional Toolkit

The ITC-created Instructional Toolkit, the University's comprehensive course management program, was introduced in 1996 and its use is now nearly universal. The Web-based system provides instructors a streamlined way to handle course administration and deliver information to students. In spring 2006, the Toolkit was used by roughly 5,500 courses on Grounds - more than 90 percent of all courses offered at U.Va. The Toolkit is designed for easy use by faculty with basic IT skills, and ITC offers 30 minute and two-hour training sessions to assist instructors in creating course homepages and using its features. The system is used not only to create basic course homepages, but also to order textbooks from the U.Va. Bookstore, create class e-mail lists, distribute syllabi and homework assignments, and submit final grades. Faculty also use the Toolkit to distribute materials such as announcements, reading assignments, and lecture slides electronically to students. Students can use the Toolkit to access electronic resources maintained by the Registrar's Office and the Library, among other offices.

ITC staff work continuously to improve the Toolkit's functionality and ease of use, and three significant enhancements were implemented in spring 2006. One of the changes is the elimination of the display of students' Social Security Numbers. Individual students now are identified instead by their U.Va. computing IDs. Another change provides increased security for course materials that is designed to bolster protection of copyrighted materials. These course materials now are automatically restricted to users who log in with a U.Va. computing ID and password. Faculty members may change these controls either to further restrict them only to members of their class rolls or to open them up to outside visitors through the use of a class password. Finally, the Toolkit now takes advantage of the single NetBadge login authentication process, bringing the system into compliance with this emerging standard at U.Va.

Online Course Evaluation System and Selection Guide

Since their introduction, the ATG-developed Electronic Course Evaluation System and Online Course Selection Guide have gained a strong foothold in use among faculty and students. The course evaluation system was created by ITC in spring 2003 after being identified as a high priority by the Academic Computing Advisory Committee and being requested by students as integral to the production of an Online Course Selection Guide. In May 2006, more than 52,000 course evaluations were submitted using the electronic system, up from 46,000 course evaluations completed during the previous May.

Composite data from the evaluations are compiled by ITC staff and published in the Online Course Selection Guide, which was fully implemented during 2004-05. Six of the seven evaluation questions, used in evaluating all University courses, whether completed online or on paper, comprise entries for the Course Selection Guide. Questions cover such matters as instructor effectiveness, amount of work demanded by the class, and how much responding students learned. Deans and instructors may augment the standard evaluation questions with their own customized questions. The Course Selection Guide is accessed electronically from the Course Offering Directory. In May 2006, more than 1,450 courses met the 65 percent response rate criteria for inclusion in the Course Selection Guide, an increase over the previous May's 1,130 courses.

Course Offering Directory

In existence for many years, the University's electronic Course Offering Directory (COD) provides course listings and descriptions, and links to hundreds of course Web sites. The application enables students and their faculty advisors to view syllabi, lecture materials, course prerequisites, and other information that assists with course enrollment decisions. Directory entries can be viewed by school and department listings, and the course descriptions can be searched by key words and phrases. The COD provides daily updates of course enrollment figures, and it links to the Online Course Selection Guide.

Teaching + Technology Initiative/Support Partners

The University's Teaching + Technology Initiative/Support Partners (TTI/SP) program began eleven years ago with the purpose of enriching undergraduate education through the meaningful incorporation of information technology into the curriculum. Through the years, TTI faculty fellows have enhanced dozens of courses with the program's hardware, software, and technical help from ITC's instructional technologists. TTI has changed along with faculty needs, with the introduction several years ago of the Support Partners component. Support Partners are graduate students - selected for their technology skills and their strong understanding of particular academic disciplines - who provide hands-on assistance to faculty in creating instructional applications. The TTI program continues to evolve. For 2006-07, one faculty fellowship has been awarded for the development and use of Sakai collaboration tools. Remaining program funds will be used to create a generic tool set for Web-based classroom support technologies. The program is sponsored jointly by the Office of the Vice President and Provost and the Office of the Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

Digital Media Lab of the Robertson Media Center

A partnership between ITC and the University Library, the Digital Media Lab of the Robertson Media Center offers equipment and technical support for students and faculty in the digitization and editing of images, sound, and video. Staff offer tutorials and short courses for individuals and classes, assist faculty in preparing electronic course materials, and provide project planning and consulting services. During 2005-06, staff offered short courses, lasting between one and four hours, on working with specific software applications for animation and modeling, creating interactive user interfaces, image scanning and editing, and making videos. Equipment available for use in the lab includes audio and video capturing and editing stations, animation and 3-D imaging workstations, music-creation workstations, and digital video cameras that are available for loan. The lab's machines are networked to enable users to access their files from the Home Directory and other remote accounts. The Digital Media Lab was created six years ago, and it is located in Clemons Library.

Servers for Faculty Use

ITC maintains numerous servers for faculty use in instruction and research. These servers supplement U.Va.'s general-purpose website server, www.people.virginia.edu, which includes a mixture of personal and professional content for faculty, students, and staff. Faculty are offered free disk space for posting teaching and research materials on the faculty.virginia.edu server. They may determine the URLs for their Web sites, and ITC redirects the URLs to go to new Web sites if instructors move to other institutions. Faculty also may use a server dedicated to courses, a streaming video server, and two database servers. The courses server provides faculty with free disk space for instructional projects. Created several years ago to tape and stream video for live events, the streaming video server is now available for faculty and staff use. ITC supports a Windows development server and a Windows-based Web server for instructional content delivery, research, and departmental projects. Faculty are allocated a certain amount of free disk space, with additional space available for purchase. The University also maintains servers for the use of student and independent organizations.

Technology-enhanced Classrooms

Staff in ITC's classrooms support area continued the expansion and upgrade of U.Va.'s digitally equipped classrooms. As of summer 2006, the University has 84 wired classrooms and auditoria that are centrally scheduled and fully supported by ITC's technicians. Thirteen new technology-enhanced classrooms were added during 2005-06, including the installation of equipment in classrooms in Cabell and Bryan halls and renovations in several classrooms in Fayerweather, Cocke, and Thornton halls. During the past year, eight new IT-equipped classrooms were created, and several classrooms were upgraded with new equipment. Major equipment renovation and upgrades were completed in the Wilson 402 auditorium and Wilson 301. Videoconferencing capabilities were added, along with multi-graphics processing with dual projection capabilities. Some 80 computers and 15 projectors were replaced where needed across the Grounds, among other improvements.

To create and enhance these digitally equipped classrooms, ITC staff collaborate with persons from the Provost's Office and other offices. ITC staff provide ongoing technical support for setting up equipment, troubleshooting problems, and assisting in learning use of the equipment. During 2005-06, seven wage technical-support positions were converted into part-time classified positions using existing funding.

Public-access Laboratories

During 2005-06, staff in ITC's Public Computing Labs Group extended the University's new "shared services" program in Alderman, Clemons, and Brown Science and Engineering libraries. The program, described in detail below under "Mobile Computing Support," pairs ITC technical support staff with the libraries' information desk staff.

Another project that ITC staff implemented in conjunction with library staff and Local Support Partners (LSPs) during the year is the "unified build" project. Piloted in fall 2005, the unified build simplifies computer use for students and others by putting an identical computer image in the libraries' public areas and in ITC labs and classrooms. The program began in Clemons Library and was extended to the other libraries in January. To accomplish the common software build, ITC staff added library-requested software to the regular ITC build. ITC staff also worked with library IT personnel and LSPs to assure the smooth deployment of ITC's build to some 300 of their public computers. Additional deployments continue, with ITC staff working with Athletics Department staff to implement the unified build in the new John Paul Jones Arena computing lab.

The labs group continued its long-term collaboration with staff from academic and physical plant offices to renovate and upgrade public computing labs. Renovations include such things as new furniture, carpet, and paint, as well as updated hardware and software and other technical enhancements. During 2005-06, staff upgraded computer labs in the Brown Science and Engineering Library, Chemistry 411 and Ruffner Hall with a total of 62 new Dell computers. A handful of Macintosh computers also were upgraded in the Ruffner Hall and Bryan Hall 235 labs. Scanning stations in each of the ITC labs were upgraded with Dell 360 precision workstations and new HP scanners. Each workstation is equipped with Adobe Macromedia Suite software. ITC's installation and repair team has assisted the classroom group in analyzing and upgrading classroom switches and bandwidth requirements. They also managed ITC Training Group's project to upgrade lighting and electrical and projection equipment, as well as install Macintosh computers in the Carruthers 248 ITC training room. This training room now has the capability of using either Dell Windows machines or Macintosh computers.

Mobile Computing Support

During the past year, ITC and Library staff expanded the collaborative shared mobile support program that began in 2004. The program combines IT technical support and traditional library resources assistance to better serve the needs of students and faculty. By stationing ITC's lab consultants at the Library's information desk, they are more visible to students and others who need computing help to accomplish their work. In addition to providing regular hours of help for drop-in customers, ITC and Library staff provide hands-on help sessions for students, faculty, and staff at the beginning of fall and spring semesters. Mobile Computing Support desks are located at the Brown Science and Engineering Library, Clemons Library, and Alderman Library. A survey of more than 1,500 customers in spring 2006 demonstrated strong user satisfaction: More than 93 percent rated the service as good or excellent.

The mobile computing support model was conceived in response to changes in computer users' needs. During the past few years, increasing numbers of students have begun bringing laptop computers with them to the University. In fall 2005, roughly 92 percent of incoming students brought laptops, compared to 85 percent in 2004 and 70 percent in 2003. ITC's Computing Support Services Division encourages the use of laptops because of their usefulness in working with other students and working at locations such as the library.

Authenticated Login

ITC and the University Library also have worked together to help fortify security of the University network by jointly implementing an authenticated login process. Authenticated login, which began in fall 2004, is required for computer users in the University Library and ITC computing labs and classrooms. Computer users must log in using their computing IDs and Eservices passwords. Authenticated login makes it more difficult for persons to launch anonymous cyber attacks from within the network and enables ITC staff to trace hacking and other abuse activities that originate in the labs. To further enhance security, a computer left inactive for 14 minutes automatically logs out the user after displaying a pop-up warning message. Guest patrons of the library who are not affiliated with the University may obtain temporary user names and passwords from the library service desk.

Departmental Computing Support Program

To enhance IT planning and support across the Grounds, ITC provides a comprehensive set of programs known collectively as the Departmental Computing Support Program. The effort is led by the Computing Support Services Division and includes services that improve the IT skills of department-based technical and others and help departments succeed in IT planning. The program is guided by an advisory group whose members come from administrative offices, academic departments and schools, and Health System Computing. The Departmental Computing Support Program includes the following:

Local Support Partners Program

To hone the skills of U.Va.'s department-based computer support staff and enhance the assistance they provide, ITC's Computing Support Services Division offers the Local Support Partners (LSP) program. Through the program, some 200 technical staff are offered technical training and certification, semi-annual conferences, e-mail lists for IT problem-solving, and the use ITC-owned equipment for testing and for delivering training in their departments. A peer-support program provides new LSPs with specific information about the University's technical environment. During summer 2006, ITC offered its third-annual Summer Skills Update training series for LSPs. Also open to ITC staff, the series provides weekly short sessions on various technical topics. For its part, ITC leverages the collective knowledge of LSPs through their participation on cross-divisional project teams and their help with planning efforts. The Local Support Partners Program is guided by an elected steering committee of LSPs. The single criterion for LSP membership is that an employee's job description states that at least 50 percent of his or her time is devoted to computer support.

New Student Orientation

Each summer, ITC staff lead discussions during the University's new student orientation sessions. They participate in a University services fair and answer questions about the department's computing, phone, and television services. Staff lead sessions that describe U.Va.'s IT programs and services, as well as pertinent computing security and digital copyright issues. The importance of incoming students understanding these matters has grown, as ITC grants new students access to their U.Va. e-mail accounts in late spring after they successfully pass an online quiz about the University's policies on responsible computing and related federal and state laws. In summer 2006, ITC will begin offering separate presentations to parents and to students in order to better address their different interests and needs.

Move-in Weekend

Each year, several dozen ITC staff members assist first-year students with computing issues as they move on Grounds. Staff are divided into teams that work in the residence halls and in information booths located across the Grounds. They help students hook up personal computers to the Internet connections in their rooms and answer questions about ITC services from students and parents. The ITC-managed student Computing Advisors also help during move-in.

Computing Advisors Program

For the past several years, ITC has offered direct, peer-to-peer IT assistance for students in the residence halls through the Computing Advisors Program. Computing Advisors (CAs) are technically proficient students who live in the residence halls and provide roughly five hours of weekly computing assistance to other residents in the form of consulting and group sessions. CAs also work with ITC staff during move-in weekend to resolve students' computer set-up difficulties and complete ITC's annual student computing inventory. Advisors participate in several ITC-run technical training sessions on such topics as the U.Va. network, Mulberry, the wireless network, and Corporate Time. The Computing Advisors Program began in the first-year residence halls and has expanded to include most upper-class housing.

ITC Customer Communications and Publishing

ITC's Customer Communications & Publishing Group continues to diversify its media portfolio to inform members of the University community more effectively about ITC services. In fall 2005, the group began using podcast technology to reach student audiences, and all ITC videos are now produced in iPod versions to accommodate the fast-growing use of portable players. The group is also increasing its use of screen-capture video tools, such as Camtasia Studio, for delivery of short instructional pieces that do not translate as well to static, paper-, or Web-based documents.

The ITCWeb site maintains its role as ITC's Web window to the University and the world, with more than 30,000 pages receiving more than 1.5 million views per month. The audience is geographically widespread (more than 40 percent coming from outside Virginia) and technically savvy. The carefully designed, semantically correct markup code implemented on ITCWeb last year facilitates greater accessibility to screen readers and cell phones and makes it easier for search engines to index. The most visited ITCWeb page (other than the home page) is the How to Disable Windows Messenger Service page. The improved code structure allows for expedited design updates such as the recent visual makeover. While the refreshed design uses more cutting-edge technology, the site's content - a mix of technical information and support, software downloads, security information, and more - continues to evolve to make it easier for users to find and use what they need and to give feedback about ways to improve their ITCWeb experience.

Technical Training

Because up-to-date technical knowledge is critical to the success of students, faculty, and staff, ITC's Training Services Group provides an ever-evolving array of programs to help users gain new IT skills. The group's educational programs include one-on-one specialty classes, group classes, online videos, and annual conferences, as well as computer- and video-based training. One particularly popular program is the brief, single-session "Byte Size Seminar," which covers such topics as the creative use of Excel and using movies and sounds in PowerPoint.

Staff members deliver specially tailored programs for groups and departments, including training technical trainers and others. The group offers a summer training series for ITC staff and for department-based Local Support Partners. The free workshops cover such subjects as server-side rules, spam filters, and greylisting on the Central Mail System. They offer a series of courses leading to Web certification, providing members of the University community with the training and skills needed to create and maintain Web pages in the University environment.

Training Services staff offer several large conferences throughout the year, including those for unit-based IT support staff and those for faculty and staff. Each year, ITC co-hosts with the University Library a Faculty Technology Open House. Open to all faculty, researchers, and instructors, the day-long conference provides an opportunity for faculty to share information on IT-related projects, and enables ITC to highlight and demonstrate the technical resources that are available on Grounds. Another outreach event to faculty is the Teaching + Technology Initiative Reception, which is open to all faculty, instructors, and researchers. The reception showcases various Teaching + Technology Initiative projects in an informal discussion format. ITC also hosts an annual Office Technology Conference for all University employees, providing an introduction to new and innovative technologies and exposure to various other topics of interest.

Training programs also are delivered through ITC Broadcasting, which offers computer-based training and a videotape library, and online video training for all faculty, students, and staff. The Web-based training service is offered in partnership with U.Va.'s Human Resources Division of Training, with course content provided by the National Education Training Group. More than 2,000 interactive courses are offered on professional development, desktop applications, and information technology applications, concepts, and tools. The online service provides users with streamed training videos that can be viewed on their own computers and worked through at their own pace. Training Services' programs change as user needs change. One new program, Computing 101, is described in detail below.

Computing 101

During the past year, ITC Training Services expanded its new Computing 101 training course, making it a staple of the training offerings. Developed and first offered in 2004-05, the hands-on course targets employees with little or no computer experience. The free course includes ten hours of training during four weeks. Computing 101 had 50 attendees in 2005-06, with participants coming from such departments as Facilities Management, U.Va. Police, Housing, and Internal Medicine. Multiple requests have been made for additional sessions.

Computing 101 includes instruction in fundamental desktop computing skills, such as keyboard use, mouse operation, and basic Windows XP operation. Specialized sessions also have taught employees how to access online pay slips through the Integrated Systems Oracle applications, use Web Mail and Mulberry, and use the Internet.

Goal III Appendix

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OIT/ITC

August 2006