University Business - August 2006 - (Page 43)

has to carry the flag, he observed. Lastly, GCSU has created a new kind of learning community on cam- pus a virtual one that allows students to bond with each other without having to live in the same residence hall. This group of students meets face-to-face every week for lunch. Gi v e n that the program is now four years old, there are elements that are being tweaked and fine-tuned, ex- plained Wolfgang. GCSU began its Top left: Attendees appreciated the network- program by giving an iPod to each of ing opportunities offered at EduComm 2006 the IHE's 5,000 students. But there are as a way to meet and share notes with their separate schools and courses that have peers from institutions across the nation and also provided iPods to students, which from other countries. Bottom left, above: Session presentations often mixed humorous means that some students on campus moments with more serious content. have more than one device. GCSU may what the needs were, he said. switch to a model where students rent the devices are given only to His first step was issuing an RFP to the faculty. We asked them students at a certain level of study. about the challenges they would like to meet and how iPods could help. The request was answered with some specific programming Captured ideas. One professor produced podcasts for foreign language stu- Classroom capture was a session buzz topic, with presentations dents who traveled abroad. He knew that students who travel to from vendors such as Sonic Foundry, Tegrity, and Anystream. The other places struggle to absorb all the new information about other ability to record classroom presentations has come a long way since histories and societies. While traveling they can listen to foreign lan- the days when an AV technician was required to operate the re- guage lessons, literature, and historic information on their iPods, so cording equipment. Now, automated systems can start and end at lectures and tours can be used to focus on other information. preset times, as well as sense the presenter's location as he or she Wolfgang showed a graphic of students using iPods while tour- moves through the room. Its use in distance learning was discussed, ing outside the United States. One student listened to podcasts as well as its value for student review and teacher evaluation. of Irish poetry while walking the Celtic countryside. This brings Presenters from Temple University Pa. showed how Anys- relevance to what is being taught, he said. tream's Apreso Classroom system has made recording and distribut- Back at home, students listen to professors' podcasts before com- ing classroom content quick and easy, with automated delivery to ing to class, so that time with other students can be spent engaged the school's Blackboard system, e-mail, and FTP within one minute in in-depth discussion. Students even upload podcast presentations of end time. Technology-friendly Temple signed on as part of the and send them to each other before class, Wolfgang explained. Apreso pilot program two years ago and now counts on it as a widely Wolfgang added that good buzz about the program helped to used teaching tool, capturing nearly 1,700 hours of class material build excitement and encourage people to use the new technology. this year. In fact, Temple's Fox School of Business and Management It helped that David Letterman learned about the program when it now mandates TUCapture, as it is known, for all classes. launched in 2002 and included some gag material and jokes about Temple has surveyed more than 10,000 students from more it in his Late Show monologue. than 120 courses regarding satisfaction, relevance, and efficacy of Next, Wolfgang and other IT leaders created what they call a the capture system. The results were impressive: 80 percent be- community of iDreamers. These are the faculty and staff members lieved that TUCapture improved student learning, while 70 per- who talk regularly about new capabilities and possible productions. cent said it improved classroom teaching. A third of the students The iThinkers group is made up of executives who are aware of the said they got higher grades because of the capture system. technology. Since excitement for new programs often comes from the top, it is important that this group embrace the technology. Go to www2.universitybusiness.com/educomm to hear replays of You have to create a positive environment on campus. Someone many of the EduComm 2006 sessions. universitybusiness.com August 2006 | 43 Educomm.indd Educomm.indd 43 7/24/06 1:07:17 PM http://www2.universitybusiness.com/educomm http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - August 2006

Contents
College Index
Advisory Board
Company Index
Editor's Note
People Watch
Sense of Place
Stats Watch
Viewpoint
Financial Aid
On the Hill
Admissions
Future Shock
An Education in AV Technology
Retention Intentions
Endowment Management
Good Data In, Good Data Out
Sticking with the Tried & True
Home, Sweet Home
Faculty Issues in Online Education
Internet Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - August 2006