Departmental Transformations
1) Hold workshops for faculty members to discuss and learn how new technologies are being used in their disciplines and in their classrooms.
2) Make available support people that offer more than pure technical help. Hardware, software, and other technical help is important, but also provide discipline based support for integrating technology into the classroom.
3) Start a technology center in the department responsible for consulting, teaching, and gathering the best resources in that discipline. Recognize those in a department who are using technology in their scholarship or the classroom.
4) Lobby for computer labs and classrooms equipped with hardware and software suited to the materials taught in your discipline.
5) Integrate technology and technological projects into department requirements for students.
6) Develop courses that train students and have internship components that have students working with faculty members on web projects.
Institutional Transformations
1) Invest in peopleware as well as hardware. Too often institutions spend their funds on buying equipment but not on developing the expertise to use it and use it well in the classroom and for scholarship.
2) Provide user-friendly support, both technical support and implementation support. Help students compose with technology instead of simply learning to use it. Help teachers teach with technology instead of simply learning it.
3) Create a culture of technology. The institution (colleges and departments) should use technology for day-to-day business and communications.
4) Set up physical technology that lends itself well to teaching and learning with technology. Let the instructors who will use the computer labs design the labs. Design computer labs that lend themselves to discussion and group work. Design regular classrooms that allow technology to be used (internet connections and projectors).
5) Give both faculty members and students free access to the Internet (on and off campus). Allow them space to publish web pages.
6) Build creative computing centers to help with technology and course design. If possible, create discipline specific computer labs that have hardware, software, and an environment suited for teaching with technology in that discipline.
7) Hire people who are experts in both technology and teaching. Computer experts are important for designing and maintaining your computer system, but they may not be the best at helping people use technology in specific disciplines, teaching people how to use technology, or developing online learning resources. That is, make available support people who offer more than technical help. Hardware, software, and other technical help is important, but, more important, is providing discipline based support for integrating technology into the classroom.
8) Support faculty workshops. Infrequent short sessions are of little value. Develop intensive, extended workshops that reward faculty members for attending.
9) Encourage peer tutoring. Students often are the best teachers of other students. Augment your current writing center (or create a digital writing center) so that it has online writing consultants (students) who can help other students with their online projects.
10) Develop classroom presentations on web publishing and Internet research. These presentations can be great for faculty members who would like to allow students to do online projects but who do not want to learn the technology.
11) Provide venues for faculty members, students and staff to share their expertise and online projects. Use peer groups to support training.
12) Create campus wide workshops and seminars for students, staff, and faculty. These should address basic needs: building web pages, using email, scanning and digitizing materials.
13) Support workshops for faculty members to discuss and learn how new technologies are being used in their disciplines and in their classrooms. Support a speaker series that brings in people who have developed online resources and used technology in their classrooms.
14) Recognize those who use technology in their teaching and have them model their practices for other faculty members. Recognize and reward teachers who use technology since it does take extra time and effort.
15) Support special projects by giving select faculty members the time and resources to work on extended projects. Focus on content rich projects and avoid those that simply warehouse links.
16) Help make students critical and not passive users of technology especially within their disciplines. Help faculty members become technology experts in their discipline so they may also help to make students more critical consumers and users of technology. Build convention awareness.
17) Start a technology center (or group) in each department responsible for consulting, teaching, and gathering the best resources in that discipline.
18) Integrate technology and online projects into degree requirements and required courses.
19) Develop courses that train students within disciplines to use information technologies. These courses should have internship components that require students to work with faculty members to create online learning resources.
20) Create Computer labs available to both students and faculty members. The labs should be staffed with support help and be open as many hours as possible. Create labs that have various kinds of technology and software to support a wide range of use.
21) Support a variety of platforms.
22) Avoid adopting courseware for the whole institution. Allow users to decide what will work best in their discipline. Despite the promises of salespeople, when it comes to information technologies and online course design, one size never fits all.
23) Emphasize technology as a crucial literacy for students to attain during their academic careers.
24) Do not expect technology to allow for increased student loads. Technology can lower costs of maintaining physical space (classes can be held in virtual classrooms), but using technology requires more of the instructor's time as he/she meets the needs of individual students. Thus distance courses should have fewer students than f-2-f courses.
25) Support graduate student training. Training in technology can help them on the job market and institutions have found that the best way to train faculty is through their students (students will often help faculty member to create resources).
26) Revise merit pay and tenure requirements to recognize work with technology both in the classroom and through online publication.