Faculty Build Teaching Enhancement Tools during FITS Summer Workshop 2005
Emily Frame, FITS Graduate Intern; Carol Smith, Associate CIO of Library & Information Services

Last June faculty and staff members from DePauw, Goshen College, the Midwest Instructional Technology Center, Rose-Hulman, and the University of Indianapolis convened on campus for the seventh annual FITS Summer Workshop. The workshop provided an opportunity for faculty participants to spend an entire week working with FITS instructional technologists and student staff members to develop their own ideas and hone their skills for enhancing their classes with technology

Representatives from seven academic departments worked on a variety of projects, including developing professional, curricular, or departmental websites using DreamWeaver; constructing charts and graphs for economics courses using Flash or DyKnow; and using Geographic Information Systems to teach hydrogeology.

Faculty Perspective: FITS Summer Workshop 2005
Sherry J. Mou, Ph. D., Department of Modern Languages & Asian Studies
In many of my culture and literature classes, one challenge is to make students understand that China has changed as a political entity over the centuries. While the concept is simple, students do not always grasp the political and economical implications that came with (or resulted in) the changing borders. My project is to learn GIS so that I can use it to show students the changing borders of dynasties throughout history. Beth Wilkerson taught me all I needed to know about GIS for my purpose, and Scott Parsons and K ristina Bradley helped me gather information and transform it into GIS files. These were solid work days from 8:30 or 9 in the morning to 4 or 5 in the afternoon. Some days, Beth even worked into her nights. How else could she greet me in the morning with progress beyond the end of the previous day?

The part I enjoyed most, however, was learning more about what other colleagues were doing. From using blogs in teaching students the effects of communication (Dave Worthington), to creating a web-based case study tool for student research (Pat Sellers), to using the interactive Dyknow in classroom (Kerry Pannell), to the introduction of some basic ergonomic and safety concerns (Doug Cox and Ruth Myers), I was introduced to a new array of useful ideas.

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Who Is Instructional & Learning Services?
Carol Smith, Associate CIO for Instructional & Learning Services

For those of you who are new to DePauw,
Instructional and Learning Services (I.L.S.), a division of Library and Information Services, provides support for faculty members, students, and staff members to explore ways that instructional & information technology can support a learner-centered environment. Programs that make up I.L.S. include:

• Faculty Instructional Technology Support (FITS)
• Student Technology Assessment, Resources and Training (START)
• The music instructional technology center (mitc)
• Technical training
• The digital media lab (dml)
• The GIS Center
• The Special Projects Team
• And we also work closely with the Instructional Librarians and the Faculty Development Coordinator.

Recent FITS, START and GIS Center Staff Changes:
Mike Whitesell, former START coordinator, is now the coordinator of FITS. Meanwhile, Julianne Miranda has returned to spending more time in the classroom. Julianne coordinates the MITC programs and still works closely with FITS, but she now has time to teach more classes in her current role.

Alicia (Clapp) Louden, former FITS graduate intern, earned her M.S. in instructional systems technology at Indiana University in August and recently was appointed as the new START coordinator.

Emily Frame joined us as a FITS graduate intern associate in May. Before graduating this spring from DePauw, Emily worked as an ITAP intern in MITC for three years. She has been accepted into the Music Technology Masters program at IUPUI and began classes there this fall while continuing to work for the University.

Beth Wilkerson, FITS Geographic Information Systems specialist, has stepped up to a full-time position, and Kristina Bradley (’05) is working with her this year as a Fifth-Year intern in the GIS Center. Beth had been working part-time for the Collaboratory for GIS and Mediterranean Archaeology (CGMA) project and DePauw’s GIS Center for the past two years. This recent change in her role enables her to provide expanded hours and support for faculty and students using this technology.

Key Fall Program Initiatives:
Among the several projects we have underway in Instructional and Learning Services, we’re especially focused this fall on four areas: Providing support for students with their laptops; working with faculty members to explore and share ways they can meaningfully integrate student laptops into classes; informing the campus community about key elements related to healthy computing; and putting together a series of instructional technology-related symposia and faculty showcases for instructors.

FITS and the I.L.S. crew are looking forward to the coming academic year and working with our faculty colleagues. Please stop by our offices any time to meet the staff, discuss your ideas for teaching with technology, or share your experiences with us.

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START Program Offers Support for Students & Faculty
Emily Frame, FITS Graduate Intern, and Mike Whitesell, Coordinator of FITS

Think of it as the Q, W, or S center with a twist of technology. The START program is a resource you and your students can utilize to keep up with the fast changing nature of technology inside and outside of the classroom. T he Student Technology Assessment, Resources & Training (START) Program addresses the learning needs of all DePauw students by providing them with opportunities to enhance their liberal arts education with information technology knowledge and skills.

START offers three main threads of service to the DePauw community; individualized training, customized course-specific training, and standardized campus-wide training. Group workshops, self-paced Web-based courses, and one-on-one consultation are available to all students.

Customized training is an option that more and more faculty members are favoring when asking their students to regularly use technology tools or complete technology-based projects. A team of full-time staff and highly trained students will work closely with faculty members to design in-class or evening workshops to meet the specific needs of their courses and their students. Early training opportunities, when well integrated with a course that uses technologies such as Web authoring, PowerPoint, or DyKnow, can enhance the students’ learning experience by enabling effective use of the tools while keeping the primary focus on course content.

START collaborates with other members of Instructional and Learning Services within 361°, including FITS (Faculty Instructional Technology Support), mitc ( Music Instructional Technology Center), dml (Digital Media Lab), and PCCM ( Pulliam Center for Contemporary Media). This close collaboration enables START to provide training in digital audio, digital video, desktop publishing, and multimedia production. Training is available for both PC and Macintosh platforms.

If you have questions about the START program or would like to explore the ways in which START can support your students and enhance your teaching, contact Alicia (Clapp) Louden, Coordinator of START, at alouden@depauw.edu or at x1093. For more information visit the START Web site at http://www.depauw.edu/it/start.

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Biography: David is a Certified Technical Trainer and Microsoft Office Specialist. He provides practical technical support to the campus community for commonly-used software applications through classroom training workshops as well as one-on-one consulting. He has over 20 years of experience in the IT and publishing fields working for companies such as Compaq Computer and Macmillan Publishing. He enjoys watching football and movies, and hanging out with his wife and three sons.

Dave Diedriech, Technical Training Coordinator

Areas of Expertise: Microsoft Office Suite, Blackboard, GroupWise, and web authoring tools.

Fun Fact: David is also a dedicated blood donor working towards earning his 11 Gallon pin.

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