Instructional Technology Fellows Best Practices Meeting

From ETS

There is the potential to hold a best practices meeting on the Friday before the symposium with representatives of the Macauley Honors College (CUNY). The purpose of the meeting would be to learn more about their Instructional Technology Fellows (ITF) program with an eye on improving the TLA program. The ITS program is similar to our TLA program in the sense that both programs team up technologically savvy students with faculty who are interested in learning new skills.

Here is a list of some of the similarities between the programs:

• ITFs assist students and faculty alike to understand and take advantage of the appropriate use of technology to support and enhance their academic work. (TLAs work with faculty.)

• The ITFs are doctoral students. (TLAs can be undergraduate or graduate students)

• ITFs hold regular office hours, offer workshops at the local honors program office, and visit the Seminar classrooms. As part of Macaulay's virtual cross-campus honors community, they are also available via email to answer questions and provide technology tips to University Scholars.(TLAs meet with faculty in one-to-one consultations. Meetings generally occur at the instructor's office. This could be one time meeting or there could be several meetings over the course of a semester. TLAs also communicate with faculty via email and phone but do not function like a help desk support model.)

• ITFs are discipline specific in such fields as history, sociology, anthropology, and art history—who also have teaching experience and expertise in instructional technology. (TLAs are also recruited from all colleges however are heavily represented by IST and INSYS.)

• One of the major differences between the programs is funding. The ITF program is funded while the TLA program is not. TLAs take a 1 to 3 credit consulting course and there is the potential to work for wage depending on performance and demand.

• The other major difference is in the focus. ITS work specifically with faculty in the honors college while TLAs work with faculty across University Park.

Partnering Opportunity for ETS and the Schreyer Honors College

ETS has the opportunity to partner with the Schreyer Honors College to pilot a TLA position similar to an ITF. This could be a funded position for a student in the honors college whose focus would be to work with several honors college instructors on implementing a specific ETS initiative (possibly blogs as e-portfolio or something with podcasting, re what Steve Brady did with his students in the supply chain management course). If the pilot proves successful there is the possibility of submitting a proposal to the dean of the graduate school to solicit funding for a graduate fellowship position. Since this position would work across disciplines funding may be available from among the various colleges.