Office of Information Technology

• To provide the technical and pedagogical support required to maintain the advances made in integrating technologies into the research, teaching, and learning environments at UT.
• To provide the leadership and direction for keeping pace with emerging trends in local and remote provision of access to higher education.
• To provide students with skills and experiences which increase their opportunities in current and emerging professional markets.

Since 1996, the Innovative Technology Center (ITC) has provided workshops for faculty in a broad range of areas related to the development and integration of technology enhanced teaching and learning materials and methods. ITC workshops emphasize sound pedagogic principles and the importance of clear, appropriate instructional objectives, in which the technologies utilized are tools employed in the operation of equipment located in the numerous Technology Enhanced Classrooms (TEC) that have been developed around campus since 1996.

The success of the ITC in encouraging and facilitating faculty use of appropriate instructional technologies to enhance the learning experience for students at the University of Tennessee, in conjunction with the success of the TEC program in providing technology enhanced learning environments, has created what is known as a "support service crisis." The number of faculty needing assistance, and the number of locations in which they need assistance has expanded beyond the current capacity of technology support organizations.

Outside of no-cost consultation and guided development assistance, pedagogically-focused design, development, and production services for faculty and graduate teaching associates/assistants has not been able to keep pace with the growing number of faculty and instructional staff desiring to incorporate electronic materials in their classrooms and online resource sites. Budget projections do not anticipate the ability to meet escalating instructional technology service and support requirements with additional full-time professional staff.

The challenge is to meet both needs (classroom support and instructional project development) while maximizing limited resources.

There are currently more than 2350 Faculty and GTAs on the Knoxville campus, unequally distributed among some 85 buildings, of which approximately 45 have classroom facilities, and 14 have centrally supported TEC facilities. The most recent classroom survey for which we have reliable data indicated that there are approximately 340 areas designated as classrooms. In a 1998 report, the ITC advanced a goal to have 25% of campus classrooms upgraded to "Technology Enhanced Classroom-Level I or Level II." To achieve this goal, around 85 classrooms would need to meet the criteria for TEC Level I or TEC Level II classrooms. TEC Level I rooms include podium with laptop connections, projector system, Internet Access (Ethernet or Wireless), VCR, and sound system. TEC Level II rooms include all TEC Level I equipment plus DVD/CD/Laserdisk Player, document camera and SMART Board or Sympodium. Some TEC Level II rooms may also include a 35mm Slide Converter.

As a result of a classroom renovation initiative, funded by student facilities fees for the past two years, the Knoxville campus currently has 57 centrally supported TEC Level I or Level II classrooms, unequally distributed among 14 instructional buildings on the main campus. The target number of 85 TEC Level I or Level II classrooms could easily be achieved by Fall 2004, if current renovation schedules are maintained.

There is clearly a need to have an instructional technology support presence in all 14 buildings with TEC classrooms, to provide faculty with assistance in developing instructional materials, modules and websites as requested, and to provide training, support and assistance in the classrooms as required. It is also highly desirable to have an instructional technology support presence in buildings lacking TEC classroom presence, but housing substantial numbers of technology using faculty, in order to make accessible to them the assistance in developing instructional materials, modules and websites provided in the TEC building locations. While aware of the value in effectively utilizing instructional technologies in their classrooms, faculty capacity to produce is increasingly diminished by available time and resources.

The ideal student technology assistant program to meet the current needs of the UT faculty would blend elements of project-based and skill-based programs used at other universities. One or more trained, skilled and experienced undergraduate student technology assistants should be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in each building housing TEC classrooms and in academic buildings housing a substantial number of technology using faculty, regardless of whether the building has a TEC facility. The presence of student technology assistants in instructional facilities after 5 p.m. would need to be evaluated based on predicated costs vs. benefits.

Since the primary responsibility of Student Technology Assistants (STA) is to assist faculty in development of electronic instructional resources and integration of instructional technologies into their courses, workspaces would need to be identified in each of the designated buildings. The Coordinator will be responsible for insuring that student schedules accommodated faculty needs, and that STA time is used effectively by coordinating scheduled faculty assistance while retaining the flexibility necessary for providing walk-in assistance and "on-call" assistance for the TEC classrooms. (Except for scheduled training sessions in use of Technology Enhanced Classrooms, STA responsibilities for those classrooms is limited to providing immediate, responsive assistance to faculty during class sessions, on an "on call basis." STAs will be trained to troubleshoot TEC equipment, but will not be expected to perform hardware maintenance and repair.) The number of laptop computers, pagers, and (or) cell phones would need to be determined based on location and scheduling of STAs to ensure uninterrupted availability of faculty instructional support services in all locations during the designated coverage hours. Current projection would be that around 20 laptop computers and 10 pagers would be required.

Initial training would consist of an intensive two week (80 hour) training course, provided by ITC staff and STA Coordinator, to include skill development in the following areas:

Deployment would ultimately be as follows:

However, as new TEC classrooms come online, student deployment will be distributed appropriately.
[Please refer to the TEC database updated regularly by IT Engineering Services available at the following URL: http://itc.utk.edu/cgi-bin/smtclass/search.pl ]

• Provide scheduled instructional materials and website development for faculty.
• Provide on-site, individualized training or assistance for faculty as schedule permits.
• Immediately respond to calls for assistance in TEC classrooms.

• Approximately 30 students per year receive professional skills, technology skills, and 10 hrs/wk employment while serving the needs of the UT faculty and students improving the educational experience for all.
• Faculty receive the benefit of 500+ hr/wk of access to instructional technology support services, resulting in increased use of course websites, modules, and instructor created electronic resources, thereby enhancing the educational opportunities and experiences for all UT students.
• Faculty and students receive immediate, responsive assistance in TEC classrooms, resulting in less lost class time and increased benefit from efficient utilization of limited contact hours.

• Increase on-site technical and pedagogical support for research and teaching Faculty and GTAs to meet existing demand
• Provide organization and structure for meeting increased demand in the future.
• Provide high quality, marketable knowledge, skills and experience to undergraduate students.

Fall 2003
• Recruit and hire Coordinator. [Aug/Sept 03]
• Recruit 12-15 FY04 STA candidates. [Oct/Nov 03] (Solicit applications and conduct interviews. No hiring or training at this stage)
• Solicit FY04 faculty project needs. [Oct/Nov]
• In conjunction with collaborative partners, develop training plan and training materials. [Oct/Nov 03]
• Identify workspace for STAs in designated buildings. [Oct/Nov 03]
• Acquire necessary hardware and software for START program. [Oct/Nov 03]
• Provide intensive 2 week (80 hrs) training for candidates. [Dec 03]

Spring 2004
• Hire 12-15 Spring FY04 STAs based on performance during training. [Jan 04]
• Deploy initial round of STAs to those areas with TEC classrooms, or demonstrated critical need. [Jan 04].
• Monitor workflow, utilization and effectiveness. [ongoing]

Summer 2004
• Evaluate FY04 program performance based on workflow, utilization and effectiveness. [May 04]
• Solicit 05 faculty project needs. [May 04]
• Implement revisions to recruitment, training or deployment strategies as necessary.
• Recruit 12-15 FY05 STA candidates. (Solicit applications, conduct interviews. No hiring or training at this stage.) [Jun 04]
• Provide intensive 2 week (80 hrs) training for candidates. [July 04]
• Hire 12-15 Spring FY05 STAs based on performance during training. [July/Aug 04]

Fall 2004
• Deploy FY05 STAs to identified areas, and to replace FY04 STAs lost to attrition. [Aug 04]

Spring 2005
• Repeat program evaluations, STA recruitment, training and hiring for this and subsequent cycles to ensure a sufficient number of STA candidates to offset attrition while maintaining the STA program at a fully staffed level.