Technology@Wooster

The College of Wooster invites applications for the position of Director of Instructional Technology. The position announcement follows. It is also available in pdf format.

Founded in 1866, the College of Wooster is an independent residential liberal arts college offering a rigorous and comprehensive education to students with the capacity and motivation to become educated leaders in a complex society. Nationally recognized for its focus on independent learning, Wooster has for more than 50 years required every graduate to complete a two-semester capstone experience emphasizing undergraduate research and culminating in a Senior Independent Study thesis. Wooster values co-education, diversity in its many forms, a global perspective, and the heritage arising from its origin as a college founded by Presbyterians.

Department of Instructional Technology

The Department of Instructional Technology is one of four departments within the Office of Information Technology.  This department champions and supports the effective use of technology in teaching and learning.  It collaborates with faculty and others to identify, evaluate, deploy and assess relevant technologies, and to develop campus spaces that promote teaching and learning.

Position Description

The Director of Instructional Technology is responsible for the overall management of the Department of Instructional Technology, including planning, budgeting and project management consistent with the department’s mission. The director monitors changes in technology and their effect on society in order to lead timely discussions about the impact of such changes on pedagogy, curricula and the mission of the College, and to propose strategies in response.

The director’s specific duties include, but are not limited to:

• Collaborating with the faculty, the Libraries and academic support offices on the development of Instructional Technology’s goals for supporting teaching and learning
• Developing strategic and tactical plans to achieve the department’s goals and communicating those plans to the campus community
• Managing and developing the professional staff to implement departmental plans and achieve departmental goals
• Developing grant proposals individually and in collaboration with faculty and staff
• Serving as institutional liaison to NITLE and similar groups
• Exploring opportunities for collaboration with other institutions

This position reports to the Chief Information Technology Officer.

Position Requirements

A Master’s degree is required; a Ph.D. is preferred.  The position requires significant experience supporting instructional technology in higher education, preferably in a liberal arts environment. Teaching experience in higher education, as well as familiarity with instructional design and educational assessment are essential. Demonstrated excellence in oral and written communication to diverse audiences is required, as is the ability to build and sustain collaborative relationships with a wide range of constituents on campus. Evidence of strong leadership skills and the ability to work independently in a dynamic environment are highly desirable.

Application Procedure

Review of applications will begin on March 24, 2008 and will continue until the position is filled.  Applicants should submit a current resume and a letter of interest to:

The Department of Human Resources

The College of Wooster
536 E. Wayne Avenue
Wooster, OH 44691

or via email to humanresources@wooster.edu

In response to the VPAA’s solicitation of IT equipment requests, the Psychology Department reqested two personal response systems. This request was approved and the department is now in possession of two systems acquired from Turning Technologies. Each system consists of 20 wireless response keypads (”clickers”) and a small receiver that connects to the instructor’s computer via a USB port. Each system also includes software that integrates its operations with Microsoft PowerPoint.

These systems can be used to conduct anonymous polls and to assess the students’ collective understanding of particular points. Special slides are created in PowerPoint to present questions and possible answers. Students’ responses are entered via the keypads and captured by the receiver. Responses can be automatically summarized for presentation via PowerPoint. Instructors can then tailor subsequent instruction and activities based upon the results. Responses can also be retrieved for later analysis. It is also possible to use the system to track and record the responses of individual students.

The personal response system is easy to use—instructors already familiar with PowerPoint can become comfortable with the system’s essential functionality in less than five minutes. If you would like more information on personal response systems or would like to see a demonstration of this technology please contact Jon Breitenbucher or Joe Benfield. You can also learn more about personal response systems by visiting the vendor’s website.

IT is pleased to offer day-long introductory and intermediate courses on Microsoft Word 2003. Each course is conducted in an on-campus computer lab and meets from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The introductory course will meet on Monday, March 24. Topics to be covered include:

• Creating and Saving Documents
• Editing Documents
• Using Automatic Text Features
• Printing Documents, Envelopes and Labels
• Formatting Text
• Formatting Paragraphs
• Formatting Document Pages
• Using Find and Replace
• Checking Spelling and Grammar and Using Research Tools
• Working with Templates

The intermediate course will meet on Monday, April 7. Topics to be covered include:

• Working with Graphics
• Using Advanced Formatting Options
• Working with Headers and Footers
• Working with Columns
• Using Styles
• Creating Tables
• Formatting Tables
• Using Basic Collaboration Features
• Protecting Data
• Using Charts, Diagrams and Organization Charts

All College employees are eligible to participate. Enrollment is limited. To register, contact Mary Schantz, Manager of User Services, at mschantz@wooster.edu.

IT is pleased to offer day-long introductory and intermediate courses on Microsoft Excel 2003. Each course is conducted in an on-campus computer lab and meets from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The introductory course will meet on Thursday, February 28. Topics to be covered include:

• Creating Workbooks
• Modifying Worksheets
• Formatting Worksheets
• Printing Worksheets
• Working with Formulas
• Working with Basic Functions
• Enhancing Worksheets
• Using Templates, Styles, Worksheet Backgrounds and AutoFormats
• Finding and Replacing Data

The intermediate course will meet on Wednesday, March 12. Topics to be covered include:

• Working with Multiple Worksheets
• Adjusting the Screen Display
• Working with Advanced Functions
• Using Advanced Formatting Features
• Using Advanced Print Options
• Filtering Data and Using Comments
• Naming Worksheet Ranges and Formulas
• Working with Charts
• Protecting Data
• Using Basic Integration and Web Features

All College employees are eligible to participate. Enrollment is limited. To register, contact Mary Schantz, Manager of User Services, at mschantz@wooster.edu.

The 2008 Horizon Report has just been released.  The report is a joint production of the New Media Consortium and the EduCause Learning Initiaitive and has been produced each year since 2004.  The purpose of the report is to “identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within learning-focused organizations.”

This year’s report identifies the following key emerging technologies:

• Grassroots Video
• Collaboration Webs
• Mobile Broadband
• Data Mashups
• Collective Intelligence
• Social Operating Systems

The report also identifies the following critical challenges facing learning organizations over the next five years:

• “Significant shifts in scholarship, research, creative expression, and learning have created a need for innovation and leadership at all levels of the academy.”
• “Higher education is facing a growing expectation to deliver services, content and media to mobile and personal devices.”
• “The renewed emphasis on collaborative learning is pushing the educational community to develop new forms of interaction and assessment.”
• “The academy is faced with a need to provide formal instruction in information, visual, and technological literacy as well as in how to create meaningful content with today’s tools.”

The Horizon Report identifies the following significant trends affecting the areas of teaching, learning and creative expression:

• “The growing use of Web 2.0 and social networking—combined with collective intelligence and mass amateurization—is gradually but inexorably changing the practice of scholarship.”
• “The way we work, collaborate, and communicate is evolving as boundaries become more fluid and globalization increases.”
• “Access to—and portability of—content is increasing as smaller, more powerful devices are introduced.”
• “The gap between students’ perception of technology and that of faculty continues to widen.”

Download the full report from the EduCause Learning Initiative.

A Datatel trainer was on campus this week to conduct the first training session on the Colleague Human Resources module. This training marks the beginning of the final phase of the OSCAR project. The final module is slated to go live at the beginning of January, 2009. Natalie Richardson and Kim Nadin chair the Human Resources Inmplementation Team charged with leading this phase of the implementation. Programmer/Analyst Connie McCarty will serve as technical lead.

The OSCAR project began in January, 2005. Since that time the College has successfully implemented the finance module (general ledger, purchasing, accounts payable), the budget module, the admissions module, the financial aid module, the student records module (including online registration), the degree audit module and the housing module. Colleague Advancement, Datatel’s new product for development and alumni affairs, is currently running parallel with the legacy system and will soon be fully live as the system of record.

Participants in Datatel’s personnel training enjoy a meal together to mark the beginning of the HR implementation.