Technology@Wooster

In an effort to better inform members of the campus community about the various information technology resources available to them, the Office of Information Technology has launched an effort to enhance the documentation of these resources and to improve its organization and accessibility.  New documentation is being created in the College wiki and links to it can be found under the “Computing Resources” tab of the IT website. Currently, the wiki contains information about audio and video production resources, copying and printing services, classroom technology, IT help desks and networking services (including wireless).  The documentation initiative will continue throughout the Spring 2008 semester and into the summer, and many new documents will be created. The initiative is being guided by User Services Intern Catherine Grandgeorge.

A new website dedicated to the classroom technology demo room in Taylor 210 has now been launched. The site will always feature information about the technologies currently deployed there and will also indicate which technologies are in the queue for deployment. In addition, the site will feature the policies and procedures associated with the demo room’s operation, and updates on the latest developments related to the room. In the future, the site will also allow faculty to make suggestions as to which technologies should be evaluated in the demo room, and to provide comments and feedback with respect to the technologies already under evaluation. To access the site, go to http://www.wooster.edu/technology, click on the “Computing Resources” tab and follow the “Classroom Technology Demo Room” link on the subsequent page.

A ceiling-mounted document camera has been installed in the classroom technology demo room for evaluation by the faculty and instructional technologists. This particular camera is a Wolfvision EYE-10. A document camera is special video camera designed to display documents and three dimensional objects via a projector, monitor or similar device.

For additional information on the classroom technology demo room, see these earlier posts:

• Classroom Technology Demo Room Established, 04/03/2007
• Smartboard Installed in Technology Demo Classroom, 07/27/2007

The demo room will soon have its own website! The site will provide a good deal of information about the demo room and all the technologies installed there. Watch this space!

Back in April of this year, IT announced the designation of Taylor 210 as a classroom technology demo room. The demo room is intended to provide faculty members and instructional technologists with opportunities to experiment with and to evaluate classroom technologies in a classroom setting. The technologies installed in the demo room will change on a regular basis. The experimentation and evaluation that is conducted here will help the College to determine which technologies are effective in our learning environments, and consequently, which should be deployed in our classrooms.

IT recently installed a model 600i SMARTboard in the demo room. The SMARTboard joins the sympodium already located there. Plans call for the future installation of a ceiling mounted document camera and an audio capture system.

Further information on the demo classroom will be available at the beginning of the new academic year.

Instructional Technology Intern Joe Benfield demonstrates the new SMARTboard.

In cooperation with the Departments of Physics and Math and Computer Science, the Office of Instructional Technology has designated Taylor 210 an instructional technology demo room. The demo room will provide faculty members and instructional technologists the opportunity to experiment with and to evaluate classroom technologies in a classroom setting. The technologies installed in the demo room will change on a regular basis. The experimentation and evaluation that takes place in the demo room will be used to determine which technologies should be deployed in classrooms across the campus.

The Office of Instructional Technology will be soliciting faculty input as to which technologies should be installed in the demo room. Each installation will be announced here in the blog. Questions? Contact Janet Russell, Director of Instructional Technology.

Stay tuned for further developments!