Assessment of the Impact of Technology on Student Learning. IUPUI has several initiatives underway both to assess the impact of technology on learning in various contexts and to develop sound methods and approaches for such assessments. Along with the rest of IU, we are participating in the national Flashlight Program, a project of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group. The TLT Group, IUPUI, and five other institutions have collaboratively developed an assessment instrument called the Current Student Inventory (CSI) that includes an item bank of over 500 questions from which faculty can choose. The instrument is now part of the TLT Group"s suite of assessment tools.
A number of IUPUI schools, departments, and faculty members are experimenting with the CSI. Among other examples, the English Department used the instrument to compare teaching practices in networked composition classrooms with those in non-networked composition classrooms. Their findings stimulated a re-examination of how computer-networked classrooms are used in the composition program. The School of Nursing participated in the project as well, conducting a study of best practices in Web-based nursing courses. (Articles on this study will be available in the Resource Room.)
The IU-wide Technology Assessment Group (TAG) sponsors a Technology Assessment Grant Program intended to encourage faculty to study the impact of educational technology on their practices and on student, course, or program outcomes. Information on current projects funded at IUPUI is available on the TAG Grant Program Web site. In addition, many IUPUI schools, departments, and faculty members are carrying out their own individual technology assessment projects. The Center for Teaching and Learning routinely works with faculty teaching technology-based or technology-enhanced courses to help them devise appropriate assessment strategies for determining the impact of technology applications on learning. (To view several examples of technology-related assessment projects, click here.)
IUPUI Online
A new initiative, IUPUI Online , launched this fall, is bringing together what IUPUI has learned from these and other experiences with technology with the results of a series of incubator projects to implement expanded use of technology-enabled learning and student services over the next ten years. Ultimately, the initiative aims to realize both greater efficiency and enhanced learning through technology-based tools, allowing the campus to alleviate strains on campus resources and facilities while improving the learning environment. A March 2002 concept paper for IUPUI Online envisions "development of learning experiences that use technology to improve learning by using class and laboratory time differently, by using more active and student-inquiry pedagogies, and by differentiating roles in the teaching process."
IUPUI Online will be implemented in stages. Activities and plans for 2002-2003 include:
- A series of focused campus-wide conversations featuring leading thinkers-from both on- and off-campus-on the topics of learning technologies and change. These conversations will examine possibilities for alternative modes of learning, cost savings, and the future of higher education generally.
- A set of "incubator" projects, supported by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Digital Media Services group in University Information Technology Services (UITS). Six projects are in progress during the current semester, with additional ones to be added in Spring 2003. Both the development process and learning outcomes from these courses will be carefully assessed, with findings shared across the campus and nationally.
- Work on identifying the types of courses the initiative will focus on and on addressing intellectual property issues.
- Development of a variety of business plans that reflect the varying contexts of schools and departments across the IUPUI campus, in order to gain a better understanding of how we can expand our use of technology-enabled learning at costs we can afford.
- Identification of unmet student service needs and development of plans for improving or expanding services.
- Appointment of a Board of Directors representing contributing units, faculty governance, and deans, along with development of advisory groups and other committees, as needed.
Go on to: Diversity, Learning, and Success
