CCFIT > Calendar & Minutes > November 14, 2006 Minutes

Present: Tor Cross, Liz Gibson, Dave Osleger, Andy Jones, Gail Yokote, Jan Dickens, Lori Lubin, Jan Ilkiw, Tim Leamy

Guest: Robert Ralston from CTS

We introduced our new member. Gail Yokote from Shields Library. She's in charge of public services and collections.

1. Personal Response Systems
Our committee was instrumental in getting PRS to campus. So Robert Ralston from CTS joined us to give an update.

There are 15 classes using PRS this quarter. Those class have about 3,520 students. The Bookstore reports that 2,575 PRSes have been sold. This is most likely because in some classes PRS use is not mandatory.

There have been no returns of defective clickers. The buy-back will start Finals week. The Bookstore will only buy back as many as they need for Winter. Currently, there is only one class that the Bookstore knows about for Winter. Therefore, faculty need to let the Bookstore know soon if they plan to use PRS in Winter.

This led to a discussion of the Bookstore book order form. It might make sense to try to revise the book order form so faculty can request using PRS and Library reserves on the same form. Also, if the system would remember the last time the class was taught and allow faculty to
check "use same as last time" that would be wonderful. This appears to be an area where the campus could greatly simplify and streamline a process for faculty. Jan will contact Jason at the Bookstore to see what process they are using now an if they would be interested in such a system.

From what Robert has seen of the classes using PRS:
-Some are using the clickers for punitive rather than learning goals.
-Not best practices!!
-Some are getting discouraged by the technology
-Some are very comfortable and using the technology very effectively
-Not many are using all the features (master remote, homework)

The OS X software is a little weak compared to Windows. There are strange issues sometimes, but generally they are not repeatable. Since the software is Java based, it may be an underlying JRE issue.

There is a website about PRS at http://cts.ucdavis.edu/prs/ Pedagogy support needs to be added. Andy will consult with the TRC about getting info on the website.

CTS-Help Desk will be providing support for faculty using PRS. Call them at 2-3553 to set up an appointment. Robert Ralston will be a backup in providing support. There will be an training on December 8th. The time isn't set yet but Tim will let the group know.

There is a PRS Users Group in Smartsite. To join, go to http://smartsite.ucdavis.edu and logon. Then click on Membership, then "Joinable Sites", then search for PRS. The "PRS User Group" site will appear and you can click Join. The PRS User Group site will show up as
a new tab.

2. Updated IET website
Jan showed the group the new and improved IET website which went live a few weeks ago. It's at http://iet.ucdavis.edu

The biggest change is that it's now primarily organized by service instead of department. It also has pages based on role (faculty, staff, student, tech community, researcher). So it should be much easier to navigate and find info.

They group reviewed the "Educational Technology" and "Classroom and Computer Rooms" pages. There were many suggestions which Jan will take back to the IET web group.