CCFIT > Discussion Topics > Technology Innovations

Technology Innovations

To help Council members stay in touch with "hot topics in technology," a few minutes are dedicated at the end of each meeting to a demonstration of a new technology tool, or some innovative application of technology in teaching, research, or general computing. Contact the Council if you'd like to share one of your technology innovations.

Flash drives as fashion accessories - Caroline Bledsoe (10/11/04)

Flash drives are compact, portable, and easy-to-use devices that are similar in use to computer hard drives. They can be used to easily transport data and other electronic files from computer to computer, home to office, office to classroom, etc. In addition to these convenient features, Caroline Bledsoe illustrated the fairly recent marketing of those devices as fashion accessories. She noted that they can easily slip into a pocket, but they can also be worn as a pendant around one's neck, on a keychain, as earrings, or as a watch for ultimate portable storage. (See PowerPoint slides)

Classroom Experiments in Technology Presentation: Lessons Learned - Colin Carter (01/10/05)

Jim Chalfant introduced Colin Carter, Professor in Ag and Resource Economics. Professor Carter presented "Classroom Experiments in Technology Presentation: Lessons Learned". He teaches ARE139, a "Futures and Options Markets" course and currently uses streaming video for the lecture. Students are then able to go back and review the on-line lecture. He also uses a textbook he has published as well as on-line trading and paper trading.
When asked how he sees teaching in 10 years, Colin commented that all the lectures would be on line and the students would only be in class one time per week for discussion.
He encouraged Council members to contact him directly (cacarter@ucdavis.edu).

Airport Express - Andy Jones (2/14/05)

Is a product released by Apple that is more of an office tool than a domestic tool and retails for approximately $120. It does four basic functions 1) quick and easy wireless network, 2) extends an existing wireless network (not campus network), 3) functions as a USB port, iPOD shuffle, and 4) plug into speakers or stereo and stream music from a computer.

Personal Response System - Tor Cross (3/14/05)

On behalf of CCFIT's Educational Technology Subcommittee, Tor Cross presented an overview of personal response systems (see PowerPoint presentation) as well as a proposal to identify the 'single most viable' system, purchase six faculty receivers, and subsidize 1200 student response pads (see proposal). A discussion involving Council members, the Registrar's Office (which typically funds classroom enhancements), and IET-Classroom Support representatives followed. Issues regarding the lack of scalability and portability of the two hard-wired systems currently in use in three classrooms were raised, as were concerns about requiring students to pay for those devices. The Registrar's Office, IET, and the TRC offered to investigate the options available and report back at a future meeting of the CCFIT.

Student E-portfolios - Michael Wilkes and Dan Cotton (04/11/05)

Michael Wilkes, Vice Dean for Medical Education at the UC Davis Medical Center, provided some background information on the decision to develop and implement e-portfolios for UC Davis medical students. He noted that this initiative was triggered in large part by the need to provide life-long learning opportunities for medical students and doctors as well as a tool to assess their competencies and manage their learning over time. Intended outcomes include promoting reflective learning with respect to development of skills and competencies, and encouraging students to own the process of development of skills and competencies. The UCDMC student e-portfolios went live in January 2005. They are the result of a collaborative partnership with the University of Newcastle (U.K.) where e-portfolios have been used by a large number of faculty and students for several years.

Dan Cotton, UCDMC's Information Services Support Group, gave an overview of the e-portfolios' features and modules (see presentation). Modules include a resume builder, a learning diary, a journal review tool, a 'virtual office' advisor meeting log (to facilitate interactions between students and advisors), as well as course management tools based on Sakai modules.

Online course evaluation system - Jan Ilkiw (04/11/05)

Jan Ilkiw, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Programs, presented an overview and demo of the online course evaluation system in use at the School of Veterinary Medicine for the last few years (see PowerPoint presentation). The system provides students with an anonymous way of evaluating both courses and instructors. In addition, the system includes an information management component that allows instructors and administrators to track the status of the evaluations. To encourage student participation, three email notifications are sent each quarter. In addition, Dr. Ilkiw meets regularly with students to explain the importance of these evaluations and to inform them of the various ways in which the feedback is used. Dr. Ilkiw reported a 97% rate of completion across all three years of the program. Next steps for the School of Veterinary Medicine include the development of standard-based data interchange formats, encouraging collaborative data interchange between existing academic and administrative systems across campus (such as the Faculty Merit and Promotion System that uses the "MyInfoVault" software), and developing an interface for the evaluation of courses based on the Sakai open source course management initiative (see http://www.sakaiproject.org).

Council members reported a range of reactions to online course evaluations across campus. The Academic Senate has expressed concern and the College of Engineering saw only a 35% response rate, while the UC Davis Medical Center reports having offered non-anonymous online course evaluations for years now, with a good acceptance rate both by faculty and students, and by staff who seem to appreciate the reduced administrative workload (no duplicate data entries). Chair Bledsoe reported that the TRC (Teaching Resources Center) has a tremendous workload at the end of each quarter as they process thousands of Scantron forms from the course evaluations. TRC would welcome an online system. Bledsoe also noted that typing of individual comments from the evaluations is a huge workload for staff in most academic departments.