Technology, Teaching, and Learning at Xavier University

An Interim Report to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
October 2000

• Introduction
• Faculty Technology Projects
• Journal Storage (JSTOR) Project
• WebBoard Project
• Design Document projects
• Web Course Management Systems Case Study
• K-12 Initiatives and Partner Schools
• Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Conference Participation
• Technology Workshops
• Hardware, Software, and Other Resources
• Center for the Advancement of Teaching Multimedia Specialist
• Faculty Technology Liaisons
• Information Technology Center
• Distance Education (Distributed Learning)
• Faculty Participation
• Faculty Reports
• Faculty Survey
• Conclusion

Introduction

As faculty members integrate information technology into their professional lives, they have found that, despite the potential of the technology to positively affect student learning, trade-offs cannot be avoided.  It is clear that to effectively infuse technology into the teaching and learning process, an inordinate amount of time and shear energy must be expended.  This comes at the price of time that otherwise could be spent on other teaching innovations and improvements, traditional scholarship, and service to the university or community.

During Year II of this faculty development and technology grant, members of the Xavier community engaged in a number of especially significant discussions that have direct relevance to the goals, if not the spirit, of this grant initiative.  Faculty discussion has focused on:

1. the place of information technology in the life of the institution
2. guidelines and criteria for promotion and tenure
3. the support needed to sustain and enhance effective faculty use of information technology.

As a result of the University's self-study for re-accreditation, faculty and staff members serving on the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable (TLTR) developed a position paper or vision statement for educational technology.  As was stated in the Introduction of the position paper,

This document has a twofold goal.

First, it represents a formal foundation, endorsed by the faculty of Xavier University of Louisiana, for the integration of information technology (IT) into the teaching and learning process at webusers.  (And) ... it signals the faculty's intent to incorporate information technology into teaching as appropriate according to the curricula and needs of different departments, and in keeping with Xavier University's mission.

Second, this document is approved by the faculty as a directive to the university to ensure that ample, consistent, and reliable support be provided for the use of information technology in the curriculum (...).

The formulation of the vision, and the vision itself, continue to guide the institution in areas of teaching, learning, and technology.

Because of their interest in and commitment to effective teaching, Xavier's faculty members adopted new criteria for promotion and tenure that specifically list the application of technology as one form of professional development and course improvement.  The new guidelines indicate faculty members' interest in having the University's promotion and tenure committee give thoughtful and fair consideration of their uses of information technology.  The following is an excerpt from the new guidelines and criteria that apply to teaching, one of four areas in which Xavier faculty members are evaluated.

Evidence of faculty development (e.g.):

1. Attendance at external conferences or workshops in the fields in which one teaches, or in pedagogies (including applications of technology) applicable to those fields

Evidence of course improvement (e.g.):

2. Introduction (and assessment) of new pedagogies (including applications of technology)

With the new guidelines and criteria, there is, one might speculate, a need to develop a method for evaluating these applications of technology. The Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs' 2000-2005 Planning Document includes specific references to this need:

• By May 1, 2001, a plan for evaluating instructional use of technology will be developed.  Persons responsible for this are members of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable.  This objective is listed under Goal I whose aim is "to strengthen educational programs."
• By March 31, 2001, a system to evaluate faculty integration of technology will be developed.  Again, persons responsible for this are the members of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable.  This objective is listed under Goal II whose aim is "to strengthen the faculty."

These objectives will necessitate developing a plan for the assessment of information technology effectiveness on campus.  Also, the University will begin considering a method to evaluate--especially in the context of promotion and tenure--faculty members' use of information technology in teaching, research, and service.

These institutional commitments concretize the efforts of this faculty development and technology grant to encourage and support the use of technology in the classroom.  Without such institutional commitment, this aim, though perhaps realizable in the short-term, would undoubtedly suffer the fate of so many "fads" in higher education.

These campus conversations also illustrate that information technology is a ubiquitous part of the Xavier community and is inextricably linked to a variety of institutional processes (e.g., teaching and learning, promotion and tenure, budgeting and planning) and goals (e.g., to produce leaders, to be fiscally responsible).  That conversations, policy writing, and planning about information technology have occurred, and continue to occur, is evidence that technology has a vital and integral place at webusers.  These conversations and planning also point to the continued need to assist faculty to think deeply and broadly about the relationship among teaching, learning, technology, and Xavier's mission to " ... (promote) a more just and humane society ... and to prepare its students to assume roles of leadership and service in society."

This report, which covers the period between August 1999 and August 2000, describes the specific grant funded activities that illustrate the ways in which the institution has considered the question, "What place do information and educational technologies have in the life of the institution?"  The report also documents the specific faculty development and technology activities that represent the relationships between technology and faculty teaching, scholarship, and service.

The financial report for this same period is available in the Center.

Faculty Development and Technology Initiatives

Faculty Technology Projects

Fourteen faculty members either continued technology projects begun during summer 1999 or launched new projects in fall 1999; 4 of these projects were not completed.  The successful projects are described below.

1. Dr. Thora Bayer (Philosophy) developed a website for PHIL 2040 (Logic).  The site was incorporated into the course in spring 2000 (http://webusers.xula.edu/~tibayer/2040/).
2. Dr. Deborah Bordelon (Education) used two electronic communication tools in her undergraduate education courses.  These tools included an e-mail distribution list, which provides unstructured mail messages, and WebBoard Conference, an e-mail system that uses a structured mechanism for arranging messages.  Dr. Bordelon's use of these tools provided data for a pilot study conducted by Ms. Gayna Stevens-Credle in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching.  This study investigated whether the architecture of a conference system influences the manner in which people communicate and interact.  The results of this pilot study are available in the Center.
3. Ms. Deany Cheramie (English) wrote a handbook for adjunct faculty who teach Freshmen Composition and World Literature courses.  This summer 2000 project will continue during fall 2000.  The handbook will be online in December 2000.
4. Dr. Valerio De Angelis (Mathematics) continued to develop the "MathNerds" website (http://www.mathnerds.com).  As noted at the MathNerds website, "MathNerds provides free, discovery-based, mathematical guidance via an international, volunteer network of mathematicians."
5. Dr. Theresa DuRapau (Mathematics) developed a course website for MATH 1070 (Calculus I) (http://webusers.xula.edu/~tdurapau/calculus.html). 
6. Dr. Nancy Martino (Communications) conducted an assessment of the effect her summer Web project (http://webusers.xula.edu/~nmartino) had on teaching and student learning.
7. Ms. Patrice Melnick (English) created a website for the literary readings and workshops occurring at Xavier and throughout New Orleans (http://webusers.xula.edu/~pmelnick/public.htm).  Ms. Melnick also integrated an electronic bulletin board into her creative writing course in the spring 2000 semester.
8. Dr. Carmen Rogers (Languages) conducted a longitudinal study in which she compared the effects of multimedia and traditional classroom materials on student learning in two language classes.
9. Dr. Lisa Schulte (Psychology) developed comprehensive course websites for use in 7 courses -- Introductory Psychology, Experimental Psychology, History and Systems of Psychology, Psychology Laboratory, Social Psychology, Theories of Personality, and Psychology of Gender.  http://www.xula.edu/~lschulte
10. Dr. Susan Spillman (Languages) continued to develop content for a CD-ROM that will complement other course material in several French language courses.
11. Dr. Michael White (Languages) began work on a CD-ROM project designed to trace the history of jazz through a metaphor of a New Orleans second-line parade.

Journal Storage (JSTOR) Project

In fall 1999, the Center issued a request for proposals (RFP) for faculty projects aimed at integrating JSTOR into the teaching and learning process, and research during the spring 2000 semester.  The request for proposals is online at http://www.xula.edu/Administrative/cat/facdev/rfp/spring00-jstor.html.  Seven faculty proposals were received; six were funded.  Brief project descriptions follow.

1. Dr. Ashish Chandra (Pharmacy) integrated JSTOR into his Research in Pharmacy Administration course by requiring students to the JSTOR database for their library research papers.  Dr. Chandra helped students access and search the database, and write and present oral summaries of articles from the database.
2. Dr. Chris Campbell (Communications) used the JSTOR database for a research paper he was writing on media coverage of crime for submission to a journal.  The paper was an examination of interdisciplinary cultural studies theory and scholarship as it pertains to crime and the "narrative" of crime coverage.  A preliminary search of the JSTOR database revealed over 200 papers related to the research project in such diverse disciplines as African American Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Economics, Literary Theory, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.  This research also had relevance to the Media Criticism and Writing for Radio and Television courses he taught.  Dr. Campbell completed his paper and submitted it to the Louisiana Communication Journal.  The research also led to the beginning of a second study in which he examines how news organizations cover crime statistics.  Once completed, the paper will be submitted to the Critical Studies in Mass Communications journal.  Finally, Dr. Campbell noted that "... support for this project served as an incentive [...] to return to scholarly activity.  The substantial teaching and service requirements of Xavier faculty make it very difficult to actively pursue a research agenda."
3. Dr. V. J. DuRapau (Mathematics) integrated the JSTOR database into the Mathematics Department's Senior Colloquium courses.  Student use of JSTOR provided them with additional sources of information for research, and opportunities to critically evaluate electronic sources of information and develop their skills in reviewing mathematics and statistics literature.  With the permission of his students, Dr. DuRapau published their papers online at http://www.xula.edu/~vdurapau/papers.htm.
4. Dr. Sheri Hoem (English) integrated the database into her Literary Criticism and Theory course.  The journal articles available from JSTOR provided students with exemplary models of criticism in practice, and offered students a chance to determine which theoretical assumptions and methods learned from the course were exhibited in the published criticisms.  Dr. Hoem used a computer laboratory to teach the students how to access and search the JSTOR database.  Students were required to write a term paper using, among other papers, JSTOR articles.  Dr. Hoem noted, "As a teaching method, I will definitely use this kind of JSTOR project [...] when I teach Literary Criticism and Theory, as well as in other upper level literature courses in which students are asked to consult published scholarship."
5. Dr. Cirecie Olatunji (Education) used the JSTOR database in her Practicum in Counselor Education graduate course.  The project goals were to provide an opportunity for students to expand their computer competencies by using the JSTOR electronic database and to offer students an easier means for accessing counseling journals.  Students in the course completed two papers based on journal articles in the JSTOR database.  This project also met a technology competency guideline of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.  Dr. Olatunji conducted pre- and post-tests of student technology competencies.  The results of the surveys indicated an increase in technological competency, a change in perceptions regarding the effectiveness of JSTOR as a research tool, and enhanced research skills overall.
6. Dr. Pamela Waldron-Moore (Political Science) used the database in the Research Methods and Quantitative Analysis courses.  The project, centered on student research papers, gave students practice in one of the most important aspects of research analysis—the art of reviewing literature in order to develop general explanations for observed behavior.  Secondarily, the project was intended to help students identify relationships among concepts and research findings.  Dr. Waldron-Moore noted that several students produced useful drafts of potential research papers for publication.  Three papers were selected for publication by InterneXUS, Xavier's forthcoming electronic journal (temporarily at http://webusers.xula.edu/~cdoumen/CV/Internexus/Current.html).  The project also generated new research questions and teaching methods using the JSTOR database.  Last, Dr. Waldron-Moore made several important suggestions including:
   1. provide training to the University Library staff in various technical aspects of using the JSTOR database
   2. promote university-wide discussion about purchasing online subscriptions and access to databases
   3. seek information from the Information Technology Center regarding firewall and other security issues related to databases such as JSTOR
   4. provide new faculty with an introduction to JSTOR
   5. promote faculty use of JSTOR through workshops, brown bag discussions, etc.

WebBoard Project

WebBoard Conference is a Web-based electronic conferencing application supported by the Center since January 1998.  Since its introduction, there has been increasing interest by Xavier's faculty members to, primarily, integrate electronic communication into the teaching and learning process.  To a lesser extent, faculty committees have used WebBoard to improve their communication and coordination of activities.  Tables 1 and 2 provide data regarding the use of WebBoard during the fall 1999 and spring 2000 semesters, respectively.

In January 2000, the Center solicited feedback from current and past users of WebBoard in order to determine why increasingly fewer faculty members where using WebBoard.  The Center had become aware that there was a precipitous drop in user number between the fall 1999 and spring 2000 semesters.  During this time, the Center had also upgraded WebBoard.  This upgrade required previous users to re-establish new boards.  Surveys were distributed to 16 faculty members; 8 surveys were returned.  The survey results are shown below in Table 3.

Other reasons why faculty members discontinued use of WebBoard included (assume sic):

• Changes over the break included getting a laptop 2 weeks into the semester.  Now there is no time to expect something more from students this term.
• It takes time to develop the use of this pedagogical tool and I have not had the free time available.  The classes I currently teach would not benefit from WebBoard use.  I plan to use it again this summer for my EDCI5800 course.
• I'm using Blackboard.com for my courses, and deemed it simpler for students to access all courser features from one site.  However, I'm not entirely pleased (with) Blackboard.com's chat feature (Java-based) and may return to WebBoard next year.  You've done great work with the board, and my decision not to use it does not reflect negatively on (the Center for the Advancement of Teaching).
• At this time my courses don't call for it.  In the future, I'll just use newsgroup.  Plus, last semester students (& myself) did find it to be unreliable
• I never really understood how to use the old WebBoard well, so I just tried it out in the beginning but I needed to get in touch with the Center before using it in my classes.  If I could learn quickly, though, I would still use it in my English 1020 (Literature and Composition) class.
• I probably need retraining to use it.  I would like to use it first for my staff.

There was a great deal of frustration shared by faculty members and their students who were using WebBoard.  This frustration primarily was due to the inability to access WebBoard from off campus.  The University's firewall had been configured to restrict this access.  Correcting this problem took an inordinate amount of time and effort on the part of several faculty members.  This is but one example of the challenges that Xavier's Information Technology Center faces in meeting faculty and student technology needs.  More discussion of the Information Technology Center is found beginning on page 17.

In March 2000, the Center issued an RFP for summer 2000 and academic year 2000-2001 faculty technology projects.  The RFP is online at http://www.xula.edu/Administrative/cat/facdev/rfp/AY00-01-summer00-multi.pdf.  Seventeen proposals were received; 12 were funded.  Brief project descriptions of summer 2000 projects follow.  Faculty projects undertaken during the 2000-2001 academic year will be described in the final report to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in fall 2001.

Design Document projects

Ten design document proposals were submitted in response to the March 2000 RFP; six proposals were funded.  A number of Xavier University and New Orleans Public Schools faculty and students planned ambitious Web or CD-ROM projects with the Center's help, particularly that of Ms. Elizabeth Rhodes (School/University Liaison) and Mr. Bart Everson (Multimedia Specialist).  One important step in the planning process was the creation of a detailed design document, which is essentially a blueprint for the project.  The Center has formulated a standard template that may be used as a starting point for creating a design document (/initiatives/rich/elements).  Projects undertaken during summer 2000 are described below.

1. The Haiku of Kobayashi Issa Website.  Dr. David Lanoue (English) is presenting his translations of the Japanese poet Issa, along with information about Issa's life and haiku -- for the benefit of students, the English-speaking public, and the Japanese-speaking public -- via this website.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/dlanoue_dd.pdf.  The website is at http://webusers.xula.edu/~dlanoue/issa/.
2. No Easy Poets Website.  Ms. Patrice Melnick (English) is developing the "No Easy Poets" website as a means for providing information on literary events in New Orleans.  This will include a calendar that lists readings, names of readers, dates, times, venues, contact information and cover charges, if applicable.  The calendar will also list community writing workshops and literary festivals.  Last, the website will provide general biographical information about local and visiting authors.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/pmelnick_dd.pdf
3. Collage Culturel CD-ROM.  Dr. Carmen Rogers (Languages) began work on a multimedia CD-ROM that will help first-year students learn about French language and culture through interviews with Francophone speakers from around the world, photographs depicting elements of French culture and interactive exercises.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/crogers_dd.pdf
4. Gumbo LALA Website.  The Gumbo LALA project website will be used as a resource to exhibit various aspects of the Gumbo LALA Project, including Creole culture. During the project, Benjamin Franklin Elementary School (a public school in the New Orleans Public School District) students and teachers will investigate the uniqueness of Creole culture specific to south Louisiana.  The students will also communicate via the Internet with students from the 6^th Avenue Elementary school in Los Angeles, California.  The students will discuss the similarities and differences between their Creole communities.  The website will display different examples of student-generated work including WebBoard discussions, narratives, poetry, Hyperstudio stacks, artwork, and personal reflections.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/bfe_dd.pdf.  This project was funded by a "Preparing Future Teachers to Use Technology" grant to Xavier's Division of Education.
5. AlgebraJamN Website.  Dr. Paul McCreary (Mathematics) and local public school teachers and students launched AlgebraJamN, a Web project designed to provide the means by which New Orleans high school teachers may teach algebra-level skills and high-end technology use. The algebra and pre-algebra skills and content were learned via computer-based lessons written using a computer algebra system known as Mathematica.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/pmccrear_dd.pdf.  This project was funded by a "Preparing Future Teachers to Use Technology" grant to Xavier's Division of Education.
6. New Orleans UnMasked.  This website will present information on the New Orleans' heroes and cultural leaders in an interactive website designed to educate the general public.  The site will concentrate particularly on heroes in struggles for social justice for people of color.  Students involved in the Students at the Center (SAC) program, a school-based writing course at many public schools in New Orleans, have designed the site and will contribute the majority of the writings that appear on it.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/sac_dd.pdf.  This project was funded by a "Preparing Future Teachers to Use Technology" grant to Xavier's Division of Education.

Web Course Management Systems Case Study

In March 2000, the Center invited proposals from all faculty members to participate in a case study to explore answers to two questions about Web-based course management tools:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each course management system?
2. How do the course management systems change, if in fact they do, the teaching and learning process?

The Center's goal is to examine course management systems such as WebCT and Blackboard in order to determine the type of support that should be provided to facilitate university-wide access to these or other such tools.

During summer 2000, six faculty members--Dr. Deborah Bordelon (Education), Mr. Arnold Crump (Communications), Drs. Betsy Hemenway (History), Cirecie Olatunji (Education), Todd Stanislav (Biology), and Ms. Vera Walker (Communications)--developed online components of their courses using Web course management systems such as WebCT, eCollege, Anlon, and Blackboard.  The Center hosted a summer-long online seminar for the faculty members to assist them in course development.  The faculty members participated in face-to-face meetings and online activities using the online seminar resources.  These resources were delivered using an eCollege seminar website and included six modules:

• Module 1: Orientation
• Module 2: Course Structure
• Module 3: Assessment
• Module 4: Asynchronous & Synchronous Communication
• Module 5: Tools & Resources
• Module 6: Fair Use & Intellectual Proper

The faculty members will teach their courses during the fall 2000 or spring 2001 semester using the Web course management system.  A description of each project follows.

1. Dr. Deborah Bordelon (Education) will use a Web-based course management system to restructure her Clinical Procedures in Remedial Reading course. Dr. Bordelon will post the course syllabus, calendar, assignments, and announcements.  The students will be able to post their discussions and reflections through electronic messaging.  Students will also be encouraged to use the chat function and file sharing to exchange ideas.  Finally, online quizzes and student grades will also be made available through the management system.
2. Mr. Arnold Crump (Communications) will use a Web-based management system to:
   • allow more time for student-centered learning experiences and interaction
   • provide access to information and files for projects and documentation
   • facilitate posting of course description, syllabus, office hours, etc.
   • allow online testing
   • allow online grading of objective and essay test
   • automatically update grade book
   • facilitate the creation of course materials
   • allow chat for group meetings
   • support e-mail for individual and class communication.
3. Dr. Elizabeth Hemenway (History) will use a course management system to integrate computer- and Web-based materials more fully into her World Civilization to 1500 (HIST 1030) course.  The course is generally taught in a traditional lecture format, with weekly group discussions of primary sources designed to supplement the lectures.  The Web-based course management system will offer students a broader range of learning opportunities and require them to take more direct responsibility for their learning.
4. Dr. Cirecie Olatunji (Education) will use a Web-based management system for her Advanced Theories of Personality course for graduate counseling students.  At present, this course is taught incorporating weekly reflections on class experiences sent via electronic mail, with a mid-term group project in which students are encouraged to use PowerPoint for class presentation, and audio- and videotape case illustrations.  By incorporating a Web-based course management system, this course will include a course website, a series of online chats with contemporary theorists in the counseling field, use of Web-based resources, on-going discussion threads, and online assessments.
5. Dr. Todd Stanislav (Biology) will utilize a Web course management system for "delivering" a significant portion of his Human Cytogenetics course.  At least six class meetings will be devoted to online asynchronous threaded discussions focused on research papers and two class meetings will use videoconferencing to interact with experts involved in the Human Genome Project.
6. Ms. Vera Walker (Communications) will use a Web-based course management system for Speech 1010. Ms. Walker will use PowerPoint lecture notes, online testing, and e-mail to enhance student communication and knowledge.

K-12 Initiatives and Partner Schools

Since its inception in 1994, the Center has provided services and facilities to three partner schools in the New Orleans public school system.  These schools include Mildred Osborne Elementary School, Thurgood Marshall Middle School, and McDonogh #35 Senior High School.  In past years, the Center has been fortunate to receive funding from Apple Computer, Inc. and the BellSouth Foundation to support specific technology initiatives with one or more of the partner schools.

Although this faculty development and technology grant does not directly support initiatives with the Center's partner schools, it has nevertheless allowed the Center to build its technology infrastructure and offer technology workshops to which partner school teachers have been invited.  The support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has also permitted the Center to mature programmatically.  This maturation and growth in turn has led to new opportunities for the Center's staff.  As concerns the Center's K-12 initiatives, this is especially true for Ms. Elizabeth Rhodes, the Center's School/University Liaison.  Last, the grant's support of Mr. Bart Everson, the Center's Multimedia Specialist, offers the partner schools' teachers access to a technically and artistically sophisticated staff member.  Three K-12 projects in which the Center was involved during Year II of the grant stand out.  These projects represent collaborations with one partner school and two new schools. The projects are:

• Gumbo LA LA project
• Students at the Center project
• Lusher Alternative Elementary School project
• The Gumbo LALA (Louisiana to Los Angeles) project is designed to create a learning community of two very disparate communities of the United States. The primary goal of the project is the establishment of a self-sustaining and lifelong learning community via the use of sophisticated technology tools.  Two elementary school settings that currently are culturally connected, geographically divided, and technologically deprived of information via online resources (6^th Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, CA and Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in New Orleans, LA) are typical elementary schools in large urban school districts.  The students of these schools are wonderfully creative individuals who, for the most part, are vaguely aware of their cultural connections.  Teachers at these schools will use asynchronous communication technology to discover those cultural commonalties.  In doing so, they will cement the historic legacy and dissolve the digital divide that currently separates them from each other and from the "haves" of the world.

During summer 2000, teachers from Benjamin Franklin Elementary School involved in the Gumbo LALA project wrote a design document for a website that will be produced during the 2000-2001 school year.  The design document is online at /initiatives/rich/bfe_dd.pdf.

The following text, written by Mr. Jim Randalls, describes the Students at the Center program.

The Students at the Center (SAC) program began in 1997 at McDonogh #35 Senior High School.  The program seeks to develop and promote students as resources to improve schools and communities.  The heart of this work is giving students the in-depth training they need in the classroom in order that they may emerge as valuable agents of community improvement.  SAC establishes two to eight elective courses, limited in size to 15 students per class, at middle and secondary schools. In these settings, students train to become skilled wordsmiths.  Their writing is directed toward other students and teachers with the intent of planning and implementing community improvement projects. 

The program has received national attention from several education researchers.  The program has also received external funding.  Since its beginnings in two pilot classes at McDonogh #35, SAC has grown to several classes in eight schools in the New Orleans Public School District.

The mixture of national and local networks makes it necessary for the SAC program to develop digital means of sharing its successes with partner schools in New Orleans and interested groups nationally.

During summer 2000, the Students at the Center group wrote a design document for its project's website.  This document is online at http://www.xula.edu/Administrative/cat/facdev/initiatives/rich/sac_dd.pdf.  The vision of the authors of the design document is that it will incorporate samples, work processes, and evaluations on SAC projects such as:

• Our Voice—the SAC-sponsored city-wide teen newspaper
• Teen Expression—a cable access teen talk show in which SAC students and teachers participate
• Chapbook Series—a series of books that collect SAC student writing
• SAC Radio—a series of radio commentaries written and produced by SAC students.

Several members of the Lusher Alternative Elementary School met with Center staff in summer 2000 to plan a series of staff development workshops.  Teachers from Lusher began the school year one day early in August 2000, by attending the first of these workshops--a half-day workshop at the Center.  The workshop provided the teachers an opportunity to work through the Center's Netscape browser tutorial, and to evaluate websites for curriculum resources in mathematics and the arts, the school's curriculum focal points for the 2000-2001 year.  A series of Web pages was created for this workshop; the homepage is at http://www.xula.edu/Administrative/cat/schools/lusher/.

Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Conference Participation

Several faculty members who received support from the Center have presented papers at conferences, workshops, and symposia.  This faculty development and technology grant supported a portion of the faculty (and staff) who participated in conferences, symposia, and workshops.  These activities, and others not directly funded by but nonetheless related to the grant, are described below.  Other funding was available through a grant to the Center from The Bush and the William and Flora Hewlett foundations.

1. Ms. Vera Walker (Communications) attended a workshop titled "Effective Integration of the Internet: Using Communication, Presentation, and Research" in March 2000.  The grant supported her participation in this workshop.
2. Dr. Charles Sevick (Education) made a presentation, "Electronic Conferencing During Student Teaching," at the annual Association of Teacher Educators in March 2000.  Dr. Sevick has participated in Center initiatives, including use of WebBoard.
3. Dr. Barbara Green (Biology) attended the "Scholarship of Teaching" conference at Indiana University at South Bend in April 2000.  The grant supported her participation in this conference.
4. Dr. V.J. DuRapau (Mathematics) attended the "Structural Equation Modeling" workshop in New York in June 2000.  The grant supported his participation in this workshop.
5. Dr. Susan Spillman (Languages) gave a presentation titled, "Vive la Louisiane, un Etat pas comme tous les autres" at the Lilly Texas Conference sponsored by the International Alliance of Teachers.  The grant supported her participation in this conference.
6. Ms. Janice Florent (Technology Coordinator, Center for the Advancement of Teaching) attended the Advanced Troubleshooting, Maintenance, and Upgrading PCs workshop in September 1999.  The grant supported Ms. Florent's attendance at this workshop.
7. Dr. Paul McCreary (Mathematics) submitted a grant proposal to The AOL Foundation in October 1999.  This proposal aimed to raise the level of computer literacy of students in the New Orleans Public School District.  The proposal was not funded.
8. Dr. Lisa Schulte (Psychology) presented a paper titled "Incorporating Use of the World Wide Web in College Courses" at the Sixth National HBCU Faculty Development Symposium.
9. Drs. Jerry Farmer (Theology) and Fred Humphrey (Philosophy) joined faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and Cerritos College in submitting a grant to the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.  Dr. Alec Kirby of the University of Wisconsin-Stout served as the project director.  The proposal, titled "Cross-Cultural Integrative Curriculum Model," was written to "...address the need for racial and ethnic diversity at each institution by using synchronous and asynchronous technology to create learning communities."  This proposal, though not funded, is one component of the "Diversity Connections Project: A National Experience at a Regional Campus."  Xavier and Cerritos are partner institutions in this project.  More information about the project can be found at http://www.uwstout.edu/artsci/dep.

Technology Workshops

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and the University's Information Technology Center (ITC; a computing services support office) continued to provide opportunities for faculty to hone or develop new technology skills.  Evaluations for many of these workshops are available in the Center.

Several technology workshops helped faculty members integrate specific educational technologies into the teaching and learning process.  These included the JSTOR, WebBoard, and Flashlight Project workshops.  The Center's JSTOR Project is described beginning on page 3.  Additional information about faculty use of WebBoard is found beginning on page 4. 

Building an Infrastructure to Support, Sustain, and Extend Faculty and Student Use of Technology

Funding from this grant and the University directly has led to significant improvements in technology support and services.  As with any complex enterprise, especially one such as information technology that changes at a dizzying rate, there is ongoing need for greater support and efficiency.  What follows is a description of changes that have permitted Xavier University to be creative and active members of a larger global digital community.  First, those changes supported by this grant.

Hardware, Software, and Other Resources

Funds allocated in the grant for purchasing hardware, software, and other technology-related equipment and services have enhanced the technology infrastructure of the University in general and the Center in particular.  These purchases included:

• eleven PowerMac G4 400 MHz computers for use in the Center's Teaching Laboratory (Library Room 532A)
• Epson color printer for use the Communications Department
• annual Web hosting and domain registration fees for Mathnerds.com
• Compaq DeskPro EN Pentium II 450 MHz computer for the Center's electronic classroom (Library Room 502)
• miscellaneous accessories (e.g., video tapes, mini-DVD tapes, cables, modems, battery pack, digital camera case, external disk drives)
• software purchases include Dreamweaver and Fireworks for Mr. Bart Everson, the Center's Multimedia Specialist, and Netware Client 5.2 for all computers in the Center.

Center for the Advancement of Teaching Multimedia Specialist

Mr. Bart Everson joined the Center in June 1999, thanks to this faculty development and technology grant.  In the short time that he has worked at Xavier, Mr. Everson has contributed in substantial ways to supporting faculty members interested in information technology for purposes of scholarship, teaching, and service.  Moreover, he has had a significant impact on several institution-wide issues and processes, including establishing a mailing list for university network users and writing the revised Network Use Policy.  What follows is a list of these and other projects in which Mr. Everson has been involved.

1999-2000 academic year:

• Established XNUG (Xavier Network Users Group); a mailing list
• Multimedia production:
• Hispanics in New Orleans CD-ROM
• PowerPoint to HTML conversion
• Various image scanning
• Web production:
• Haiku of Kobayashi Issa website (http://webusers.xula.edu/~dlanoue/issa/)
• MathNerds website (http://www.mathnerds.com/)
• Shakespeare Festival website (http://webusers.xula.edu/~bddanner/sft/)
• Web photo albums of Guyana (http://webusers.xula.edu/~pnmoore/albums/kodak/ and  http://webusers.xula.edu/~pnmoore/albums/konica/)
• Print production:
• Teaching the African Experience Flyer
• Various Center flyers
• Image formatting (Ms. Vera Walker)
• Consulting:
• Lab setup (Ms. MaPo Kinnord, Dr. Scott Reese, Dr. Paul McCreary)
• Web design (many!)
• Jazzin' in the Street multimedia project
• Video production:
• Vive la Louisiane, un Etat pas comme tous les autres
• Digitized "Beating the Odds" (Dr. Rosalind Green)
• Frame captures from various surveillance tapes (New Orleans Police Department)
• Taped student presentations (Mr. Milton Martinez)

Summer 2000:

• Wrote Network Use Policy
• Search Committee for Director of Distributed Learning
• Design Documents (the following design documents can be found at http://cat.xula.edu/initiatives/rich/)
  1. Gumbo LALA Web by Ben Franklin Elementary School teachers
  2. New Orleans UnMasked by Students at the Center
  3. Haiku of Kobayashi Issa by Dr. David Lanoue (English)
  4. No Easy Poets by Ms. Patrice Melnick (English)
  5. AlgebraJamN by Dr. Paul McCreary (Mathematics)
  6. Collage Culturel by Dr. Carmen Rogers (Languages)
• Seminars and Workshops:
  • Part 0: INTRODUCTION TO THE WEB
  • Part I: INTRODUCTION TO HTML
  • Part II: BASICS OF WEB IMAGING
  • Part III: ADVANCED HTML
  • Part IV: ANIMATION FOR THE WEB
  • Part V: INTRODUCTION TO JAVASCRIPT
  • Part VI: CASCADING STYLE SHEETS
  • Part VII: PLANNING YOUR WEBSITE

Ongoing:

• Center's website (http://cat.xula.edu/)
• XNUG Tip of the Week (topics have included file extensions, URLs, FTP, e-mail disk space, servers, and list servers)
• Committee service:
  1. TLTR
  2. Distributed Learning Advisory Committee

Faculty Technology Liaisons

During the 1999-2000 academic year, this grant supported as many as 15 faculty members who served as Faculty Technology Liaisons (FTLs).  As during Year I of the grant, the FTLs were faculty volunteers (see Table 6) who assisted their colleagues with Microsoft Office programs, e-mail, and authoring and maintaining Web pages.

At the end of the fall 1999 semester, seventy-three percent (11/15) of the FTLs responded to a survey intended to document FTL activities.  During fall 1999 semester, each FTL provided assistance to faculty an average of 1.5 times a week (range of 0 to 6 per week).  The FTLs reported that they spent an average of 1.3 hours per week assisting faculty (range of 0 to 5.5 hours per week).  The FTLs assisted faculty with:

• Microsoft Office software applications and file transfer protocol (FTP) software
• Open Mail and other e-mail programs
• Web search tools and other Web navigation skills
• Web page authoring
• printer and network configurations.

The FTLs suggested the following changes to the University's information technology infrastructure in general and the FTL program specifically:

• faster response from ITC
• reliable server environment
• better e-mail system
• information about software updates and site licenses
• new and updated hardware and software
• more time to attend workshops and seminars
• PowerPoint and Excel training
• greater computer access in faculty offices
• assistance from ITC in installing software and configuring computers.

Finally, the following feedback was received from the FTLs (assume sic):

• This concept of FTLs is still new to a number of our colleagues.
• More opportunities for FTL members to share ideas and offer peer training on issues of concerns to faculty.
• More interaction among FTL faculty.
• Campus-wide policy formulation on technology utilization.
• Introduce FTLs to new technology suitable for application in teaching.
• Promote FTL services.

In early spring 2000, FTLs met with ITC staff members to learn about the new Web and mail servers that were implemented in fall 1999.  Ms. Kim Robinson, ITC Training Manager, demonstrated features of the new mail server and Mr. John Lewis, ITC Webmaster, provided information about the new Web server and the availability of new software applications.

As in fall 1999, the Center solicited feedback from the FTLs at the end of the spring 2000 semester.  The survey results follow.

Eighty-five percent (11 of 13) of the FTLs completed the survey.  The FTLs assisted their colleague an average of 3.7 times per week (range 0-7).  The FTLs reported that they spent as few as zero hours and as many as 5 hours per week assisting faculty members (average of 2 hours per week).  They assisted colleagues with:

• basic operating skills (e.g., Windows 98)
• Web navigation and Web page authoring
• e-mail
• software installation
• printer, other equipment (e.g., LCD projectors, laptops, expansion boards), and network configurations
• internal Zip drives installation
• Banner (university academic and administrative intranet application) questions.

The FTLs indicated what they perceive to be faculty technology needs that are inadequately met at present.  These technology needs include:

• access to accurate and current information about software updates and site licenses that are available to faculty and students
• accurate, up-to-date, and more informative ITC website
• more knowledge and training with regard to the university network
• assistance from ITC personnel to install software and configure computers
• university access to current virus protection software.

The FTLs also made the following comments and suggestions (assume sic):

• I think FTL program is serving its purpose well.  No changes needed at this time.
• FTLs could act as a subcommittee of TLTR.
• Some faculty refuse to make use of ANY computers.
• Further training is needed; the level of need is increasing.  Many of the faculty members in the Communications have technology needs specific to their courses.  The Journalism faculty members are very involved in newspaper related technology (Programs like Pagemaker, Quark, Photoshop, FTP, and Web design software).  The Broadcasting faculty is moving into video and sound editing.  The Speech faculty members are involved in the use of SPSS.  This is not to suggest that the FTLs should address these issues, but only to indicate the level of faculty need.
• The FTL position should be re-defined relative to the overall university information technology hierarchy and a more formalized relationship with ITC should be forged.

The FTL program continues to fill a faculty technology support need at webusers.  Feedback from the FTLs, albeit a limited sample size, indicates that there remains need for an Information Technology Center that consistently and routinely provides information to the Xavier community regarding, for example, software upgrades.  Moreover, there is great need for information about any number of technology issues and concerns, including appropriate network policies and procedures, and a strategic plan for IT at webusers.  Although the FTL program has alleviated, to a small degree, the technology "support service crisis," it has not sufficiently reduced the crisis.  Significantly more support is needed from ITC to further reduce this crisis.  Fortunately, several significant changes were made within ITC during the 1999-2000 academic year.  Discussion of these changes follows.  It should be noted that these changes were not funded by this grant.

Information Technology Center

The University's information technology (IT) support center has gone through several changes since Year I of this grant.  In spring 1999, the President of Xavier University, Dr. Norman Francis, established a new administrative position that would serve the diverse IT needs of the university. Mr. George Baker, the Associate Vice President for Technology Administration, directs the Office of Technology Administration.  As a direct result of Mr. Baker's work, as well as personnel changes in ITC, the organizational structure of ITC has been rebuilt to include several associate directors, including:

• Associate Director of Software Systems
• Associate Director of Network
• Associate Director of Technical Support
• Associate Director of Academic Relations

Perhaps of most note-worthiness with regard to faculty support, is the Associate Director of Academic Relations.  This position holds great potential for identifying and supporting, in efficient and effective ways, faculty members' and other academic technology needs.  The Associate Director of Academic Relations will be a key link, in particular, among the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable, the Center, and ITC.

It was noted in the Year I interim report that all but two university buildings were connected to the university network and that most faculty members have a networkable computer at their desktops.  Since that report was written, all university buildings are connected to the network and every faculty member has a networked computer at his or her desk.

Distance Education (Distributed Learning)

In drafting the position paper titled "Technology, Teaching, and Learning at Xavier University of Louisiana," members of TLTR discussed the place of distance education (distributed learning) at the university.  In its final, faculty-approved form, the position paper reads (as concerns distance education):

In the spring of 1998, the Xavier University TLTR undertook an extensive examination of the desirability and feasibility of distance or distributed learning, understood here as a curriculum delivered exclusively or primarily by computer, video, or other technologies (in contrast to courses enhanced by the use of information technology, but still preserving face-to-face interaction between teachers and students). Discussants agreed that distance learning in the sense of remotely delivered classes, electronic courses, and similar undertakings would probably not in the near future serve the needs of the majority of Xavier undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences.  In demographic terms, Xavier will in all likelihood continue to draw the "traditional" student, 18 to 22 years of age and living either on campus or in the immediate New Orleans area. Indeed, TLTR during its discussion made the formal recommendation that the handful of TV courses currently listed in Xavier's course offerings be abolished, in part because those courses were being taken primarily by resident or area undergraduates who had no demonstrable need for a remotely delivered course.

However, TLTR recognizes that graduate and professional school students will be well served by distance learning in the sense described above, and faculty in several areas have already expressed an interest in developing appropriate distance learning offerings. College of Pharmacy students completing post-baccalaureate studies or engaged in off-campus internships or other work required for licensure will be greatly assisted by the development of a distance learning program. Likewise, distance learning promises to enhance the educational experience of Xavier Graduate School students in a variety of programs, including the Division of Education and Nurse Anesthesiology. Many of these students already find themselves in a full-time employment situation that leaves them little flexibility for on-campus studies at webusers. A distance-learning program has the potential to make their course of study easier and more efficient. Ultimately, it may suggest ways in which distance learning can serve Xavier undergraduates as well.

Since distance learning directly affects the way the curriculum is delivered, it is essential that the university formulate institutional goals and policies in support of its distance learning initiatives. The Planning Council for Academic Affairs has already recommended (October 1999) that distance-learning courses need to be approved through established academic council procedures, for example.

Since the position paper was written, a Distributed Learning Coordinator has joined Xavier's library staff.  As noted in the job advertisement, "the primary responsibility of the Distributed Learning Coordinator is to lay the foundations for a distributed learning program at Xavier University."

Several factors, when considered collectively, led to the decision to create such a position.

1. As noted in the TLTR position paper, Xavier's College of Pharmacy has offered courses at a distance for purposes of continuing education.  There is also genuine interest in the Division of Education and Business department to offer courses, if not entire degree programs, through distance education.
2. The Vice President for Academic Affairs is committed to building a foundation that would permit Xavier to be in the position to offer more courses and perhaps degree programs via distance education.
3. Last, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) recently reaccredited the University.  The external review committee of the Association, however, made a handful of recommendations and suggestions.  Of particular relevance to this report are those suggestions regarding technology, and more specifically, distance education.  The following is excerpted from the Final Report from the SACS Visiting Team.

Committee suggests that a detailed description be formulated that provides clear and explicit goals concerning Distance Learning Programs (Criteria 4.5, page 39).  Further, the Committee suggests that the Institution demonstrates that it achieves these goals and that all Distance Learning Programs are effective and complies with all applicable Criteria.

If the Institution decides to pursue Distance Learning Programs the Committee suggests that a detailed description be formulated that provides clear and explicit goals concerning theses Program(s) (Criteria 4.5, page 39).  Further, the Committee suggests that the Institution assess these goals on a regular basis. 

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is currently reviewing its principles and requirements for accreditation (see the Proposed Principles and Requirements for Accreditation at http://www.sacscoc.org/COC/accrdoc.PDF).  It is expected that the new requirements will require even greater attention to all aspects of distributed learning, including planning, implementation, and assessment.

When considered together, the suggestions and the pending changes to the SACS criteria for accreditation make it imperative that the University thoughtfully and carefully build a foundation on which a successful distributed learning program may be offered.  Hiring an experienced and knowledgeable Coordinator of Distributed Learning is an important first-step toward these ends.

It is important to mention again that the Center has participated, albeit a small degree at present, in the process of building this foundation.  Two events, in particular, demonstrate the role the Center has played.

1. In June 2000, representatives from eHigher Education.com and eCollege.com met with members of Xavier's faculty, staff, and administration to present a model for starting and managing the University's distributed learning efforts.
2. The Center is currently in the middle of the Web Course Management Systems Case Study.  The goal of this study is to examine course management systems such as WebCT and Blackboard in order to determine the type of support that should be provided to facilitate university-wide access to such tools.  More information about the case study is found on page 8.

In October 1998, a Gateway 21 Project technology survey was administered to Xavier faculty members.  The survey results indicated that there exist at Xavier four barriers to using technology in the classroom.  The barriers include:

1. network infrastructure
2. availability of desktop computers
3. lack of technical support
4. lack of technology training.

The University community is working to minimize, if not eliminate, these barriers.  This faculty development and technology grant has contributed to this effort.  During the 2000-2001 academic year, the Center will re-administer the Gateway 21 Project technology survey.  The results of the survey will be presented in the Year III report in fall 2001.

Measuring Impact of Grant Activities

Faculty Participation

This grant has made available to the Xavier community a great variety of relevant and important resources, from workshops, travel grants, teaching, research, and service opportunities, computer hardware and software, technology support, etc.  Additionally, this grant has supported faculty members by providing for release time and stipends.  The substantial portion of Xavier's faculty who has been involved in various grant activities in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching best indicates the sweeping appeal of these resources.  During each of the first two years of this grant, 63% of Xavier's faculty members were involved in one or more Center activities (Tables 7 and 8).  The Center, though pleased with this level of faculty involvement, will continue to explore ways in mobilize even greater faculty energies in its faculty development and technology program.

Faculty Reports

As in Year I, faculty members supported by this grant were required to submit progress and final project reports.  These project reports assist the Center in determining the degree to which project objectives were reached.  They also provide the Center a sense of how the project affected faculty professional development and student learning.  The reports are available in the Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Faculty Survey

In an attempt to measure the impact of Center activities such as workshops and brown bag discussions, the Center developed and administered a survey.  The survey was distributed to 121 faculty members and administrators who had participated in Center activities during summer 1999 and the 1999-2000 academic year.  Just 21 of the surveys were returned from faculty members.  The results of the survey follow.

The data obtained from the survey, albeit limited, will be moderately helpful to the Center as it plans workshops, symposia, and other events for the 2000-2001 academic year.  The survey results and faculty comments provide the basis for a few general observations.

• Only one faculty member indicated that he or she is not using and has no plans to use information presented at an event.  All other respondents plan to use or are currently using information learned from having attended a Center event.
• Web authoring, student assessment, and WebBoard are the most frequent topics about which faculty members wish to receive more information.
• The time available for faculty to attend events may be insufficient.  Similarly, the time and dates when events were scheduled may have prevented participation by an even greater number of faculty.
• Faculty members indicated an interest in more teleconference events.

Because of the poor response to the survey, the Center will rethink both the survey instrument and its administration.  The sorts of data that were expected from the survey are invaluable and must be obtained.

Conclusion

In determining the goals of the self-study in preparation for a review for accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Steering Committee at Xavier identified one major issue as significant to the enhancement of the University.  This issue was technology and its integration into the teaching and learning process.

The Steering Committee recognized that there are several challenges regarding information technology.  One such challenge, which is now faced by virtually every institution of higher learning in the world, involves faculty members' adoption of technology.  As noted in Xavier's TLTR position paper on information technology, "... (faculty members) contemplating the adoption of technology in their courses need personnel support, and where necessary ... training, release time, or stipend support ..."

This faculty development and technology grant is profoundly relevant to these and other challenges facing the Institution.  To be sure, the grant has permitted Xavier's faculty members to devote their creative energies to the development of truly educational technology for their students.  It is no secret that Xavier's faculty and administration share a deep commitment to improving student learning and enriching faculty scholarship through faculty development and technology initiatives.  The activities of this grant continue to clarify, expand, and renew these commitments.