Appendix II: Minutes

Xavier University of Louisiana's Center for the Advancement of Teaching
Minutes of the faculty roundtable held in connection with
The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning Virtual Conference
3 November 1998

On Tuesday afternoon, in connection with The Collaboration's Virtual Conference, eighteen Xavier faculty members gathered to discuss the implications of technology for teaching and learning in general and more specifically at Xavier. Randy Bass' keynote provided the starting point for discussion; several participants spoke of the "anxiety" or risk factor associated with the adoption of technology as a teaching tool. Risky as it may be (not least because of the difficulties in evaluating faculty technology projects for tenure and promotion issues), a consensus emerged that faculty must forge ahead with the incorporation of technology, for two reasons. First, despite lack of quantifiable evidence, experience seems to indicate that students are enthusiastic about learning with the aid of computers. Second, there is no choice but that faculty and students both "learn to learn" with technology: facility in "computer culture" is an essential component of the post-graduation world of almost all of our students.

This second factor--that computers simply cannot be ignored or avoided--raised another point in discussion, namely, that technology itself can shape the content of what we teach. In this respect, a divergence from some of Bass' arguments was expressed, namely, that technology is not always a passive tool to enhance the learning process. Rather, what is learned may be drastically changed by even the simplest of technologies. A faculty member in our math department, for example, pointed out that the invention of a graphing calculator has meant that what was previously a large part of many math curricula--math skills development--has been rendered obsolete by a hand-held tool that can be purchased for two hundred dollars or less.

Concern was indeed voiced about the basic fact that hundreds of thousands of dollars at any given institution (such as Xavier) are being poured into faculty technology development based on the assumption that the use of computers by teachers and students improves the learning process--a premise hanging by a very thin thread, as the jury, in terms of hard data and well-developed studies, is still out.

In closing, discussion participants drafted a short list of issues and questions (both local and some more far-reaching) about the use of technology in teaching and learning:

• Do student and faculty roles change in electronic environments?
• Are faculty inhibited from making greater use of technology because of a perceived or real lack of incentives, rewards, and support?
• Students need help in adapting to multiple learning environments, including technology-rich environments;
• There is uncertainty about what uses of technology and Internet resources are really effective.
• There is need to carefully consider the relationship between technology tools and resources and learning goals.
• If it is contented that making greater use of educational technologies is vital to student learning and an institution's future, what means exist to support and reward faculty who incorporate technology into teaching? Also, is the faculty member who chooses not to use the technology at some sort of "career disadvantage"?
• From where will the student and faculty support and training come?
• How do we pay for the infrastructure, hardware, and software?