More than just Cool Tools
If you are older than 40, the word "technology" probably wasn't a buzzword when you were an undergraduate. For today's student, it's still not. It's a given. Students expect technology to be part of their university experience. At The University of Arizona, students are not disappointed because they are offered an array of technological resources.
From wired classrooms and online courses to blogging and podcasting, students and faculty experience enhanced learning and teaching. Web-based software enables online course conduction. Faculty can post assignments and readings. Students can submit papers. Online discussions can occur in a 24/7 environment.
The Manuel Pacheco Integrated Learning Center — UA's newest classroom facility — houses 14 high-tech classrooms. More than half of UA's other classrooms have an instructor workstation, projection units, audio enhancements, network connectivity and more.
The Learning Technologies Center (LTC) works with instructors to transform ideas into reality. Developing course Web sites, creating blogs, providing video capture and developing graphics and animation are a few of the ways LTC supports incorporating technology into instruction. LTC staff have backgrounds in programming, instructional design and assessment, marketing, graphic and web design and libraries. Many teach on campus. All are committed to facilitating the world-class education UA offers.
And LTC's creative solutions really catch on. Dr. Susan Penfield needed to record communications with the Native Language speakers on the Mojave reservation in Parker, Arizona. The LTC created a Web site that allowed voice and video capture. It proved so effective it is now used by 14 sections of language instruction.
"It's empowering to have LTC's amazing resources at my disposal. One student described me as �'being ahead of the curve.' I have LTC to thank for that," said Leila Hudson, assistant professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies.
To put technology in the hands of students, the Office of Student Computing Resources (OSCR) hosts labs with state of the art equipment. It also provides opportunities for students to work in technical support roles.
AZLive is yet another way technology is part of the UA experience. It is an immersive environment where computer graphics, stereoscopic projection and surround sound combine so that researchers, faculty and students can explore a three dimensional virtual reality. Its uses are many. Landscape architecture Professor Oscar Blazque is exploring the visualization of landscaped environments in his Modeling and Visualization class. Molecular and cellular biology Professor Vince Guerriero is using it to determine the structure of two interacting proteins.
But as any academic technologist will tell you, it's not about the tools. It's about the people with bright and active minds using them. The tools-and the minds-at UA make for one powerful intellectual environment. Pretty cool.
LTC & OSCR Tours
Learn about the use of multimedia tools in teaching, view the Virtual Reality Annex and visit AZLive and high tech classrooms on tours offered by LTC and OSCR. All tours must be coordinated in advance. Contact Jim Austin, Director of Learning Technologies, at (520) 626-2621 or jaustin@ email.arizona.edu.
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