Professors get technical with new Teacher, Learning and Technology Center
Heather Bedolli
Issue date: 1/25/02 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
WIU faculty has the advantage to improve teaching and keep up to date on technology with the new Teacher, Learning and Technology Center, located in Tillman Hall 301.
The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Fine Arts and Communication held an open house yesterday to celebrate the opening of the facility and invite the WIU community to check out the center.
The focus of the TLTC is to better educate the WIU faculty on computer technology so that the students can benefit from it.
The TLTC has an electronic classroom equipped with wireless laptop computers. These wireless laptops are connected via wireless cards to the campus network and are very easy to transport.
When the faculty members have meetings and need to break up into small discussion groups, they can pick up their laptops and carry them to wherever they need to go. There will also be a few laptops on loan so faculty members can take along to meetings or use if they are going out of town. There is also a station for video editing and spaces for small group discussion.
The creation of the TLTC was started last spring.
Jim Schmidt, the assistant dean of College of Arts and Sciences, is in charge of direct efforts regarding technology. Last summer, Schmidt attended a seminar at Frye Institute in Atlanta. It was there that he got the idea for his "Practicum Project." He came back here and applied his ideas and knowledge to benefit WIU.
Some future programs will be Faculty Development Programs. Melford Olson, head of Faculty Development, Jean Wolf, an active worker of Faculty Development and Schmidt all want to get the faculty talking about teaching. They have created small discussion groups that will read books on technology and teaching and discuss them.
The TLTC was helped funded by the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the College of Arts and Sciences and the university libraries. The Physical Plant and Academic Computing assisted in putting the TLTC together. So far, the WIU faculty has been enthusiastic about the TLTC.
"I'm very impressed," Lori Baker-Sperry, professor of women's studies, said.
Besides the new equipment included in the electronic classroom, some faculty members enjoy the comfortable atmosphere.
"The addition of art and plants and comfortable furniture creates a space where community building is encouraged, which is what technology should be doing for us; building a community," Cathy Null of Wesel Institute said.
The Center will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, visit the TLTC web site at www.wiu.edu/tltc or call (309) 298-1632 or (309) 298-1828.
The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Fine Arts and Communication held an open house yesterday to celebrate the opening of the facility and invite the WIU community to check out the center.
The focus of the TLTC is to better educate the WIU faculty on computer technology so that the students can benefit from it.
The TLTC has an electronic classroom equipped with wireless laptop computers. These wireless laptops are connected via wireless cards to the campus network and are very easy to transport.
When the faculty members have meetings and need to break up into small discussion groups, they can pick up their laptops and carry them to wherever they need to go. There will also be a few laptops on loan so faculty members can take along to meetings or use if they are going out of town. There is also a station for video editing and spaces for small group discussion.
The creation of the TLTC was started last spring.
Jim Schmidt, the assistant dean of College of Arts and Sciences, is in charge of direct efforts regarding technology. Last summer, Schmidt attended a seminar at Frye Institute in Atlanta. It was there that he got the idea for his "Practicum Project." He came back here and applied his ideas and knowledge to benefit WIU.
Some future programs will be Faculty Development Programs. Melford Olson, head of Faculty Development, Jean Wolf, an active worker of Faculty Development and Schmidt all want to get the faculty talking about teaching. They have created small discussion groups that will read books on technology and teaching and discuss them.
The TLTC was helped funded by the College of Fine Arts and Communication, the College of Arts and Sciences and the university libraries. The Physical Plant and Academic Computing assisted in putting the TLTC together. So far, the WIU faculty has been enthusiastic about the TLTC.
"I'm very impressed," Lori Baker-Sperry, professor of women's studies, said.
Besides the new equipment included in the electronic classroom, some faculty members enjoy the comfortable atmosphere.
"The addition of art and plants and comfortable furniture creates a space where community building is encouraged, which is what technology should be doing for us; building a community," Cathy Null of Wesel Institute said.
The Center will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, visit the TLTC web site at www.wiu.edu/tltc or call (309) 298-1632 or (309) 298-1828.