Situation Target Proposal (STP) For CBC Technology

I'm on the newly revived Columbia Basin College Technology Committee. We had our first meeting on Dec 9, and it looks like a good group. Kim Tucker is leading the committee, and here are her opening remarks.



And here are some photos of some of the committee members. Please do not make fun of Nina until we move these photos to her blog. I asked her to do this!



The next step is to define where CBC is currently at regarding technology. Jerry Lewis volunteered himself, and then me to do this, and Brian Dexter said he'd also help. Jerry talked about doing a survey of what hardware and software people are using ... which could be useful to define our current situation.

But as I started to think about it, the things that define that define our current situation aren't really things. It's my belief that the important factors about our current situation are these properties of our technology tools and toys:

1. How easy is it for an instructor to use the tool. This could be measured in the number of hours of training required to begin using the tool, and the number of hours required to implement a class.
2. How easy is it for students to use the tool. This could be measured in the number of hours of training required to begin using the tool.
3. What measurable benefit is there. (Has any measurement been done at all?)
4. Cost of purchase.
5. Cost of ownership. This would include support and administration costs.

This line of thinking brings me around to seeing that I must've already defined some goals. It looks like I'm thinking that technology should:

1. Be easy for instructors and students to use
2. Have a measurable impact on student learning
3. Be inexpensive to purchase and maintain

I'd also like to add that I believe that in the near future educational software and teaching components will be "open". By this I mean there will one or two widely accepted XML standards for defining things that might be used in a class such as lecture or presentations; quizes tests and other assessment tools; exercises and labs; etc. I believe any tools we choose should support open standards. This will prevent us (by us I mean instructors and support staff in general) from wasting time developing class modules that we may have to abandon in the future. It will also allow us to easily share with other instructors and take advantage of the nature of Web 2.0.