Joseph Coulombe

Faculty Consultant

IET:Mediaworks - The Arbor

 

WASC Report information from The Arbor.

 


The Arbor was initiated by Information Technology with a mission  "To provide support to faculty in the use of instructional technology to improve the quality of learning at UC Davis".

Our Goals:

á      Provide teaching & technology services/resources to faculty and those who support faculty

á      Provide a fully functional facility for faculty discussion/collaboration/use regarding teaching & technology 

 

Originally, The Arbor was part of Information Resources and was assigned to IET: Mediaworks when it was formed in July 2000.  Services provided include consultation, personal training, small group training, referral to services, workshops, demonstrations, seminars, and outreach.  The support programs have been developing rapidly over the past two years with introduction of the Meet The EXPERTS presentations by Mediaworks professional staff, "Teaching, Learning, and Technology workshops, and noontime Brown Bags for faculty by faculty.  New technology is opening up additional support to faculty with the inclusion of a wireless transmitter, CD and DVD write ability, video editing and Laserjet color printing.  

 

Consultation is focused on using technology to develop instruction including presentation, internet, use of images, file management, and referral. Many times the faculty member needs additional services from Mediaworks, other Information and Educational Technology departments, Teaching Resources Center, campus libraries, or off campus vendors.  The consultation services can also include internet search as well as internet search training.

 

Personal training provided is most effective when it is one-on-one. These are the clients who have a specific goal. There is usually a completed project as the result of this service.  Many of these clients quickly advance to more complex projects and uses of software and hardware.  This is evidence that one of the best results from the services provided at The Arbor is assisting faculty by removing reluctance to use technology.

 

Small group training is sometimes hands-on, more often it is a demonstration, seminar, or workshop.  There have been literally hundreds of these events over the past few years. They have included demonstrations of course management software, voice recognition software, collection/notation software, and remote collaboration tools. Some are done as support for other departments. Teaching Resources Center hosts Brown Bag lunches where faculty members demonstrate their favorite software to other faculty and support staff. Information Resources coordinates faculty demonstrations of the web portal MyUCDavis at The Arbor.  One-on-one training using MyUCDavis is conducted at The Arbor by appointment. Classroom Technology Services provides The Arbor with the Smart Panel classroom projection system to enable training of faculty away from the classroom. This greatly assists faculty in learning to use the equipment before they enter the classroom. Again, this helps build confidence and remove the reluctance to use technology because there is training, assistance, and support available through efforts from IET.

 

The Educational Technology Partners program harnesses the time and expertise of students to help faculty members learn about and use educational technology effectively.

Twelve students are paired with faculty partners for one quarter. The primary aim of this program is to use the concept of the community of learners so faculty members can learn to use educational technology effectively and easily. The highly effective ET Partners program is headquartered at The Arbor.

 

Information and Educational Technology Office of Information and Events schedules information events for faculty at The Arbor. Announcement of the Student Computer Ownership expectation was supported by information seminars to explain and provide a forum for questions regarding the important university decision. They have also conducted usability studies of websites and portals.

 

The Arbor partners with the following departments:

Classroom Technology Services

            Smart Panel training and support

            Quick Response Team training

            Classroom Review

Computer Lab Management

            New Media Center 

Teaching Resources Center

Summer Institute on Technology in Teaching

Brown Bags

Course management software.

Shields Library

            New Digital Librarian

            Software training

Art History Slide Library

            Image Database

Language Learning Lab

            Seminars and workshops

University Extension

            Distance Learning

UCD Medical Center

            Training and services

 

The Arbor has supported the following Outreach programs:

            Davis Honors Challenge

            Division of Education - CRESS

            Second Language Acquisition

            Technology for K-12 History

            Tower of Youth - Teen Digital Reel competition