How A System Birthed Dialogs

How a System Birthed Dialogs: The Place of Technology in Writing Centers Presented by: Peter Ellis, Information Technology Manager Sandra Yannone, Director of the Writing Center The Evergreen State College Writing Center 2007 Pacific Northwest Writing Center Association Conference At Whatcom Community College, Bellingham, WA

Session Outline
10 minutes The “Big Picture”: How has technology changed our operations?
10 minutes How a dialog birthed a system
10 minutes How a system birthed dialogs
30 minutes (interspersed) Questions and answers, general discussion

The “Big Picture”
2001-2002: Technology priorities
Create dynamic web site that reflects Center philosophy
Move from paper to computer-based scheduling (not necessarily web-based)
Fall 2002: Web site manager hired
Conversation: What does our web site do for us?

Writing Center Web Site March 18, 2003 Courtesy archive.org

Fall 2003: Peter hired as tutor
How did this change the dynamic?
Scheduling is done via Excel spreadsheet
Summer/Fall 2004: AccuTrack for scheduling
Web site conversation: evaluation content

Fall 2005: Student Originated Software begins work on new scheduling system
Priority of the web site becomes nearly nonexistent during system development

Winter 2006: Return to Excel spreadsheets for primary scheduling
Spring 2006: Presentation at 2006 PNWCA conference on philosophical approaches to Writing Center web sites, as well as the pre-conference session

August 2006: Information Technology Manager position begins and the conversation broadens…

What’s the common thread?
It’s not technology….
It’s that everything we’ve done is born out of conversation.
Our web site as a result of ongoing conversation: http:// www.evergreen.edu/writingcenter /

But there are still more questions…
Should the Information Technology Manager position continue?
Is its impact significant enough to warrant a continued line item in our biennial budget?

Questions? Comments?

Session Outline

How a Dialog Birthed a System
Scheduling system proposed as project in mid-Fall of 2005
What were Sandy’s concerns?
Project turned into two-person project with addition of Conrad Gudgel

How Dialog Birthed a System
Internal conversation between developers and Sandy about how Writing Center approaches its work
Conversation broadened to include Network Services to work out technical details

Our perception of the Writing Center’s work has already changed at end of Fall
Explicit statements of our business rules begun
Realization that we had the ability to create a solution that worked for everyone

Winter quarter, weekly conversations continue to narrow down specifics of Writing Center operations
Conversation with Network Services about technical details continues throughout the quarter
Weekly conversations with Student Originated Software faculty continues to inform development process

Focus group helps to provide a secondary perspective – that of tutors working day-to-day with appointment scheduling
System coded to usable point by Spring
Early April, meeting with Registrar to demo the system and address concerns regarding access to Banner for student information
We end up getting more than we asked for.

What is a usability test?
Method of checking developer’s ideas of what system looks like against reality
Method of gaining user feedback
Two usability tests done for system
How do all these conversations interact?

Questions? Comments?

Session Outline

How a System Birthed Dialogs
Sandy: Why bother with a hire?
How has that affected our conversations?

Conversation topics since the IT Manager’s hire:
How to communicate with other campus units
Scheduling system
Web site
Article for Writing Lab Newsletter
How is technology approached in writing centers?
Tutor training
Handout development

More conversation topics:
Technology budget and grant proposals
Shared drive
Institutional memory
Collaborating with College Archivist
Policy creation

Position begins in August with staff retreat planning
Fall quarter begins – issues with equipment replacement
Shared drive access/data maintenance policy
Benchmark statistics collection
Scheduling system used in Prime Time
Web site changes

The big changes at the end of Fall Quarter:
Technical communication is mostly routed through Information Technology Manager
Reactive vs. preventative

Winter Quarter starts off with conversations regarding technology funding
PLATO
College-wide review of information technology takes place – we’re not part of it, but we learn from it

Web site change: posting Inkwell and Ink, Paper, Conversation
Meeting with Registration and Records regarding new College policy using student e-mail as primary contact point
Drastic appointment system changes
Statistics gathering continues

Spring 2007 (so far…)
Preliminary biennium budget proposal
Scheduling system now in regular use in main Center
Shared drive is opened for general staff use

How A System Birthed Dialogs

by Peter Ellis on Mar 22, 2009

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How A System Birthed Dialogs — Presentation Transcript