1. The intersection of People, Information, and Technology.
Strategic Initiatives
2. College of Information Strategic Initiatives
The creation of the College of Information (COI)
produced a knowledge base in information, learning,
performance, and technology that provides a center
of excellence at the University of North Texas.
The Department of Learning Technology (LT) and
Department of Library and Information Sciences
(LIS) are each requesting one-time funding for a
technology based initiative for improving and
expanding efforts in distributed learning.
3. Department of Learning Technologies Initiative
The LT initiative is to develop and implement a
customized, integrated social and learning environment to
recruit, retain, and assist students.
• Allow learning opportunities outside the classroom
• Connect students with alumni and future employers
This proposal is the first step towards realization of a
project to combine the latest online technologies for
applications that extend beyond coursework to the whole
educational experience.
4. Rationale
CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF
TECHNOLOGY , INFORMATION, &
COMMUNICATION
• Challenges higher education
to rethink approach
• Must accommodate social
and collaborative nature of
online environment
STUDENTS WITH NATIVE ABILITY
TO TECHNOLOGY BASED
LEARNING MEDIA
• University learning
management systems become
inadequate
• Wikis, blogs, social
networking, shared
applications, have created a
different dynamic for
learning
PROPOSED INTEGRATED SYSTEM
WILL CREATE A FRAMEWORK
• To provide departments the
ability to leverage current
efforts and enhance efforts to
recruit, retain and graduate
students.
• Opportunity to create
enhanced learning
community & prototype for
integrated learning systems at
UNT
5. Resource Needs
This two-year project will involve collaboration between
the LT and LIS departments.
Student/faculty research group will begin creating and
integrated technologically enhanced learning system – two
students and one faculty member will initiate research
agenda
•Implement pilot study with limited group of faculty,
staff and students for Summer 2010
•Open pilot to all faculty, staff, students and alumni
August 2010
• Incorporate UNT initiatives such as iTunes U page
and relevant UNT CLEAR projects as appropriate
8. Budget
$30,840.00
$5,500.00
$6,000.00
Integrated Learning System Development Project
Payroll: Two (.5)FTE
Graduate Research
Assistants
Graduate faculty member
course buyout
Graduate Faculty member
summer salary
Infrastructure support is available, as COI has invested over $25,000 in the last year to
upgrade college and department servers to take advantage of the latest mobile and online
technologies.
9. Department of Library & Information Sciences Initiative
The LIS initiative is to expand its distributed learning
cohort programs at the master’s level with sufficient in-
house technology support to allow the department to
increase and improve the quality of teaching, research,
and service.
Electronic technologies are vital to all of these concerns,
and additional support will help free the faculty and staff
to do their parts in keeping the program a leader in an
increasingly competitive market.
10. Rationale
ADDITIONS IN MASTER’S COHORT
PROGRAMS
• Georgia, California, Virginia,
Nevada-Utah
• Increased burden on IT
support for LIS faculty
• Fall 2010 opening of cohort
of more than 70 students
from South Dakota,
Wyoming, Idaho, & Montana
(SWIM)
ONLINE LEARNING
ENVIRONMENTS DEMANDS
• Interactive information
sharing, interoperability, user
–centered design, &
collaboration among faculty
and students
• Blogs, Video-sharing, wikis,
etc.
• Specialized hardware and
software
MAINTENANCE OF TOOLS
• Currently faculty members
are responsible for system
administration of research
servers
• Lack of ability, permission,
or support to load software
• Lack of everyday IT support
• IT Specialist III position for
LIS is imperative
11. Resource Needs
IT – SIII Position
• Maintain distributed learning applications in conjunction with
CLEAR
•Ensure student storage capabilities, data recovery, and coordination
of faculty maintenance and access to all learning software
•Provide data mining and collection for faculty/assist with research
and educational data resources
•Stay current with changes in educational software and associated
applications
•Make recommendations for academic web standards, design, &
security
•Troubleshoot educational software and related software issues and
work with COI IT support to resolve
•Access server logs to aid in resolution of data requirements
•Support research computing needs of faculty, including basic system
administration in Linux/Unix research servers, monitoring security,
ensuring backup
12. Budget
$-
$10,000.00
$20,000.00
$30,000.00
$40,000.00
$50,000.00
IT SII Payroll Recruitment
Cost
Expense
Payroll
Recruitment Expenses
Faculty Travel
•IT Support specialist will help offset the cost of travel and recruitment.
•LIS distance cohort programs successful in generating income through OSTF
and DLFM models.
•IT –SIII position can be supported by revenues from SWIM cohort after the first
year.
13. The intersection of People, Information, and Technology.
Strategic Initiatives
Thank you.
