Ed Tech Blog
This is a guest post provided by Nanda Krish from Wisewire. I found the information to be relevant and in line with the value of content we like to provide on our Collaborate! blog. Please note: FSR doesn't endorse (or not endorse) Wisewire, as we have not evaluated their services. But we thank them for sharing this information with our readers! Enjoy:
You have a unique challenge ahead of you. You know valuable learning tools are emerging and your institution needs to keep up with educational trends. But working within a budget, juggling your day-to-day tasks, and trying to have meaningful conversations with people short on time is not easy. How do you convince multiple education professionals to invest in adaptive learning tools and materials (available from numerous online sources, including Wisewire), which may be an unfamiliar approach to student learning?
What Matters?
Gaining support for any initiative in higher education will always be contingent on whether the idea is best for students. It’s important to completely understand the benefits of adaptive learning tools for individual students and be prepared to describe these benefits to key stakeholders. In addition to basic questions, leaders will have their own specific areas of concern—likely related to the area they’re responsible for within the university. For example, every leader will be interested in costs associated with your proposal, but an institution’s Chief Financial Officer will have a long list of detailed questions on the topic.
Student Benefits
Each department within an educational institution has at minimum an indirect connection to students, if not a direct one. Keeping students happy is a generally accepted goal for department heads, though it isn’t always possible. Many situations will arise where you won’t be able to make every student happy, but adaptive learning tools may be one...
Involving and engaging commuter students on campus is a priority for schools. Generally, commuter student retention is lower than students living on-campus or in college owned housing. This could be the result of a number of factors: commuter students not feeling connected to the school brand (house proud); lack of social connectedness; increased distractions/ responsibilities from non-academic sources; lack of amenities on school grounds created for their complex lifestyle, etc.
StateUniversity.com claims, “Because commuter students spend limited time on campus and limited time creating relationships with other students, faculty, and staff, they have fewer opportunities to engage in quality interactions with these individuals. Therefore they are less likely to make a strong commitment to the university or its programs and are more likely to drop out of school than residential students.”
Fortunately, technology offers a conduit to increased connectivity. While technology alone will not be a campus cure-all for commuter retention, it can help support engagement, encourage group interactivity and provide conveniences to keep commuters on campus longer.
- Technology Rich Lounges- lounges located in central locations are good for commuter students who need a place to park in between classes. Dedicated areas with student- accessible TV’s can promote student interaction.
Read more: How Can Technology Help Engage The Commuter Student?
This article was originally published on rAVe Pubs. It has been reposted here with the author's permission because this message is too important to not spread. In addition, the link to the podcast mentioned, can be found here.
PASS: An Alliance You Need to Know About
By Scott Tiner
rAVe Columnist
Last month for rAVe Ed, I wrote an article about school safety. I was inspired by the Parkland students, who suffered a horrible tragedy and decided to do something to make sure others did not have to suffer a similar tragedy. I specifically avoided talking politics and law. I think there is a place for that, but this is not it. I had a vision where those of us in the AV industry could use our skills, talents and numbers to help make schools safer. When I wrote it, I realized it was a huge ask and may not be very likely, but I dared to dream. The morning after the article was first published, I heard from a friend in the industry. He had read the article and was inspired by it. He wanted to host a podcast to try and publicize the idea, and asked if I would...
Read more: Guest Post: PASS: An Alliance You Need to Know About
At the Midwest College and University AV Summit, we were able to tour one of the most technology rich 2-year colleges I have seen- Saint Paul College. While the technology in the classrooms was impressive, it was the technology in the technical areas of the college that were truly exciting. In general, 2 year colleges are under-funded and are, therefore, stuck in a cycle where the budget only allows for minimal upgrades over time. Larger technology investments are typically put on hold, indefinitely.
Saint Paul College is different. Consistently ranked in the top 10 technical and community colleges in the US, they have found a way to stand out. We toured high-technology sim labs for their nursing and medical sciences programs with observation rooms and lecture capture equipment tailored to help students and faculty review the information they need, effectively and efficiently. We tried out divisible flex-rooms with installed wireless presentation products for content sharing.
VR Technology for Skilled Trades
But, one of the unique spaces that made an impression on me was the welding shop. Located in the basement, they teach four or five (or more) different welding techniques in this large and well-outfitted area. Available to students...
There has been some discussion recently about recommending AV consultants. It’s an especially tough type of recommendation because all projects’ scope, firm specialties and overall bandwidth are different and can change in weeks and sometimes days depending on multiple variables. Ultimately what you should be looking for is an overall stable firm with a good reputation and a specialty team, if needed for your project (acoustics for theaters and music halls, large venue focus for arenas, etc). It also helps if the consultant has a local office or at least a clause in the contract that they will be available and on campus when needed.
Most institutions have a process for hiring a technology consultant including a thorough and multi-stage interview process, a portfolio review of prior projects of similar size and scope, and a cost analysis. But what happens when you come away from the process with what you think is a winning firm, until things start going sideways. What are the signs that signal red flags for your consultant-client relationship?
- They start questioning or changing your established standards, without discussion.- Some experts (as you hope most consultants are) often think they are helping you by changing out...
Read more: Three Signs It May Be Time To Look For Another AV Consultant
Five well known audiovisual and classroom technologies manufacturers, FSR, Inc, Biamp Systems, Christie Digital, Draper, Inc. and Quam Nichols, have partnered to offer a full day of cost free training to AV industry technology managers.
The Technology Managers’ Summit (TMS), formerly the Higher Education Technology Summit (HETS), was originally created for college and university managers of educational technology to combine a day of product training, networking and peer-to-peer discussions in a fast moving format. After considering the great success of this format among those in higher education, the team of 5 manufacturers decided to expand the audience to all technology managers including education, corporate, government, hospitality, worship, etc. Also new this year: Tim Albright of AVNation will be the TMS host and moderator.
Gina Sansivero, Director of Business Development, Education at FSR, Inc tells why they expanded the audience reach. “As industry leading manufacturers, we understand that the challenges that educational technology managers face are not exclusive to their market. All technology managers are increasingly taking on more responsibility to develop technology standards and specify products for their in-house AV systems.”
Michael Frank, Sales Development Director, Eastern North America at Biamp Systems notes, “Technology managers typically have limited budgets...
Read more: NEW NAME, EXPANDED FOCUS FOR THIRD TECHNOLOGY SUMMIT
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