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Introduction
The Reedley College
Technology Plan is intended to be a ?snapshot? of where the
campus is at this time and where we wish to go concerning
technology-related issues and goals. Technology, by its very
nature, is changing rapidly so this plan is intended to be
part of an ongoing planning process. This plan should be
seen as a dynamic rather than static document and will be
revisited periodically for evaluation, adjustment or major
change.
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The following are links
to
Reedley College
and SCCCD planning documents used
in the development of this plan:
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Technology Vision Statement
The college is committed to the use of
technology to further its
mission, purpose and
values as a public institution, including accessibility to
services at an affordable cost, at convenient locations and
times.
Technology is an integral part of many departments in the
academic area. The importance of technology is increasing as
new, innovative methods of teaching and learning are
developed. It is imperative that the technology available in
the classroom for instruction be fully functioning and
up-to-date. Computers increase our ability to develop more
effective teaching practices and they afford students a way
to gain convenient access to information.
Reedley College students, faculty and staff utilize
technology in a variety of ways:
Students use technology to learn in ways that are
interactive, flexible, personalized and convenient. Technology engages their interest, and encourages them
to collaborate, inquire, and explore effectively, far
beyond the bounds of the campus. Online access to
campus resources is especially important for Reedley College
students living in Orange Cove, Squaw Valley, Oakhurst and
other feeder communities which are far removed from the main
campus. Support for student
efforts to learn both independently and collaboratively,
and at their own pace, comes from other students,
faculty, and staff members.
Teachers use technology to develop new instructional
methods that address the needs of students with
different learning styles, academic backgrounds, work schedules,
and levels of motivation. This technology enables
teachers to interact with students on and off campus, to keep current in their disciplines,
to communicate with peers, to evaluate their own
instructional efforts, and to remain responsive to the local
community's needs.
The college uses technology
to transact its business with more efficiency and greater
service. Students have round-the-clock access
to information about their own college records, course
offerings, program requirements and transfer procedures, so
that they can take responsibility for their own educational
progress. Technology also makes it possible for
students to ask for personal help whenever they need it.
Both faculty and staff can participate in a flexible work
environment that allows them to match their work habits to
their own interests, skills, and personality. The
entire college community uses technology to build effective
bridges with other educational institutions, agencies, and
employers.
Members of the campus
community at Reedley College use technology to participate
responsibly in a culturally-diverse, global society.
It helps them prepare for successful transfer to other
educational institutions, for more rewarding employment, or
for advancement within their chosen careers.
Vision for Technology in
the California Community Colleges
Technology II - Strategic Plan 2000-2005
Board of Governors
To provide open access to
academic and vocational instruction at the lower division
level for both younger and older students, including those
persons returning to school, as well as to advance
California's economic growth and global competitiveness
through education, training, and services that contribute to
continuous work force improvement.
Technology Goals
G = General, S = Students, F
= Faculty
1. The college will provide the proper
training to all members of the college community (students,
faculty, staff) to enable them to use the appropriate
technology. (G)
2. The college will continually assess the contribution of
technology to instruction, student services and business
services. (G)
3. Technology will be evaluated each year to maintain and
upgrade hardware and software to insure that state-of-the-art learning
environments and delivery systems are available to all
students, instructors and staff. The college
will assess current instructional technology
practices in order to develop long-term instructional
technology policies, conduct an inventory of current
hardware and software, and develop a campus technology plan.
(G)
4. The college will upgrade classroom and lab computers to
state-of-the-art technology within the various fields on a
regular basis. (G)
5. The college will integrate basic computer skills into all
curriculum. (G)
6. The college will provide technology support
(RC CS Department) for the
maintenance and installation of network infrastructure. (G)
7. The
college will increase staff development opportunities
that focus on technology, awareness of disabilities, and
accommodations of disabilities in the learning process. (G)
8. The college will increase services on the college website
to include an on-line application for admissions,
registration, on-line advising, placement testing,
orientation, purchase of books, scholarship information,
financial aid resources, and supplemental web pages by
instructors. (G)
9. The
college will strive to develop technology-competent
students. (S)
10.
The college will continue to provide students a variety of opportunities to earn a degree
or certificate through technology-based education. All students, whether on campus or off campus, will have
opportunities to engage in varied learning experiences. (S)
11. The college will develop
electronic programs for student orientation and advising
that are designed primarily for students at the community
campus sites. (S)
12.
The college will continue to actively encourage and
support faculty's use and production of technology-based
courses by providing appropriate incentives. (F)
13.
The college will provide the infrastructure to facilitate
instructional technology. (F)
14. To accommodate
technology-based instruction, the college will actively seek
funding sources to sufficiently support and staff needed
technology, training, courseware, and support services -
such as the current Title V collaborative grant with FCC.
(F)
15. The college will maintain faculty computers at a level
that will allow them access to information within the
college technology system and current operating system
software for classroom and lab uses. (F)
Planning
and Assessment
In an effort to continue planning and
institutionalizing educational technology into the
day-to-day function and operation of the college, the
Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) has been given the task
of developing the initial draft of the
Reedley College
Technology Plan.
The TAC
membership consists of the following
voting members: faculty (department representatives), student
services including counseling, business services, office of instruction.
(Link to TAC charter, mission, membership).
The Technology Advisory
Committee will survey the campus annually and review the
Technology Plan periodically to determine technology needs.
The TAC will receive on a regular basis input from the
administration, academic senate, classified senate, computer
services and
the district office IS department to help analyze collected data
or potential projects
to further predict and plan for technology needs campus wide. The TAC will submit recommendations
- based on the survey findings as well as the review
of specific projects - to the President's Cabinet, the
Academic Senate, the Classified Senate and the Facilities
Committee.
By following an
organized and institutionalized technology plan
Reedley College
will maximize investment in technology and bring about a
cost-effective approach to the utilization of educational
technology.
Students
Reedley College
will
continue to develop and
promote online systems (courses, programs, certificates,
degrees, services) that give all students access to college
administration, faculty, classes, services and learning
resource centers.
Online services and information currently includes access to college:
Counseling and Career
Planning
Student Resources
Enrollment Services
Student Health Services
Student Activities,
Organizations and Events
Business Office Services
Contact Information for Staff/Faculty
 Reedley College
students will be able to progress into and through the
college experience more readily with the assistance of
on-campus and online educational technology - and the
college will continue to develop more efficient systems that allow students to look up schedules
and grades (using WebAdvisor), communicate and collaborate with
their instructors or other students (using the Blackboard
online management system), take a greater variety of online
classes, or find information from a variety of sources
(library databases, the
Reedley College
Website, and the Internet in general).
In the future students will be able to purchase textbooks
online and carry on other forms of e-commerce associated
with the college. These services will be comparable to
those services available to on-campus students and in a manner that is fully accessible
for all students, including students with disabilities.
The college will
support
equality in the educational experience of students by
providing both the adaptive computer technology and
faculty/staff training needed to assist students with
disabilities.
Student comments from Terri Main's online Speech 2
class (Fall
2004)
Instructors
 Faculty
will use technology creatively to improve the quality of
instruction. They will empower students by permitting
greater access to information, and by increasing the variety
of learning options. Faculty will be supported by
qualified technical staff and training to assist them in
promoting student success.
RC will provide staff development funds, training and
support for faculty wishing to acquire or improve teaching
skills, methodologies, and pedagogy in the use of instructional
technology - or to work with
approved emerging technologies.
Faculty are encouraged to use
e-mail, online internet research,
multimedia presentations and the newly expanded online course management
program, Blackboard, as part of student
assignments.
Faculty are encouraged to provide a variety of technological tools that enhance
the student's ability to learn (word processing, use of
spreadsheets, etc) as well as to facilitate
student processes outside of the classroom (enrollment,
registration, financial aid, counseling, tutoring, search for career
information, etc.)
Faculty are encouraged to assess the quality, quantity, and variety of
technological tools available to students with a goal of
continuous improvement in all areas, in and out of the
classroom.
The college should solicit student, faculty and staff recommendations
- utilizing surveys, campus-wide meetings or perhaps an
online
suggestion box - as to
new technology tools to be purchased.
Reedley College
as part of
the new Title V Collaborative Grant will develop a Distance Learning plan (Distributed Learning
Plan) in conjunction with FCC and the NC. The
college will insure that all technologies are ADA compliant
and will develop a distance learning or online learning
capability that offers off-campus students the same
quality and breadth of courses and services as their
on-campus peer. A major part of implementation of
the Title V Collaborative Grant will be to utilized an
expanded
Blackboard Academic Suite
system incorporating the following components into all
aspects of campus life:
Learning System
is a web-based course management platform hosted by
Blackboard which provides a variety of pedagogical tools
for the instructor (online assignments, Gradebook, email
contact with students, Virtual Classroom, discussion
boards, etc.) and is fully integrated with our Datatel
system.
The
Content System
is a
content management application which includes capabilities
in four key areas: Learning Content Management, e-Portfolio
Management, Virtual Hard Drive Management and Library
Digital Asset Management.
The
Community System
(also known as a portal system)
features a customizable community environment that unifies
academics, e-commerce, communities, and administrative
services online through an integrated interface.
The college will continue to
enhance the Learning Resource Center (LRC) in the soon to be
remodeled
library that will provide faculty and staff access to a
variety of technological equipment and appropriate training (OCR and
graphic image scanners, video capture devices, digital
cameras, computers for developing advanced PowerPoint
presentations, etc.).
Reedley
College
recognizes the importance of technology in the
learning process. The college will support pilot
projects/research and development to foster innovative
instructional technology applications in the technology
blended environment. The college will also encourage
the development of and support for:
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Train-the-trainer
programs for faculty and on-campus faculty training programs
using materials and techniques developed collaboratively
with other faculty and instructional designers.
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Faculty trainers will contribute best practices and lessons
learned which will be shared system-wide through the
Blackboard Community/Portal System.
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Faculty access to expertise, as needed, of the technology
support staff for class development, training, and
instructional support.
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Faculty access to
an innovation fund (as part of staff development) for reassigned time to
develop courses that use new, innovative, cost-effective
technology - including audio and video streaming media.
Student Services and Business Services
Reedley College
will continue to integrate
technology into college offices and support areas to ensure
that staff have the tools required to deliver services to
students and faculty efficiently and effectively.
Reedley College
will insure support staff members have access to the latest
equipment and software to enable them to enhance student
learning by creatively applying those tools in their work.
Reedley College will strive to
develop and make available training programs that enable staff to best utilize the
technology (hardware and software) that they are provided.
Hardware and Software
New faculty computers; new classroom AV presentation
equipment; hardware and software inventories, recycle policy, software upgrade policy Also, all
newly developed or purchased software and hardware should,
to the maximum extent possible, be designed with
accessibility in mind.
Follow the links below for various hardware and software
items:
Campus
hardware inventory
Campus
software inventory (2005-06 update
will be available soon)
Facility use fee schedule (for technology equipment)
Proposed plan
to upgrade and recycle all office and classroom hardware
(computers, printers, video projectors, etc.) and
software on a regular basis.
Define upgrade/recycle plan
Subnet
Upgrade Project Discuss this
project
Classroom
Upgrade Project Discuss this
project
Training
Expand/edit this
section to include the
methodology used to determine what kind of training is
desired by students, faculty and staff - and how it will be
determined. Software Training should be balanced between
focusing on the students' use of technology as a tool and
instructors' use of technology as a tool. Training
for faculty and staff allows an optimal use of technology.
Expands content knowledge, provides them with research-based
strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic
standards. Technology is to be used to produce
improvements in student achievement. Professional
development for technology use should be specific and help
teachers integrate technology into the curriculum content.
Instructors should see a direct link between the technology
and the curriculum for which they are responsible.
Exchange email FAQs - Basic Training
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Mailbox limit/maximum = 50Mb or 50,000Kb
(if exceeded your email service will stop - both
incoming and outgoing)
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SCCCD email obtained from home and work
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shared calendars
Learning
Resources Center (IRC) - Library
Reedley College
will provide access to information, regardless of
format or user location, through continued development of
library services and systems that will foster access to
system-wide information resources, enabling the college to
move toward a virtual library and learning resources
program. The college
will continue to
provide access to
library and learning assistance programs
for disabled students, including hardware,
software, workstations, networks, maintenance, training and
upgrades.
The college
will continue to
make available online a series of virtual catalogs and
learning resource data bases
for access by college students, faculty and staff.
Current available IRC databases are listed below and
summarized descriptions can be found on the
Library webpage:
Electronic Communication
It is important that the students, faculty, staff and administration
of Reedley College be able to
utilize state-of-the-art technology to facilitate their
communication in classrooms, labs, learning resource centers
or libraries, offices (in the workplace and at home).
The following is a summary of the electronic communication
systems used on the Reedley College campus:
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WebAdvisor
for
Students is an
interactive web application that allows the student to view
his/her personal student information (Billing Summary,
Financial Aid Status, GPA, Register for a Term, Drop a
Class, View/Print your Class Schedule). The data accessed
is unique and confidential.
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WebAdvisor
for Faculty provides the instructor with class
rosters and grade information.
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WebAdvisor
for Staff provides staff with information about
sick leave and vacation days for administrative staff.
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MS Exchange Outlook email
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Reedley College
will continue to encourage all students, faculty and
staff to utilize all available forms of
electronic communication (email services in the office and
at home,
instant messaging and bulletin boards). Making
e-communication readily available will
help to prepare students for the 21st century.
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All faculty and staff are provided with a reedleycollege.edu
email address.
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All faculty and staff must be
trained on how to utilize email (and other forms of
e-communication) to the fullest potential and
encouraged/required to use it so that Reedley College will
move more quickly to a cost-effective paperless system.
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It is recommended that all
students be provided a district email account during the
initial admission/registration process.
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RC Website
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Blackboard
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CCCSAT - satellite system to deliver educational programming
to students and staff
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Wireless Communications
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Network-based services will become increasingly
available over wireless networks, offering users of
computers and other portable devices the ultimate in
flexibility and portability.
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Reedley College will
provide secure, reliable connectivity for wireless devices
in a variety of locations on campus (Library, outdoor areas
such as the Quad area, Student Lounge, Cafeteria, Staff
Dining Room, Presidents Conference Room, etc.) in order to
give our students and staff the desired flexibility
discussed above. We envision a phased-in approach to
wireless technology while still maintaining and upgrading
the on-campus high speed wired connections. As students and staff increase their
utilization of laptop/notebook computers and
PDA type devices, connectivity to student data, Internet,
library and academic computer applications will become
essential. The current technology for wireless provides connect speeds
of 11-54 Mbps whereas a wired LAN connection provides 100 Mbps. But for most existing student functions and for many staff
applications, wireless provides a flexible and
cost-effective alternative to extending the physical Local
Area Network (LAN) or
wiring of new classrooms or other computer-intensive
facilities.
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Other forms of e-communication
Technology Support - Computer Services
The Reedley College technical support staff
(Computer Services - CS) shall be responsible for
maintaining all college hardware and software including
the campus network system in conjunction with the
district office MIS department. It is especially
important that the CS staff maintain their technological
skills (including appropriate college support) to enable
them to cope with new technologies in their rapidly
changing field. CS must be able to improve and
maintain the system-wide network to support all aspects of
the educational process - classroom technology, student
services, business services, telecommunication, library
technology, Internet, Intranet, etc.
The links below outline various items related to the
CS department
Technology Budget
Reedley College will establish
an ongoing technology budget which will provide the
resources necessary to maintain and replace outdated
equipment, upgrade software as needed, and develop new
technologies. All categorical monies, along with
general apportionment monies, will be clearly identified in
an effort to develop a realistic short-term and long-term
expenditure plan. Since all campus departments will be
greatly affected by the technology budget - annual
recommendations from the Dean of Instruction, the Dean of
Students, the Business Manager and the Technology Advisory
Committee (others?) will be sent to the President's Cabinet
for final development and approval. The following are
resources that can be used to maintain campus technology:
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apportionment revenue
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state instructional equipment block grant
funds
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federal grant money
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local foundation resources
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local private sector contributions of
equipment and dollars
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potential future cost reduction plans
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group
licensee purchases (FCC, NC, DO)
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leased network equipment and recycling of
outdated network equipment
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leased software with annual
update/maintenance plans
Future
Projects or Emerging Technologies
Resources will persistently be devoted to the acquisition,
usage, and development of emerging technologies. The
Technology Advisory Committee will play a central role in
discussing, evaluating and recommending the implementation of new
technologies - which
extend and
expand opportunities to meet the educational needs of unserved and underserved populations.
Examples of New Emerging Technology
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advances in telecommunication
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use of the Blackboard
Learning/Content/Community System
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advances in streaming media, digital
cameras, video capture
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advances in DVD technology
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Blue Tooth technology
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Use of PDAs and other hand-held devices
in the classroom and in the field
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high speed wireless
Reedley College Mission Statement
Offering an accessible, student centered educational environment
which provides high quality, learning opportunities, essential in
meeting the challenges of a diverse, global community.
Please email
the RC Web Administrator
if you have any questions or comments. |
