The institution’s use of technology enhances student learning, is appropriate for meeting the objectives of its program, and ensures that students have access to and training in the use of technology.

_X_Compliance                      ___Partial Compliance                       ___Non-Compliance

Narrative

St. Petersburg College is in compliance with this comprehensive standard because:

§         It has established clear policies and procedures for acquiring technology.

§         It makes extensive use of current and emerging technology in all classrooms and distance learning courses.

§         Students are trained through required courses in computer technology and information literacy.

§         Students are supported through available online and face-to-face tutoring.

§         Faculty are supported through dedicated Instructional Technologists and Help Desk.

§         SPC evaluates the appropriateness and effectiveness of its technology.

Policies and procedures for use of technology for student learning

The Board of Trustees, College President and President’s Cabinet direct and approve policies and procedures for acquiring technology to enhance student learning.

P6Hx23-6.9001        Procedure; Information Technology Resources Allocation Policy.  Describes the process for allocating budget for information technology

P6Hx23-6.902          Procedure: Data Systems/Computer Services; Computer Acquisitions.  Describes the fiduciary controls related to computer and software acquisitions

Technology available for students and Faculty

The College has instituted a number of services to ensure that students and Faculty have access to technology that enhances student learning, supports student achievement, and improves teaching in a manner appropriate to program and course objectives.

Computer-equipped classrooms and labs.  SPC has made a considerable effort to equip sufficient classrooms with technology for instruction.  These computer labs are equipped with software that allows the Faculty member to view or project any student screen.  The following is a summary by campus of classrooms equipped with technology:

            Summary of classrooms equipped with technology

Other Collegewide technology.  As of 2006, St. Petersburg College has designed, implemented, and deployed interactive audio/video and video conferencing systems in approximately 35 rooms Collegewide; with each campus having at least one equipped room available.  This technology allows SPC to offer some courses across multiple campuses that do not have sufficient enrollment for any one campus.  A detailed list of interactive audio/video conferencing and classrooms by campus is provided in Section 10 of the Strategic Technology Plan.  SPC has implemented some hot spots for wireless access to the Internet on each campus, including secure wireless access for public use in joint-use libraries.  SPC has a longer-term goal of providing Collegewide hot spots for wireless Internet connection.  Faculty and students can find numerous locations on each campus to sit comfortably with a laptop to check email, access their courses, or do research.  On several campuses, SPC has thoughtfully planned new science buildings, putting computer labs between two wet labs so that science classes can run experiments and then run analyses or simulations.

Program-specific technology.  In addition to standard computer support for all programs, St. Petersburg College strives to provide each program with the latest technology specific to each program.  The Health Education Center, for example has two Human Simulators, a baby and an adult that can be either sex, for use in a number of nursing and respiratory courses.  The Allstate campus has equipped its crime labs with the latest in forensic technology.  The Bachelor of Science degree in Orthotics and Prosthetics has a fabrication facility including a material laboratory and CAD/CAM suite.  The Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene has a fully equipped dental clinic that offers free or low cost service to the local community, offering hands-on, supervised practice onsite for students.

Learning Management System.  ANGEL is a Web-based course management and collaboration portal that helps educators manage course material and communicate quickly, easily, and effectively.  ANGEL was selected by the College to replace WebCT during the most recent contract renewal process.  A committee of Faculty, instructional technologists, and other technical staff reviewed an array of available learning management systems and recommended ANGEL because of its flexibility and ease in tailoring courses, e.g., to include automatic actions such as email alerts or opening new material upon successful completion of quizzes.  ANGEL is designed to be used as a complement to traditional courses and for distance learning.  All Faculty at SPC, including full-time and adjunct Faculty in traditional, blended, and total distance courses, have an ANGEL shell they may use for their courses if they wish.  Students are loaded automatically into the ANGEL shell each semester.

St. Petersburg Online Communicator (SPOC).  SPOC is an in-house developed suite of tools designed to meet various synchronous and asynchronous needs in online and blended instruction, including virtual meetings with Webcam interfaces SPOC tools serve a variety of instructional and administrative support needs.  SPOC Web Conferencing allows an instructor and a number of students (typically six, but can be more as needed and as bandwidth allows) to see and hear each other simultaneously.  It offers hand raising and muting, plus text chat capabilities.  Desktop Sharing uses VH Screen Capture to allow a presenter to select a portion of his or her screen to share.  The Video Recording tool is used by instructors to self-record short videos.  The system is incorporated into SPC’s ANGEL LMS and logs each Faculty member’s video recordings.  Uses of the video tool include the recording of introductory messages to students, and explanations of complex topics which are more effective with physical representation.  The Audio Recording tool works similarly to the video tool.  SPC has seen audio’s greatest use in foreign language classes.  The Faculty member can record samples of pronunciation.

Student learning

St. Petersburg College infuses the teaching of technology into its curricula on a number of levels, including a general education requirement, one-on-one help in learning resource centers/information commons, online tutorials, and campus workshops.

General Education requirement.  All degree-seeking students must have a prescribed level of computer competency to meet General Education Requirements for students to be able to “implement appropriate forms of existing and evolving technology for personal, educational, and professional purposes.”  To ensure that students possess the skills required to use technological resources, students must prove competency through a standardized test, or must take a computer and information literacy course.  The Computer and Information Literacy Competency Test is comprised of two sections:  computer literacy and information literacy.  Students need a score of 70% on each section to prove literacy has been achieved.  CTS 1101 Basic Computer and Information Literacy is included as a graduation requirement of the college for those who do not show mastery on the standardized test.  Similarly, to successfully complete the CTS 1101 Basic Computer and Information Literacy course students must display a mastery level of 70% or above in order to fulfill the computer literacy requirement.  All degree programs include the computer literacy or technology courses as described in the Sample Recommended Degree Programs outlined in the College Catalog.

Learning Resource Centers/Information Commons (Computer labs and tutoring).  The Learning Support Centers (known as Information Commons on some campuses) supplement and enrich the existing programs at the College.  These centers aid students with academically deficient backgrounds through tutoring and supplementary materials in reading, writing and mathematics; supplement and enrich other existing courses through the use of additional materials; provide alternative learning strategies through audio-visual, tutorial, individualized, self-paced, one-on-one tutorial and computer-assisted work; provide learning opportunities for disabled students; provide lifelong learning opportunities for all adults in the community and provide testing facilities for students.

Collaborative Commons:  The Seminole campus has developed an innovative approach to computer labs, providing two types:  a learning commons and a collaborative commons.  In the learning commons the emphasis is on individual work, while the collaborative commons’ emphasis is on group work.

Seminole collaborative commons area

Online Tutorials.  Numerous online tutorials are provided on each campus.  Seminole, for example, offers a page on their information commons site with the following tutorials:

Seminole online tutorials

 

Online Tutorials Ø APA and MLA Ø Scanning Instructions Ø Assignment Calculator Ø Sound Forge Ø Database Tutorials Ø Visual Thesaurus Ø eCampus & ANGEL Ø MyDropBox Ø How to Email Attachments Ø PDF Files & Adobe Acrobat Reader Ø How to Research on the Internet Ø MS Excel Ø How to Use the College Printers Ø MS Power Point Ø How to Use the Internet Ø MS Word

Student Support.

Student use of technology to enhance learning is supported through easy navigation and comprehensive technical support.

Easy navigation.  An SPC student and staff portal called “My SPC” has recently gone online to insure ease of navigation throughout the entire St. Petersburg College technology experience.  Through this portal students may register for classes, review their transcript, log onto their online courses and reach the Technical Support Desk (among many other functions) from one convenient Web site.

Technical support.  The mission of The Learning Management and Student Support Systems Department is to contribute to the mission of St. Petersburg College by facilitating and supporting Internet accessible learning environments, including ANGEL, email and classroom setup for students, Faculty, and staff.  The department provides direct assistance through the Technical Support Desk and behind-the-scenes support for Learning Management Systems via the Learning Management Support Team that maximizes the effective use of ANGEL and minimizes the impact of technical glitches and outages that detract from the learning experience.

The combined efforts of the Technical Support Desk and the Learning Management Support Team result in a consistent and immediate support of all technologies.  The Learning Management System has been configured to maximize availability.  Automated and physical monitoring of systems is utilized to assure availability.  The Learning Management Support Team provides a continuous support effort and response.

The hours for the Technical Support Desk are as follows:

Monday – Saturday   7:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Sunday                      1:00 AM – 10:00 PM

Technical support for students with disabilities. SPC has extensive adaptive and assistive hardware and software for the use of students with disabilities.  The College provides networked software for screen enlargement, audio screen-reading, and color alternatives on all College computers.  Every College site has designated computers in libraries, information commons, and testing areas specifically for students with disabilities who need adaptive programs or keyboards.  TTY phones are available and labeled in both student services and disabilities offices, and in public areas on each campus and center.  A full-time assistive technology specialist supervises the installation, upkeep, and training for this equipment and programming.  Online, SPC requires all online instructors to complete the Pathways to eLearning training program, which includes a detailed module on accessibility issues.  Faculty developing or revising online courses work with an Instructional Technologist to provide standardized, accessible online instruction.  The College is currently developing a grant-funded initiative to provide effective screen reading, captioning, and American Sign Language user options for online classes, as well as a series of virtual Faculty training guides.  This is a three-year grant funded by the Department of Education in October 2005 (each year of grant begins on October 1^st).  SPC has developed four workshops for Faculty on the use of a Universal Design software program developed by SPC that includes captioning, American Sign Language, streaming video and power point presentation.  Students have an option to select the instructional technique that best suits their needs.  Once perfected, the software will be available for online classes.

Faculty support

Faculty training.  SPC has a full-time Staff and Program Development technology instructor who provides workshops on the various campuses for a wide range of Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) for all Faculty and staff, including adjuncts.  SPC Program Directors have cited that as a “best practice” in providing support for Faculty professional development.  In addition, all full-time Faculty who have been with the college more than six months may attend any of the Corporate Training technology courses on a space available basis for free (except for cost of materials).  Finally, SPC embarked on a Collegewide training program when it shifted from WebCT to ANGEL learning management system.  These workshops were provided on all campuses for a six-month period to support the conversion of courses from one system to the other.  Currently, there is an extensive series of online tutorials on using ANGEL specifically tailored for Faculty and instructional technologists are available on each campus and in the WITS office on the Seminole campus to help troubleshoot problems.

Support for Distance Learning Faculty.  Included in the mission statement of the college is a direct reference to distance education:  “…serve target populations beyond the borders of Pinellas County through distance learning programs and other means that emanate from the institution’s history of services and specialized expertise.”  The college fulfills this mission led by an award winning distance learning program, taught by a talented Faculty and dedicated staff and enhanced by advanced technologies.

Instructional development and Faculty training.  The Web and Instructional Technology (WITS) department trains and assists Faculty with all aspects of course development, implementation and enhancement in their use of innovative teaching techniques by putting Faculty through an extensive online training course (Pathways to eLearning PTe) and having a staff of instructional technologists available for further Faculty assistance and tutorials.  An array of tools are available for Faculty to enhance their class web sites including streamed video capabilities, a library of learning objects (RLOs) and tools to address students with a variety of disabilities.  Areas of training include instructional design, technology integration, multimedia development (including interactive components and graphics.)  WITS services also include video production and well equipped Faculty development centers with PCs, printers, scanners and other digital services.  The Web and Instructional Technology Department (WITS) assists instructors in developing Reusable Learning Objects (RLO) used in a number of courses.  Below is an example:

Example of WITS assistance

MLT 2150 – In this course the instructors created links to all the objects that are found throughout all the other MLT courses.  This provides the student with a one stop shop to review all the materials for their state exam.

Project Eagle.  Project Eagle, supported with a large federal FIPSE grant, allows St. Petersburg College to infuse technology in the distance learning environment.  Some of the innovations introduced through Project Eagle and other SPC projects include remote webcasting, a student portal, digital storage and automation for SPC TV,  model distance courses (called signature courses), reusable learning objects, a Center for Teacher Transformation, college applications for handheld PDAs, Faculty development centers, cyber advising, online tutorials, and prototype online class to support multiple learning modalities, with special focus on addressing the online learning needs of the deaf, low vision, and learning disabled students.  The goal of the grant is to re-develop 160 courses for online delivery.  Since 2000, Project Eagle has published a monthly online newsletter, Best Educational E-Practices, BEEP, to communicate the latest research in distance learning instructional practices and innovative technologies.

                     Excerpt from BEEP archive Web page

Faculty Development Centers – Project Eagle has funded the creation of extensive technology resources for Faculty in SPC’s Faculty Development Centers.  Centers are located at Allstate Center, Clearwater Campus, Health Education Center, Seminole Campus, St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus and Tarpon Springs Campus.  Faculty development centers typically contain several high-end computers, a high-quality scanner, slide scanner, video capture station with a variety of decks, CD burners, video cameras, still cameras, and audio equipment that can be used with video cameras or laptops.  Various software is available in the FDC’s including various image and sound editing software applications.

ECampus Library support.  Also available to eCampus Faculty and staff are library resources, a continuous self-evaluation of classes and Faculty, a climate for student success and an enduring commitment to excellence as outlined in eCampus’ “Expectations and Performance Standards.”  Students new to the online learning environment can receive assistance by visiting the sample online course or attending online and face-to-face “tools” workshops.

Currently, eCampus serves over 18,000 students in 47 different states and several foreign countries.

Technical support.

Technology Resource Specialists.  Each campus has a Technology Resource Specialist (TRS) who works directly for the Provost/Campus Executive Director.  TRSs are responsible for setting up classrooms for special technology requirements, ensuring the Faculty is able to use the technology, and correcting computer hardware and software issues.  TRS are vendor-certified.  In addition, they provide technology support to staff and to outside users of SPC’s facilities.

Technical Support Desk.  The Technical Support Desk is the first level of technical support for students, Faculty, and staff.  The applications they support include the ANGEL learning management system, PeopleSoft Student, Course, Human Resources, and Financial information system, MySPC Portal, Student Email, Microsoft Outlook (including email, calendar, etc.), and other technology-related support issues of college students, Faculty, and staff.  The Technical Support Desk also assists with hardware issue resolution and configurations for Internet access and application use.  When unable to resolve the issue, the Technology Support desk escalates the technical issue to appropriate support teams and management.  They also coordinate communication between support teams and students/Faculty during technology-related support and repair efforts.  In addition, the Technical Support Desk coordinates the creation of network accounts and the processing of technology related work orders.

Appropriateness and effectiveness of technology.

SPC monitors the appropriateness and effectiveness of its use of technology through multiple means:

• The Collegewide Technology Plan.
• The Unit Planning process.
• The Project Eagle Action Committee.
• The Instructional Technology Advisory Committee.
• The MySPC Advisory Committee.

Collegewide Technology Plan.  The College’s technology plan is updated at least every three years, most recently in Fall 2006.  In the latest update, the Vice President of Information Systems, Business Services, Budgets, Planning used a Wikipedia-type collaborative Web site to collect ideas and edits Collegewide:

                          Excerpt from Collegewide Technology Plan Web page

Unit planning.  Each year at the end of the fall term and as a prelude to the unit planning process four oversight committees, Administrative Services, Student Services, Educational Services, and Technology, meet to review key assessment information.  From their findings, they make recommendations to the Cabinet. These recommendations are critical to the process of amending the College’s Mission and Goals and “Strategic Directions and Institutional Objectives that are approved by the Board of Trustees.  Also, the oversight groups’ recommendations form the nucleus for individual unit plans requesting new equipment. 

Needs and inputs may be provided directly in TOG proceedings, through representatives, or through the unit planning process.  All technology requirements, whether generated by one of the other Oversight Committees or by an individual campus, are evaluated by the Technology Oversight Group (TOG) and consolidated Collegewide into a “yellow sheet” of prioritized requirements.  TOG, comprised of key leadership across the College, takes the recommendations from the “yellow sheet” to the President and President’s Cabinet for approval of the budget allocations for equipment needs.  The Budget Committee, comprised of key leadership across the College, takes the recommendations from the “yellow sheet” to allocate budget for equipment needs.  Approvals are required by the President’s Cabinet and The Board of Trustees as part of the College’s overall annual operating budget process.  Allocation of Information technology resources to academic and administrative functions shall support the college’s goals for a given year, as documented in its mission statement and objectives.  Allocation of technology resources for academic purposes, for use by Faculty, academic staff, and students under the direction of Faculty, is a primary priority, with an allocation goal of up to 70 percent of available resources over a reasonable measurement period.  Total information technology resources available in a given year will vary depending upon state appropriations, funding for special technology-related programs, and technology-related grant funding.  The President and Cabinet recommend special technology spending and allocation action to the Board of Trustees in the event allocations to academic does not approximate 70 percent in a given 5-year period.

PEAC.  The Project Eagle Action Committee (PEAC) reviews the policies and practices of the grant and the use of technology to support grant and institutional objectives.  Numerous quality control measures, assessments and reviews including enrollment reports, grade and withdrawal distributions and student survey results are reported throughout the school year to ensure that regardless of the delivery, the latest in technology and the best of academic opportunities are offered to students.

        List of Project Eagle reports and publications

ITAG.  ITAG is the Instructional Technology Advisory Group and is co-chaired by Senior Vice President of Educational and Student Services and the Director of Web and Instructional Technology Services (WITS).  Members are appointed by the President.  The group meets at least once in each of the Fall and Spring sessions.  Among the topics discussed at the September 2006 advisory committee meeting were:

• SPOC- St. Petersburg Online Communicator (SPOC), an in-house developed suite of tools designed to meet various synchronous and asynchronous needs in online and blended instruction, including virtual meetings with webcam interfaces
• iTunes^® – for audio and video podcasts to students
• SMARTHINKING^® – tutoring services to be offered to a variety of disciplines
• Gallery 2 – an open source gallery system, which allows uploading of various images to a collection

MAG.  The MySPC Advisory Group (MAG) and is chaired by the Director of Web and Instructional Technology Services (WITS).   MAG regularly deals with functionality in the MySPC portal and other related SPC web sites.  Results from MAG meetings are reported to Technology Oversight Group (TOG).  As an example, needs and new items from the June 2006 MAG included:

• Request to reinstate student email announcement on MySPC and ANGEL to stress importance of checking mail for registration info, and instructions.
• Request to modify box on MySPC Mail login to instructions for forwarding mail
• Continue to work on ANGEL single sign on
• Online transcript added

Competency and satisfaction

SPC evaluates the competency and satisfaction with technology through multiple means as well, including:

• The General Education assessment for Computer and Information Literacy
• The Enrolled Student Survey
• The Technology Satisfaction Survey
• Focus groups with Program Directors and Deans

Competency.  SPC evaluates the competency of students in the use of technology through multiple measures described in the Education Outcomes Assessment Record for the general education goal of Technology/Information Literacy.  Students will be able to implement appropriate forms of existing and evolving technology for personal, educational, and professional purposes.

Excerpt from Education Outcomes Assessment Record

The Educational Outcomes Assessment showed, for example, that employers ranked rated St. Petersburg graduates who completed their coursework in 2003-2004 at 6.3 (out of 7) in the area, "Possesses effective computer skills."

The follow-up report for the last assessment cycle on student competency showed a number of examples of use of the assessment results to improve the computer and information literacy program.  For example, in the area of completing student success, the report showed the following actions taken:

  Excerpt from General Education Outcomes Assessment for Computer Literacy

Satisfaction with access to technology.  On the annual Enrolled Student Survey, student satisfaction with out-of-class access to computers has exceeded the Collegewide goal of 5.0 (on a 7-point Likert scale).  Student satisfaction with technology has been increasing generally and is at its highest level in four years:

Excerpt from 2006-2007 Enrolled Student Survey showing student satisfaction with college-provided technology

96% of students answering the Enrolled Student Survey use the academic program/educational support services.  One student commented on the survey, “I feel that SPC provides all the resources needed to succeed.  All anyone has to do is use them.”

On the annual Enrolled Student Survey, student satisfaction with academic support services such as the Learning Resource Center has exceeded the Collegewide goal of 5.0 (on a 7-point Likert scale).  Student satisfaction with academic program/educational support services increased over last year’s ratings and generally has been increasing over the last four years as well:

Excerpt from 2006-2007 Enrolled Student Survey showing student satisfaction with college-provided technology