LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY - BATON ROUGE
Table of Contents
Abstract
Narrative
A. The Current
Situation
a.1 Institutional Description
a.2 Rationale for the Project
a.3 Impact on Existing Resources
B. The Enhancement
Plan
b.1 Plan of Proposed Project
b.2 Evidence of Potential to Achieve and Maintain Eminence
b.3 Impact on Curriculum and Instruction
b.4 Impact on Quality of Students
b.5 Impact on Faculty Development
C. Equipment
c.1 Equipment Request
c.2 Equipment on Hand
c.3 Equipment Housing and Maintenance
D. Faculty and
Staff Expertise
E. Economic and/or
Cultural Impact
e.1 Relationship with Industrial/Institutional Sponsors
e.2 promotion of Economic Development and/or Cultural Resources
F. Additional Sources
of Funding
Budget Materials
Budget
page
Itemized budget
spreadsheet
Biographical Sketches (hard copy)
Barbara Fuhrmann
Kim Moffatt
Fossey
Current and Pending Support (hard copy)
Barbara Fuhrmann
Kim Moffatt
Fossey
Appendix (hard copy)
This project will provide previously unavailable resources for developing innovative projects and creating new uses for existing resources in the College of Education at Louisiana State University. The broad goal is to support faculty in developing and infusing technology-based or technology-assisted curriculum components and instructional strategies into their teaching.
The College has provided faculty and students access to computers, and is using technology for a variety of instructional, research, and service purposes, but has not yet infused instructional technology into ongoing instruction nor realized the potential of distance learning and video conferencing.
This project will provide the College of Education with the latest and most effective means of instruction available and the training to employ that technology effectively. The program has five objectives:
1) Equip ten faculty offices with hardware and software necessary for authoring appropriate multimedia presentations and interactive activities;
2) Train faculty to create instructional modules and employ electronic distance-learning strategies;
3) Upgrade existing computer teaching laboratories to allow all faculty to use state of the art technology to develop and use multimedia instruction;
4) Outfit two classrooms with permanently installed state-of-the-art multimedia computer workstations and display units; and
5) Equip one large classroom with a computer workstation
dedicated to remote broadcast of multimedia presentations (distance learning)
and video conferencing.
a.1 Institutional Description
The College of Education at Louisiana State University offers bachelors', masters', education specialists' and doctoral degrees through three academic departments: curriculum and instruction, administrative and foundational services, and kinesiology, and also bears responsibility for the university's K-12 laboratory school. A primary purpose of the College is the preparation of high-quality teachers, administrators, counselors, and human service professionals for Louisiana's elementary and secondary schools, educators who are reflective in practice, actively involved in the research tradition of the university, and at the cutting edge in using sophisticated teaching technologies. The College actively supports a wide range of perspectives and approaches for educating a diverse population in a complex and interdependent world.
a.2 Rationale for the Project
In the fall of 1994, the College of Education presented a comprehensive self-study and hosted a visit from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The examiners' highly congratulatory report attests to the national preeminence of teacher education programs at LSU. Only five weaknesses were cited, and two of the five will be addressed through this project: one weakness cited was "little evidence of systematic planning for varied models of instruction;" another was the lack of sufficient resources to upgrade existing instructional technology. This project will correct these deficiencies and thus enhance the College's existing programs.
The College of Education has demonstrated its dedication to preparing teacher leaders for tomorrow's schools by recognizing the impact of technology in education. The first step was accomplished through the wiring of the College's main instructional facility, Peabody Hall, and through the establishment of several computer laboratories using both IBM and Apple computers with multimedia capabilities which are accessible to faculty, staff, and students. Combined with regular use of desktop computers, these facilities are heavily used for a variety of tasks: word-processing for curriculum development, communication via electronic mail with colleagues, and accessing information via the Internet. Some faculty are using computers to communicate with public-school personnel in the professional development schools that provide the settings for student teachers and interns, and several are using the technology to communicate with remote sites and to provide distance education activities.
But desktop computers and computer laboratories do not, by themselves, stimulate the use of multimedia technology in the classrooms in which prospective teachers first meet education faculty, and a newly emerging body of evidence confirms what we in the College of Education have also observed. For example, a survey conducted by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities ("On the Brink," AASCU, 1995) recently revealed that while many state colleges and universities have information technology plans and have extended their computing capabilities, most are also experiencing barriers to meeting their technology goals. Most discouraging was the finding that less than a fourth of faculty regularly use any kind of technology for instruction. It seems that having technology available in laboratories is simply not sufficient for faculty to embark on time-consuming, seemingly risky technology endeavors. AASCU identifies the need for institutional expectations for faculty as one of the most pressing challenges regarding educational technology. Also recently published is the "Technology Faculty Development Casebook" (ACSESULGC/APU Task Force on Faculty Development, 1995), which confirms the significance of training as a key strategy within the larger change process in which technology enhancements have been introduced. Comprehensive training is seen as the means to encourage and enable faculty to model effective use of instructional technology.
Considerable research and experience have also documented that teachers do, in fact, teach as they were taught. Our experience in the College of Education confirms that our classrooms are still used primarily for traditional educational activities: lectures, discussions, and seminars. Although faculty and students use computing technology for a variety of important purposes, widespread use of the authoring software that allow faculty to develop appropriate multimedia presentations and interactive programs for use in teaching their classes in the curriculum for prospective teachers has not yet occurred, nor has the promise of distance learning and video conferencing been realized. Experience in the College over the past several years provides compelling evidence of the readiness of faculty and students to benefit from enhanced technological capabilities. In one year, use of the College's computer laboratories tripled, and the labs are currently booked throughout the day and every weekday evening. This use has prompted us to open a small temporary lab to handle the overflow and to open on weekends, requiring additional space and staff. The inventory of loan-out equipment has reached its maximum. Faculty have to wait in turn for portable laptops and display units, and some faculty have become discouraged from using technology for delivery of instruction.
Some examples of the demand for training and assistance in presentation software include the following:
Demand has also been heavy in the area of telecommunications. Many faculty are just discovering the Internet and its vast possibilities. Instructing classes on the potential of the Internet has required staff, training as well as lab time. Multimedia classrooms equipped with Internet access and display units would allow us to demonstrate telecommunications without cutting into lab time. There is also enormous interest in Internet, electronic mail, and multimedia from our Professional Development School sites. Going out to the sites is always helpful, but very time consuming. As a service university, we must be able to easily demonstrate new technology innovations to large groups at a time and to broadcast to distant audiences.
This program is designed to provide faculty in the College with the latest and most effective means of instruction available, as well as the training necessary to employ that technology effectively and to integrate it into the instruction of preservice and inservice teachers. The program has five primary objectives:
1) Equip ten faculty offices with the hardware and software necessary for authoring appropriate multimedia presentations and interactive activities;a.3 Impact on Existing Resources2) Train faculty to a) author individualized instructional modules, b) use presentation software and develop appropriate applications in their courses, and c) employ electronic distance-learning strategies to assist them in fuller utilization of the multimedia facilities in the College;
3) Upgrade existing computer teaching laboratories to allow all faculty to use state of the art technology to develop and ultimately model effective use of multimedia instructional packages as teaching tools;
4) Outfit two classrooms in Peabody Hall with permanently installed state-of-the-art multimedia computer workstations and display units; and
5) Equip one large lecture classroom in Peabody Hall with a computer workstation dedicated to remote broadcast of multimedia presentations (distance learning) and the promotion of video conferencing.
This project will extend the use of the College's existing
electronic sophistication by training faculty and students in the variety
of uses of electronic and multimedia technology within classrooms.
Three classrooms in Peabody Hall will be equipped with permanent multimedia
instructional workstations, which will facilitate effective use of technology
for instruction, promote additional utilization of existing technology,
and enhance the electronic presentations that faculty develop. At
least ten faculty will become proficient in designing and using multimedia
instruction. The project will expose all students in the various
curricula within the College to modern multimedia instructional methods
and will provide them with the enhanced skills necessary for effective
teaching in the twenty-first century.
This project will stimulate College of Education faculty to integrate instructional technology in their teaching. It will build upon their expertise in their particular teaching disciplines by providing previously unavailable resources for developing innovative projects, using existing commercial packages, and creating new uses for existing resources. The broad goal is to support faculty in developing and infusing technology-based or technology-assisted curriculum components and instructional strategies into their teaching.
b.1 Plan of Proposed Project
Faculty Equipment Enhancements: Ten faculty offices will be upgraded to allow these faculty to author instructional software as part of their routine office work. The ten offices to be upgraded will be selected based on the expressed commitment of the participating faculty to develop instructional modules as demonstration projects to be shared widely as part of the evaluation component of the project.b.2 Evidence of Potential to Achieve and Maintain EminenceFaculty Training: The ten faculty whose offices are upgraded will be trained to use the enhancements provided to develop instructional software and to demonstrate its use. In addition, all faculty in the College will be invited to learn how to use the new technologies provided in the laboratories and how to use the technology provided in the electronic and distance-learning/video conferencing center to deliver instructional presentations to remote classrooms. A graduate assistant will be on staff to provide technical support for faculty as the new technologies are brought on line.
Teaching Laboratory Enhancements: The existing laboratories in Peabody Hall will be upgraded to provide faculty with enhanced multimedia equipment that will complement equipment placed in their offices. These enhancements will support and encourage the development, storage and delivery of multimedia projects by faculty and students and will also enhance teacher preparation by providing a technology-rich field experience for teacher interns.
Multimedia Classrooms: Two traditional classrooms in Peabody Hall will be equipped as electronic, multimedia environments capable of the most modern technological instruction. Permanent installation will ensure trouble-free transport of instructional units from faculty offices.
Distance Learning / Video Conferencing Center: This center, equipped with a permanent multimedia workstation and display unit, will provide a site for the increasing distance learning activities provided by the College. (The single distance learning classroom on the university campus is in its first semester of operation and is already overbooked for the spring semester.) Video conferences and two-way interactive classes (with students both on site and at distant sites) will support existing and planned distance learning activities, as well as multimedia demonstrations and presentations to large groups and to remote audiences, such as other LSU campuses and our Professional Development Schools. This center will also promote, train and support telecommunications and collaboration between university faculty, classroom teachers and teacher interns in the field.
Evaluation and Follow-up: Project evaluation will consist of multiple assessment activities:
Throughout the grant period the Office of the Dean will monitor implementation of the technology initiatives, providing consultation as necessary.
Faculty will be invited to submit proposals for curricular and instructional enhancement and multimedia software production. These proposals will be evaluated by project staff to determine which faculty offices are enhanced. A significant component of the proposal will document the faculty member's commitment to sharing the outcomes of his/her technology initiative projects.
Project staff will design and produce a multimedia presentation documenting the development of faculty-authored instructional modules using the enhanced facilities provided through the grant.
Use of the enhanced classrooms will be monitored and evaluated for appropriateness of use.
Follow-up of students who participate in enhanced instructional activities will include assessment of their use of instructional technology in their own teaching.
In the fall of 1994, the College of Education underwent a thorough peer review by a Board of Examiners from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. The Board of Examiners' report attests to the national preeminence of the College's programs, and notes strengths in the design and delivery of the curriculum, the knowledge bases underlying the programs, the integration of course and field experiences, the collaborative nature of partnerships with professional sites, the expertise of the faculty, and the College's commitment to faculty development. The examiners found only five weaknesses in the programs of the College, and two of the five will be strengthened significantly through this project. The two weaknesses which will be corrected are "little evidence of systematic planning for varied models of instruction," and lack of sufficient resources to upgrade existing technology.
Through this project, faculty will develop and use instructional technology in ways that will (a) have a permanent impact on the variety of instructional methods used in their teaching; (b) demonstrate the effective use of instructional technology in teacher education; and (c) motivate other faculty to become involved in developing their own competence in using instructional technology in preservice and inservice teacher education programs and curricula.
In addition, the technology already available to faculty and students will be upgraded to provided state of the art classrooms for multimedia instruction, upgraded laboratories and faculty offices for the preparation of multimedia instructional units, and a video conferencing and distance-learning classroom in the College.
The combination of increased variety and sophistication
in the use of multimedia instructional technology, distance learning, and
video conferencing, combined with upgraded technological capabilities in
the College, will ensure the continued eminence and the statewide leadership
of the programs offered through the College of Education at Louisiana State
University.
b.3 Impact on Curriculum and Instruction
The proposed project is designed to motivate and prepare faculty who train prospective and inservice teachers to vary their curricula and instruction to incorporate multimedia instructional technology. Having three classrooms and at least ten faculty in the College dedicated to sophisticated multimedia instructional methods will create an environment that supports innovation in curriculum and instruction and demonstrates the leadership of the College in providing advanced curriculum design and instructional strategies.
b.4 Impact on Quality of Students
The reputation of LSU's teacher education programs will be enhanced by the increased quality and variety of its curriculum and methods of instruction. Students, who are increasingly technologically sophisticated, will be attracted to programs that build upon their technological interests and literacy. In addition, students who graduate from teacher education programs at LSU will be equipped to use a variety of enhanced educational delivery systems in their own teaching, thus spreading the impact throughout the region and the state.
b.5 Impact on Faculty Development
The project is both an instructional development activity and a faculty development activity. It is designed to motivate faculty to develop and to document their expertise in designing and using instructional technology in ways that are appropriate to prospective teachers. Further, it is not only university faculty who will benefit, but also the current and future teachers of Louisiana's children.
C. Equipment
The College of Education is committed to providing our
faculty and students with the latest educational tools technology has to
offer, and to train them in the effective use of that technology.
It is on this basis that we seek to enhance our existing inventory of equipment.
c.1 Equipment Request (including justification)
Faculty Equipment Enhancement: To ensure the successful implementation of this project, equipment in several key areas is necessary. Each faculty member selected to participate (10) will have a fully equipped multimedia computer workstation installed in his/her office. This workstation, equipped with built-in audio-visual capabilities and a CD ROM, will be ready to handle any multimedia project the faculty creates. An external Zip drive will provide additional space for storing big projects and will ensure portability when transporting the project to a teaching lab, a classroom, or on the road.
Teaching Laboratory Equipment Enhancement: Teaching laboratories will be enhanced to complement and support projects that will be developed by faculty and to allow for increased network traffic and users that the project will generate. This request includes an upgrade to the College server to better handle the traffic of our existing overloaded servers as well as a CD tower which will provide access to multiple CD's via the network. Each lab will be equipped with appropriate authoring and multimedia presentation software and video cameras. Each computer will be enhanced with an external Zip drive, which uses an inexpensive cartridge that will store up to 100mb. and will enable faculty and students to transport large size multimedia projects from one computer to another. The ease of transporting these files will encourage development and ultimate use of more elaborate multimedia projects.
Multimedia Classrooms Equipment: A critical element in the quality of demonstrations and instructional presentations is the ease of integration of classrooms which will be equipped with comparable computers with Zip drives, as well as speakers and high quality projection devices. In addition, an ethernet drop is requested to give presenters access to both our College network and the Internet.
Distance Learning/Video Conference Center Equipment:
Finally, the creation of a classroom for distance learning and video conferencing
activities within the college will require a complete computer workstation
with appropriate video conferencing software and an ethernet connection.
An ISDN cable connection will provide the necessary line for live video
conferences to occur. Also included is the permanent installation
of a projection device for quality delivery of presentations and demonstrations
of video conferencing.
c.2 Equipment on Hand
The College of Education has an ethernet local area network connecting all staff and faculty offices and technology labs. Faculty and staff offices are equipped with a variety of networked PC and Mac computers with file server and printer access. Four technology labs include the following:
The Power PC Lab contains 12 Power Mac and 5 Dell multimedia computers, two scanners, and an integrated projection devise and printer.
The Macintosh Lab contains 25 PowerPc Macintosh systems (half with built in CD ROM drives), two scanners, five networked printers and a projection device. This lab also contains several Laser Disc players with monitors.
The Multimedia Development Lab consists of seven AV Macintoshes, four scanners, four printers, and Laser Disc viewing stations. This lab is also equipped with additional multimedia components such as Quicktake cameras, speakers, VCR's, TV's, camcorders, and portable projection devices that can be checked out for use.
The Open Lab consists of mostly PC's, primarily for student use.
The existing resources in these laboratories are heavily
used. Faculty are scheduling whole classes into the labs for computer
literacy training, statistical research, math and science methods, instructional
media demonstrations, technology in the reading curriculum, technology
institutes for K-12 teachers, and elementary reading and writing instruction.
Current laboratories are unable to handle the demand.
c.3 Equipment Housing and Maintenance
All of the instructional technology laboratories are locked
and secured by an alarm system (wired to the campus police) at the end
of each day. A high priority is placed on security and a check-out
system is in place for equipment use. Education Technology Services,
a division of the College designed to service and support all technology
needs for the College, consists of a director who is a member of the faculty,
a systems manager, a systems analyst, an instructional coordinator, a secretary,
a graduate assistant, and several workstudy students. The division
will be charged with continuing security of the requested equipment and
permanently equipped classrooms.
D. Faculty and Staff Expertise
Dr. Barbara Fuhrmann, Associate Dean, College of Education, will administer the project. Dr. Fuhrmann is an experienced senior professor and administrator who has administered highly successful faculty development projects and minigrant programs. Formerly the Director of Academic Planning at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Fuhrmann has designed planning and evaluation projects university-wide and has been instrumental in creating effective implementation strategies for highly complex projects. Kim Moffatt Fossey, Instructional Technology Coordinator for the College of Education, will co-administer the project. Ms. Fossey has 18 years of experience in the public schools where she coordinated and promoted parish-wide technology activities for five years. Her current responsibilities include providing instructional support and training for faculty and staff in technology-related efforts and in teacher preparation courses offered by the university. In addition to these services, her office also maintains an electronic link via the Internet with the College's Professional Development Schools.
E. Economic and/or Cultural Impact
Because the project evaluation includes the development of both written and multimedia presentations documenting the outcomes of the project, dissemination of project outcomes can be achieved through a variety of mechanisms. LSU's world-wide web offers one method of dissemination. Further opportunities include direct delivery to Professional Development Schools via already established electronic pathways, state-wide and national conferences, and Louisiana Public Broadcasting. The project report will be used to garner increased support for educational technology projects from other funding sources, both public and private.
e.1 Relationship with Industrial/Institutional Sponsors
Apple Computer, Inc. of New Orleans, LA has volunteered to partner with the LSU College of Education in the current project by providing faculty training in the use of the technology requested. Specifically, Apple Computer, Inc. will train faculty in the use of Persuasion in the classroom and the recording and saving of video clips in presentations.
e.2 Promotion of Economic Development and/or Cultural Resources
The project documentation will aid the College of Education in demonstrating the vast potential for instructional technology to improve the motivation and learning of all students. Training prospective teachers to be comfortable with and to use instructional technology will have an impact in every school in which these teachers are employed. It is only with highly technologically sophisticated K-12 teachers for Louisiana's children that the impact of such technology on the educational level of the citizens of the state can be realized. The project will thus have both direct (preparation of technologically sophisticated teachers) and indirect (influence on K-12 instructional practice) impact on economic and cultural development in the state. In addition, technologically sophisticated educational environments serve as inducements for additional economic development activities. Schools with solid reputations for enhancing student learning have been documented as important variables in attracting new businesses. Without a sound educational system, the state of Louisiana will continue to suffer in the competition for new business and industry.
F. Additional Sources of Funding
Ten percent of the Project Director's time ($9,516) and
ten percent of the Co-director's time ($4,392) during 1996-97 will be devoted
to this project and supported by the College. In addition, Apple
Computers of New Orleans has committed training support in the form of
workshops for faculty in the use and integration of the hardware and software
into the instructional environment of the College. Apple's contribution
is estimated at $5,000; see letter or support from Gary Dauphin of Apple
in which training and design assistance is outlined. Because Apple
is unable to document specific costs of such assistance, this contribution
is not included as corporate cost-sharing.
Neither investigator has received previous LEQSF awards.
Proposed Budget:
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| A. Equipment |
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| B. Software |
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| C. Supplies | |||
| D. Shipping/Handling | |||
| E. Installation |
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| F. Personnel Training (including fringe benefits) | |||
| G. Other Expenses (Identify) | |||
| 1. Graduate Asst. support |
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| 2. Personnel (including fringe benefits) |
(KMF) $4,392 |
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| H. Indirect Costs |
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| I. Maintenance |
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| J. Total Costs |
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*Stipulate whether in-cash or in-kind. The Board strongly encourages the sharing of costs for proposed projects. Applicants and university officials should note, however, that the employing university will be required to honor the commitments made in the original proposal before LEQSF money will be awarded. Discounts received for equipment purchases are not allowable as institutional match.
**The budget page(s) must reflect and the budget justification
page(s) must explain any external funds that are claimed in the proposal.
These funds must be itemized and their expenditure accounted for in the
same manner.
| 8g - 1995 Proposal | ||||
| No: | Description | No. of Units | Cost per unit | Estimated Cost |
| Faculty Equipment Enhancement | ||||
| 1 | Power Macintosh 7500/100/16/500/CD | 10 | $2,279.00 | $22,790 |
| 2 | Apple Multiple scan 15 Display | 10 | $408 | $4,080 |
| 3 | Apple Design Keyboard | 10 | $65 | $650 |
| 4 | Dell Pentium PC with Monitor and Keyboard | 3 | $2,265 | $6,795 |
| 5 | Authoring Software (Adobe Premier and Director) | 13 | $800 | $10,400 |
| 6 | 100 MB External Zip drives | 13 | $195 | $2,535 |
| 7 | 100 MB Ten pack Cartridges | 3 | $160 | $480 |
| 8 | Softwindows 2.0 software | 10 | $225 | $2,250 |
| Teaching Labs Equipment Enhancement | ||||
| 9 | 100 MB External Zip drives | 35 | $195 | $6,825 |
| 10 | 100 MB Ten pack Cartridges | 5 | $160 | $800 |
| 11 | Apple Internal CDROM drives | 10 | $250 | $2,500 |
| 12 | Workgroup server 9150/120 upgrade | 1 | $3,385 | $3,385 |
| 13 | 4 GB External Hard disk array | 2 | $1,149 | $2,298 |
| 14 | TCP/IP Administration software v2.0.4 | 1 | $109 | $109 |
| 15 | CD Tower for use over the network | 1 | $4,000 | $4,000 |
| 16 | ARA Client for Macintosh 10-pack v2.0.1 | 2 | $329 | $658 |
| 17 | 56k Modems for schools | 13 | $500 | $6,500 |
| 18 | Installation of a single port repeater in 119 | 1 | $950 | $950 |
| 19 | Applications designed to work over the network | 1 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 20 | Camcorder | 1 | $600 | $600 |
| 21 | QuickTake 150 Camera | 1 | $576 | $576 |
| Multimedia Classrooms | ||||
| 20 | Power Macintosh 7500/100/16/500/CD | 2 | $2,279 | $4,558 |
| 21 | Apple Multiple scan 15 Display | 2 | $408 | $816 |
| 22 | Apple Design Keyboard | 2 | $65 | $130 |
| 23 | Zip drives | 2 | $195 | $390 |
| 24 | Authoring Software (Adobe Premier and Director) | 2 | $800 | $1,600 |
| 25 | Speakers | 2 | $100 | $200 |
| 26 | Projection System | 2 | $6,000 | $12,000 |
| 27 | Screen/White Board | 2 | $300 | $600 |
| Video Conferencing setup in Room 225 | ||||
| 20 | PowerMac equipped with ISDN card | 2 | $2,979 | $5,958 |
| 21 | Apple Multiple scan 15 Display | 2 | 4408 | $816 |
| 22 | Apple Design Keyboard | 2 | $65 | $130 |
| 23 | Installation of ISDN line (Estimated) | 1 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 24 | Installation of Multimedia projector | 1 | $1,000 | $1,000 |
| 25 | New ethernet drop close to the screen | 1 | $250 | $250 |
| 26 | Video Conferencing software | 2 | $1,500 | $3,000 |
| Personnel | ||||
| 27 | Half time graduate assistants | 2 | $11,000 | $22,000 |
| Total | $134,629 | |||