Supplementary Exhibit VI. C. 2. Co-Curricular Outcomes Office of Information Techonology Introduction Information technology has become a crucial factor in the overall mission of institutions of higher education. Accordingly, UCI s Office of Information Technology (OIT) is committed to offering a wide array of technological services in support of teaching and learning at UCI. Through its mission OIT provides information technology leadership, expertise, infrastructure, and services in support of the research, teaching and community service goals of the University OIT structures services that directly impact student and faculty educational activities and builds partnerships with a wide range of academic and support units across the campus. This essay highlights campus efforts to enhance and promote effective use of teaching and learning with technology. 1 Teaching & Learning with Technology Since 1995, UCI has embraced a cohesive and collaborative approach to leading, developing, and implementing a single electronic educational environment in support of instructional activities and priorities. 2 To evaluate this effort, OIT has conducted periodic surveys of user populations to follow changes in student and faculty perceptions, requirements, and usage patterns. Below are our findings regarding popular teaching tools, usage trends, online teaching evaluations participation and effectiveness, fully online courses, student perceptions, student use of the search function in UCI s course management system, and the Electronic Educational Environment (EEE) system. 3 Additionally, we share information about UCI s learning spaces and related computer resources. From its inception, the EEE system has offered a wide range of custom-built applications to further the University s teaching mission by reducing faculty administrative load, improving pedagogy, and increasing efficiency. The table below shows growth in usage of some of EEE s most popular tools. Some of the most rapid growth has occurred with the DropBox tool, which allows students and instructors to upload documents to one 1 OIT collaborates with all academic schools, UCI Libraries, the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE), the Office of the Registrar, and University Extension, among others. 2 https://eee.uci.edu/about/_assets/edtechtf.fr.a.html https://eee.uci.edu/about/_assets/edtechtf.fr.html 3 EEE is UCI s home-grown online course management system. EEE offers a variety of tools to enhance learning and manage course administrative. The tool set is a collaborative campus-wide effort that is governed by a faculty advisory board, an executive committee, and an operational group. 1
another securely. Other heavily-used tools include GradeBook, which provides an efficient, secure way for instructors to keep track of and distribute grades throughout the quarter, and MessageBoards, which allows for class discussion via an internet forum. The final three tools highlighted below include Quiz, which allows instructors to administer online quizzes to students, Class Websites, which helps faculty easily create a courserelated website in minutes, and Final Evaluations, which give individual academic departments control over the final evaluations for their respective faculty. The table below shows the percent increase in number of students associated with each particular tool by date. The growing demand for tools such as DropBox and MessageBoards reflect a positive response from students and faculty regarding the services offered. 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Quiz 14% 19% 24% Class Websites 86% 88% 89% MessageBoards 43% 48% 52% DropBox 13% 40% 45% Final Evaluations 90% 92% 93% GradeBook 84% 86% 88% Table 1: EEE tools usage statistics Teaching Evaluations EEE was employed to survey students in Fall 2009 to gather more information about participation in quarterly and midterm Teaching Evaluations, effectiveness of email as a reminder mechanism, and perceptions of how evaluation information is used. Students were surveyed both during normal academic quarters and summer sessions. In total, 2,646 students (~12% of the undergraduate population) submitted responses to these surveys. Results demonstrated that 72% of respondents felt EEE Evaluations were open and available for an appropriate amount of time. Additionally, 47% rated the number of reminder emails received as just right. There was also a strong interest in learning more about how Evaluations make an impact on learning at UCI (76%). Online Learning In October 2009, students were surveyed to discover their perceptions of online learning, as well as their experiences with taking classes online. The survey was distributed to students in the middle of Fall 2009 and 1,173 students (~5% of the undergraduate population) responded. 90% of the respondents were undergraduates, and 15% of the respondents had never had an online learning experience. 2
Respondents were asked to compare the effectiveness of online and in-class learning within 5 categories. The survey revealed that, overall, 58% of respondents would prefer a combination of online and in-class learning: Figure 1: UCI 2009 Online Learning Survey UCI s Office of Information Technology has implemented and maintained a reliable, scalable, and highly flexible infrastructure in support of online courses. Fully online courses are offered through collaboration with several key academic and support units. 4 During Summer 2010, UCI offered 33 fully online courses. These online courses have been wide ranging from Information and Computer Science, Physics, Biology, Social Sciences, and Social Ecology to Writing with enrollment ranging from 16 to 163. Search EEE was used to survey students in 2008 to learn how the Search feature was being used on the course management system. 1,023 students (~4-5% of the undergraduate population) responded. This information has since been used to enhance the user experience on EEE over the past 2 years, through the creation of a My Websites page (listing all websites associated to classes in which a user is enrolled), including the Search feature on every page, and expanding the QuickLinks feature. 5 Learning Spaces During Summer 2010, students were surveyed to determine the importance of various campus technology services, ranging from computer lab equipment and hours, to EEE 4 Support units include participating academic schools, the Office of the Registrar, Summer Session, and University Extension. These fully online courses utilize the Moodle course management system platform where faculty can continue using the campus EEE course management system for various tools. 5 QuickLinks allow for easy searching on EEE by directly linking to commonly searched for documents and applications. 3
tools, to suggestions for updating classrooms. A total of 204 students (< 1% of the undergraduate population) participated. Overall, the survey highlighted the importance of resources and applications devoted directly to enhance course administration and learning. Data analysis regarding usefulness of computer labs revealed access to printing options, computer software support, lab availability, and access to course specific software from off-campus all rated very important, as are environmental factors, such as seating, lighting, and temperature. According to the data gathered on classrooms, environmental factors, classroom maintenance, and good audio and projected image quality were the most important issues to students. Computer Resources The UCI campus presents a host of services and opportunities allowing students and faculty to enrich their educational experience. Instructor Recognition. During Spring 2009, an instructor recognition survey was distributed to students to gather nominations on effective use of technology in a classroom setting. This information was used to produce brief articles highlighting outstanding faculty that have demonstrated a strong use of teaching with technology in the classroom. Innovation Award. Beginning in the early 2000s, OIT sponsored the Technological Innovation Award for the annual Celebration of Teaching ceremony. 6 This award honors professors who creatively and effectively implement technology in the classroom. Workshops. In an effort to encourage creative uses of teaching with technology, EEE holds quarterly instructional technology-focused workshops for staff, faculty, and graduate students. Help Desk. OIT s help desk provides assistance to all undergraduate and graduate students via phone, walk-in, or email, on a broad range of topics, including connectivity, mobile computing, classrooms, email, and access. Conclusion The Office of Information Technology continues to provide new and improved services to faculty and students, with the aim of enhancing their educational experiences through technology. There are many more services offered by OIT not discussed here, such as: Blog, Wiki, Survey, iclicker in-class student response system, lecture recording, and podcasting using Replay. In order for UCI to continue to build upon its successes in offering technologically innovative applications for teaching and learning, our next step is to develop an educational technology strategic plan. This plan ought to be aligned with 6 Sponsored by the Division of Undergraduate Education s Teaching, Learning & Technology Center. 4
the University s strategic plan, which lists to the goals of experimenting with new forms of teaching and learning in and outside of the classrooms and integrating technological support more thoroughly into traditional classes and explore more uses for distance learning and Web-based instruction. 7 Our campus strong commitment to excellence in higher education and collaborative approaches have enriched student learning and faculty teaching for over a decade, and we will soon plan how to make an even greater impact on teaching and learning at UCI. 7 UCI Strategic Plan 2005-2015 (http://www.strategicplan.uci.edu/content/pdf/sp_allxxx.pdf) 5