One of the major goals of the Project is to provide resources and training for faculty to learn about, experiment with, and use instructional technology in teaching and scholarship. Therefore, during each year of the project, three major tasks involving faculty development activities are repeated:

1. Provide general faculty workshops on using instructional technology. These workshops will be modeled after the highly successful CyberSummer of 1998 (and its smaller successor in 1999). They will consist of approximately ten 4-hour workshops (number to be determined by need) per year on such topics as:

   • Designing instructional web pages
   • Using course authorware
   • Evaluation and selection of courseware and modeling tools
   • Using newsgroups and mailing lists for asynchronous class discussions
   • Using chat rooms for synchronous class discussions
   • Using presentation software

   More workshops can be arranged on demand. Therefore, faculty need will determine workshop numbers. The Instructional Technologist (see job description below) will oversee workshop details, arrange for presenters, fill available participant slots, etc. Our experience suggests that the maximum workshop size for effective instruction is eight participants.

2. Provide up to ten Technology Improvement Grants (TIGs) yearly to faculty as well as other faculty development monies. Each TIG will provide faculty recipients with $750 stipends and will allow for a one-course reduction in teaching load, if this is necessary. We estimate that each TIG will cost approximately $2,500. The budget also provides up to $8,500 per year for software and other instructional materials in support of the Technology Improvement Grants and $1,500 for WebCT experimentation.

3. Starting in the second year, conduct annual faculty forums for faculty who have completed TIGs during the previous year. In these forums, TIG recipients will demonstrate, discuss and evaluate the instructional technology materials used and/or created by them to enhance their teaching.

A $10,000 portion of faculty development funds will be used to run the group workshops and also to support departmental needs to bring in external consultants to provide specific training and advice on how to use technology for effective teaching and learning in a specific cognate area.

The general faculty workshops and TIG support will continue to be funded in the college’s operating budget after the Title III activity terminates.