Teaching Enhancement Center: Giving faculty a leg up with Instructional Technology

The UCLA Office of Instructional Development’s Teaching Enhancement Center offers faculty training and assistance with a variety of technologies in support of their undergraduate teaching. TEC seeks to fill gaps for faculty from departments with limited IT resources by providing equipment, facilities, and one-on-one training sessions.

In addition, TEC staff assists the university community where possible through consultation with various IT groups, involvement in setting campus direction on the use of instructional technology, making presentations, and supporting for university technology initiatives. TEC staff members also assist the Faculty Development Coordinator by periodically hosting the Discourse on Teaching and Technology (DOTT) sessions.

The Center offers video, audio, and scanning equipment on both Windows and Mac OS X-based computers. Software titles found within TEC include: Dreamweaver, Flash, Freehand; Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere; the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access) and Apple iLife suite (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD). In addition to these commercial products, staff continues to explore the role of open-source software and monitor its expanding presence on university campuses.

Special projects with faculty have included:

• Website projects: Working with a UCLA Librarian, TEC provided training, redesign assistance and center resources, including tutorials on Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Camtasia for the “The Road to Research” website.
• Slide Scanning: With both a flatbed scanner and automated slide scanner, TEC staff have assisted numerous faculty moving their film slides to digital formats or scanning documents into digital forms using optical character recognition software.
• Audio Digitization: Utilizing analog cassette decks, TEC has helped transform hundreds of hours of audio into digital MP3 or WAV files.
• Writing Project: TEC staff worked with the Writing Programs and TA Training to develop “Teach2Write,” a website designed to assist teaching assistants teach wiring skills to undergraduate students.
• DVD creation: TEC staff have helped faculty transfer their analog video material to DVD for ease of use and digital presentation.

Blended Instruction Case Studies

On behalf of OID, TEC is the coordinating and development unit for the Blended Instruction Case Studies Initiative, a pilot project to explore the use of technology in the classroom. The three pilot studies since the 2003-2004 academic year are:

Political Science: Designed to address scheduling and classroom space issues, this project entails putting course lectures online using a combination of slide presentations, video and audio, and a quiz tool.

Life Sciences: Designed to facilitate student comprehension of a series of complex laboratory steps, this project will present audio, video and narrated slide presentations to illustrate use of laboratory equipment and contextualize the student’s work with genomic sequencers.

Statistics: Designed to assist in standardizing the curriculum of the many sections of the large undergraduate Statistics 10 course, TEC researched and recommended the adoption of a complex online quiz bank and assisted faculty and TAs with test item development.

TEC staff is also involved with the UCLA Sakai Pilot Project, a campus-wide study of the local potential for the Sakai Collaboration and Learning Environment.

Visit the TEC site for further information. Located in room 160 Powell Library, TEC is open M-F 9:00 – 5:00. Faculty interesting in using TEC are asked to call 206-4599 to arrange an appointment. TEC can also be reached by email at tec@oid.ucla.edu.