With a high-speed robotic crane that delivers books in the new library and audio response iPad applications in language classrooms, the University of Chicago exemplifies the successful integration of cutting-edge technology within traditional brick-and-mortar education.
For providing small, intimate class settings that allow the faculty and students to engage on an intellectually challenging level and using technology to complement this style of learning instead of replacing it, we’ve chosen the University of Chicago as our “eCampus of the Month” for September—a designation for colleges and universities that are national leaders in using technology effectively.
Here, Klara Jelinkova, associate vice president and chief information technology officer, describes the keys to the university’s ed-tech success. (Editor’s note: To nominate your college or university for our “eCampus of the Month” honor, go to http://ecampusnews.eschoolmedia.com/ecampus-of-the-month/.)
How does your campus use technology to advance student learning?
As a research-driven institution, we are implementing several new technological innovations to support our students’ needs. One exciting addition to the campus is the Mansueto Library that opened this year. The library has five floors of underground book storage, allowing the collection to remain on-site and available to students within a few minutes of requesting materials. When a student requests a book, a high-speed robotic crane zooms down a tiny railroad track and stops at the right bin. It pulls out the bin and delivers it upstairs to the circulation desk, where a real person picks out the book. The process, which has been used for industrial storage, internet retailers, and smaller academic libraries, is supposed to take five minutes—as opposed to at least a day for getting materials from a remote storage facility.
The past year saw extensive upgrades to our wireless network, boosting its speed, security, and extending its reach across most of the campus. This enables students to collaborate with their instructors and peers more effectively using a variety of tools, including learning management systems, tailored learning applications, specialized software packages, and training programs for students. Some examples of specialized learning tools being created with faculty at the University of Chicago include adapting an existing Clinical Pathophysiology textbook to a new web platform, building a new user interface to the Virtual Human Embryo for a Human Growth & Development course, and language textbooks optimized for use on mobile devices.
We are extending the reach of the campus network to support the university’s global presence, starting with the University of Chicago Center in Beijing that opened last fall. We are using digital video technology to allow graduate divisions, professional schools, and the undergraduate college to have real-time interactions with the faculty and students working at the Center in Beijing. The use of technology in classrooms also will allow us to expand offerings in the Graham School of General Studies. By tailoring the technology available to those students, who are primarily working adults, we are able to offer more convenient options for their educational needs.
How has your campus financed its technology initiatives?
Each year, the IT Services team meets with student government, our faculty advisory board, and other governance bodies to determine what strategic investments IT Services should pursue. The CITO then discusses those initiatives with the provost, the CFO, and other university executives to determine which initiatives best advance the university’s objectives. Funding decisions and plans arise from these discussions in a strategic planning process.
What initiative or project are you most proud of, and why?
I am truly proud of all the initiatives that the IT Services team has delivered over the years. However, I think the one initiative that I am particularly excited about is our technology support that extends beyond the campus into our city and around the globe. Locally, IT Services is engaged in several programs to support the neighborhood schools on Chicago’s South Side by recycling computers no longer in use at the university and engaging youth in various research programs both on and off campus. Neighborhood youth are able to connect and participate with other students their age through the use of computers and technology supplied by the university’s technology department.
Technology plays a vital role in linking the Center in Beijing back to our University of Chicago Hyde Park campus and in connecting scholars in China with their students and colleagues in the U.S. We are currently planning for high-quality videoconferencing with Beijing to enable real-time interaction between Chicago and China.
What has proved most challenging when it comes to integrating technology into lecture halls and campus processes? How have you overcome those challenges?
Because the University of Chicago maintains small class sizes with a unique, tailored approach to each class’s objective and the student’s needs, it is difficult to implement an optimized technology approach.
We work closely with faculty to help use technology to solve many of their educational challenges on a creative and personal level. We have developed content and learning management systems for faculty to help them update their class content easier and more efficiently. In leveraging more modern technology, we have worked with faculty and students to create audio response iPad applications to assist the language programs and allow students to record responses orally based on the instructions given. Thinking of cutting-edge, creative ways to merge technology into these intimate class settings is how we continue to partner with and support the needs of our faculty and students.
What’s your best or most useful ed-tech advice for your colleagues?
Take a collaborative approach with all departments or areas of the university to make sure you are meeting their technology needs. Knowing the population of your school and what everyone needs to be successful will allow your IT department to provide value-added services and innovation that makes a large impact on the learning experience.
- Extron AV Switching, Streaming, and Control Systems Aid Higher Learning at Idaho’s First Medical School - June 1, 2021
- Extron XTP, Streaming, and Control Systems Empower Point Park University’s Varsity Esports Program - June 1, 2021
- Extron NAV Series Delivers AVoIP Throughout Allied Health Veterans Hall at UNC Wilmington - June 1, 2021