In FY96/97, San Francisco State University (SFSU)
received two budget augmentations to support the implementation
of the Baseline Hardware/Software Access, Training and User Support
initiative within the framework of the CSU Integrated Technology
Strategy. The first was a $50,000 allocation for faculty development
activities and to assist in meeting the information competence
expectations recommended by the Commission on Learning Resources
and Instructional Technology (CLIRT). The second was a $914,476
allocation to enable the campus to accelerate implementation of
the campus plan for achieving baseline capacity in the areas of
hardware, software and network access, training and support.
San Francisco State University has been particularly
successful in making effective use of these budget allocations.
All of the proposed projects have been completed. The facilities,
services and training provided by the projects have been enthusiastically
received by a broad base of students and faculty. Many of the
technology access needs of students and faculty have been addressed,
the availability and use of training has increased dramatically,
and infrastructure support elements have been implemented to insure
the continued success of these programs.
The Center for the Enhancement of Teaching supported faculty in
the development of creative projects that involve the use of technology
to enhance the delivery of course content. The focus has been
on the integration of technology into existing courses and/or
alternative delivery of classes such as distance education.
An abstract of each project follows.
Integrating Dynamic On-line Auditing Technology (DOAT) into Undergraduate ACCT 506 Auditing Course
F. Choo, Business: Department of Accounting
Dynamic On-line Auditing Technology (DOAT) is a cutting-edge concept in auditing that will transform the traditional course in computer auditing. In DOAT, students learn to audit a dynamic - instead of a static - company online. The company is "dynamic" in the sense that it will be a fully functional company created by the instructor with all the accounting transactions going in and out of the company on a real-time basis. The technology also challenges the students' creativity and skill in detecting and reporting online fraud on a timely basis.
Management 405 And The Web: A Model For Teaching Large (And Small) Management Classes Using Advanced Technology
M. Pelletier, Business: Department of Management
This project will put Management 405: Introduction
to Management and Organizational Behavior in its entirety on the
Web. Students will have access to the course via the Web by fall
1997. This new format will also be used as a delivery system for
the class and will replace traditional slide-projected material.
Learning in an Interactive Video Environment (LIVE)
J. Hollenbeck, Education: Department of Instructional
Technology
L.I.V.E. is a course to be taught in conjunction
with ITEC 860 - Distance Education. The class will be taught in
collaboration with two faculty members of the School of Education
at California State University, San Marcos and will involve students
at both campuses. ITEC 860 will employ compressed video conferencing
for bi-weekly class meetings and utilize synchronous and asynchronous
computer-mediated communications for the remainder of the interactions.
J. Keeffe, Science and Engineering: Department of
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Computational chemistry is fast becoming a routine
adjunct to experimental work in academic and industrial labs.
The advent of good molecular modeling software, together with
high quality, integrated graphics, makes the visualization of
computed results and structures dramatically effective for instructional
purposes as well. This project will allow us to complete computational
modeling exercises for first-year organic students. Exercises
developed during the first phase of this project have been tested
with approximately 400 students with positive results.
David Matsumoto, Behavioral and Social Sciences:
Department of Psychology
This project will develop a prototype interactive,
multimedia CD-ROM computer program to increase students' awareness
of cultural diversity and foster the acquisition of certain key
diversity skills. The work will build on a two-video resource
that is already available and in use in colleges and universities
across the United States today, with facilitator's guides and
student workbooks. The ultimate goal of this project will be to
use the prototype developed in this project as the platform with
which to create a final version of an interactive, multimedia
CD-ROM program that will be marketable to other colleges and universities
under the SFSU banner.
E. Nelsen, Humanities: Department of Foreign Languages
The product developed in this project will be an
interactive course reader with a series of audio computer lessons
for Italian 103 (third semester). This will be used as an alternative
to a traditional standard textbook.
B. Avery, Humanities: Department of English
This project will develop an interactive online course
to be delivered via the WWW called "The Production of Space
in Early Modern England". The course will be offered in collaboration
with Steven Shelburne, Professor of English at Centenary and Lynn
Hold, Professor of Philosophy at Mississippi State. The focus
of the class will be the impact of new media on knowledge and
culture.
J. Monteverdi, Science and Engineering: Department of Geosciences and
D. Dempsey, Science and Engineering: Department of
Geosciences
This project will develop a catalog of case studies
of archetypal California weather events, with up-to-date descriptive
text and references, for use in general education courses at SFSU
and elsewhere, available on the WWW. It will also include two
prototype, WWW-based exercises that require students to apply
their understanding of basic physical principles to understand
and interpret the events captured in some of these case studies.
The Information Technology Team at SFSU supported an Information
Technology Initiative Award for a library faculty member. Funding
provided faculty release time, student assistants and software.
The funded project, "Developing Information Competency Equitably
with Multimedia: A Conceptual Approach," resulted in the
development of an interactive multimedia tutorial that teaches
conceptual skills essential for effective searching of bibliographic
databases. These skills include topic formulation, database selection,
field identification, limitation and manipulation, Boolean search
techniques, natural vs. controlled language, proximity searching
and truncation.
SFSU expects to continue to develop the current Library Requirement
as an Information Competence Requirement, and to offer the Requirement
in a way that provides for individualized, self-paced learning
that is distributed to students both on and off-campus.
The Baseline Access, Training and Support award for $914,476 was
used to support a variety of information infrastructure projects.
Progress on individual components of SFSU's access, training and
support initiative is described below.
A new student modem pool was implemented with the purchase of
an Ascend Max TNT and the installation of seven T-1 circuits to
provide a total capacity of 168 in-coming 56 Kbps lines. With
the one hundred 28.8 kbps modems already installed, the campus
now has 268 modems for student use. SFSU systems staff wrote customized
code to authenticate modem users via SFSU's centralized Kerberos
database. The installation was completed in April, and there was
no blocking on the new modem pool between the time of installation
and the end of the semester. At this time, it is not known whether
the two modem pools will meet all demand during the fall, 1997,
semester.
A new faculty modem pool was implemented with the purchase of
an Ascend Max 4004 and the installation of three T-1 circuits
to provide a total capacity of 72 in-coming 56 Kbps lines. SFSU
systems staff wrote customized code to authenticate faculty users
via SFSU's centralized Kerberos database. The installation was
complete in February and Computing Services no longer receives
complaints about inadequate remote access services for faculty.
A Sun Enterprise 150 server and Netscape's Enterprise Web server
were installed to support online curricular materials for the
faculty, following extensive consultation with the faculty about
their requirements. A full-time staff member was hired to develop
content for the Web server and to assist faculty with their production
of Web-based materials. The new server was announced to the faculty
on August 12, 1997.
An additional Information Technology Consultant was hired in the
Help Desk group during the spring 1997 semester. The consultant
is responsible for handling calls to the faculty telephone help
line and for making "house calls" when college-based
staff are unable to respond to a faculty service request. The
consultant has been busy since his first day on the job.
The Center for the Enhancement of Teaching at SFSU built a facility
specifically for the use of collaborative software tools. The
facility uses Ventana software, a specialized collaboration tool.
It also has a custom-designed conference table with slide-out
laptop drawers, a rear projection system, and a complete suite
of audio-visual equipment. In addition to being a valuable resource
for campus programs, the collaboratory has attracted the interest
of corporate organizations and may be a source of revenue for
the university.
In response to the need for a university-wide "computer lab"
which could be scheduled by faculty on an occasional basis for
classes, Computing Services built a 20-workstation Electronic
Class Lab (ECL) in the campus library. In addition to computer
workstations, the ECL has ADA-compliant furniture, a rear-screen
projection system, and a full suite of audio-visual equipment.
The new facility will open in September 1997.
The Computing Services Training Center was moved into a larger
space and improved with the addition of multimedia software, a
conference table and chairs, videoconferencing equipment, air
conditioning, and a microphone system. A rear-projection system
will be built in December 1997.
An additional full-time trainer was added to the Computing Services
staff this spring, bringing the full-time training staff to two
positions. The additional trainer made it possible to offer training
classes during the summer for the first time, and classes were
very well-attended - 350 training class seats were filled in June
and July alone. The Training Center was also able to offer classes
in Photoshop, Pagemill, Pagemaker and Front Page for the first
time.
The 24-Hour Student Computing Lab was enhanced with the addition
of six new workstations and new software, particularly Photoshop,
Front Page, Pagemill and Pagemaker.
The Center for the Enhancement of Teaching installed twelve new
state-of-the-art workstations, as well as new scanners and printers
in its training facility. This facility is used for faculty training,
as a resource center for faculty incorporating technology into
the curriculum, and for developing materials for online teaching.
To improve the speed, performance and reliability of the campus
data backbone network, switches were installed in most of the
major academic buildings to segment network traffic and provide
high-speed links to backbone routers. In addition, most of the
aging horizontal coax still in service was replaced by 10-Base-T
ethernet connections.
Audio Visual/ITV services extended the scope of the campus fiber-based,
digital video distribution network. The digital network will significantly
increase the capacity and improve the quality and flexibility
of video services at SFSU.