the ITS status report:
Currently:
1. ITS and a committee recently selected 2006 TechStars for effective uses of Smart Classroom technologies:
- Pat Abbott, geological sciences
- Peter Blomgren, mathematics
- Mark Laumakis, psychology
- Hong-Chang Liang, chemistry
- Elizabeth Pollard, history
ITS will be developing a website with video, text, and photos to share their best practices.

2. ITS is evaluating "clicker" companies (classroom response systems similar to what is available in ENS 280). The state-of-the-art business model is that students purchase their own clickers and the equipment and software are provided to the university at relatively low cost, or free. Textbook publishers are partnering with clicker companies, which could result in clicker proliferation for students. ITS, working with a faculty ad hoc committee, will select one company to recommend to interested faculty, and in particular for use in the new 500-seat classroom in the Arts & Letters building.

3. Special event support: Busy time for ITS this spring: Special events supported include Biosciences opening, Invitrogen distinguished lecture, Kyoto lecture (which can be found at http://its.sdsu.edu/kyoto), Lech Walesa lecture, Commencement, and more.

Major initiatives:
1. Ongoing smart classroom development. 25 room conversions and 5 new rooms in A&L building to be made Smart Classrooms this summer. This will bring the total percentage of centrally-scheduled rooms which are "Smart" to 75%.

2. Blackboard upgrades: Both hardware and software upgrades will be put into a test environment this summer. The upgrades will be thoroughly verified before being put into "production."

3. ITS is working on several faculty development initiatives in partnership with the Center for Teaching and Learning and the pICT (People, Information, and Communication Technologies) programs. These include:

• the summer faculty development Institute for pICT fellows and College of Education faculty,
• a comprehensive set of resources for improving pedagogical uses of PowerPoint
• support for faculty and programs (including nursing, social work, accountancy, and education) which are interested in redesigning curricula and courses in a blended learning format (meeting partially online and partially face-to-face).

With all of these efforts, ITS is also looking at evolving BATS to provide more "just-in-time" (web-based) supports for faculty interested in improving technology skills to complement these initiatives and supplement face-to-face workshops.

- Jim