Systemic Progress in Teaching and Learning 2001 Award Winners

George Mason University

Technology Across the Curriculum Program

George Mason University defines itself as "The Innovative University for the Information Society." Developing creative ways to use technology to enhance teaching and learning is a critical part of its vision. The university's Technology Across the Curriculum (TAC) program, building on the model of its Writing Across the Curriculum program, is designed to incorporate appropriate technologies into all classes and ensure that every student, in whatever field, graduates from George Mason with technological skills and an understanding of how they can be used.

The TAC initiative is a collaborative effort between the College of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Instructional Improvement and Instructional Technologies (DoIIIT). Arts and Sciences faculty have developed a list of skills students need in courses, fields of study, and early employment. These skills are intended to support students' ability to interpret and critically analyze information content and the technologies that deliver information. In the past three years, TAC has worked with all departments in the college to redesign more than 90 courses and develop six technology-focused minors (some in conjunction with the School of Information Technology and Engineering). By the fall of 2001, more than 7,500 students had participated in one or more of these courses.

This exemplary program advances deliberate, institution-wide innovation while remaining grounded in both student needs and student achievement. It features a number of elements that would be useful to other institutions and state systems, including:

• a systematic process through which faculty identify core basic and advanced skills;
• a grid matching these skills with programmatic curricular change;
• a student-support mechanism (Student Technology Assistance and Resources) that provides students with basic instruction to prepare them for more advanced technical assignments;
• a faculty-support mechanism (Instructional Resource Center) to help with redesign of courses, including a proposal process that reinforces explicit institutional needs;
• a budget process that matches the priorities articulated in the TAC program;
• solid assessment mechanisms.

State University of New York

Learning Network

The SUNY Learning Network (SLN) is the premiere online learning program of the Office of the Provost of the State University of New York, designed to increase access to SUNY's academic programs and maintain consistently high quality in online learning, and to do so with fiscal prudence. The thoughtfully designed and implemented program, a result of extensive collaboration among all participating campuses with leadership from the Office of Advanced Learning & Information Services, features a variety of elements of value to other institutions, including:

• a well-structured four-stage faculty development process and seven-step course design process, with extensive training and support for participating faculty and an emphasis on providing for different learning styles;
• a robust technology architecture that offers a reliable development and learning environment for faculty and students, emphasizing a high degree of individual interaction;
• a 24x7 technical support program that serves all participating SLN institutions;
• a funding and property-rights model that recognizes and rewards the contributions of individual faculty and institutions and, at the same time, acknowledges a common need for high quality support and service;
• assessment techniques for tracking results and levels of satisfaction.

By any quantitative measure, the program is highly successful. Between 1995 and 2001, annual course offerings increased from 8 to more than 1,500; student enrollments increased from 119 to more than 25,000; participating SUNY campuses increased from 2 to 53; complete online degree offerings increased from 0 to more than 40. Faculty have reported excitement with the chance to consider alternative means of instruction and assessment; students are twice as likely to report high levels of learning in SLN as they are in classroom courses on similar subjects. The SLN approach serves as an outstanding model for offering a broad range of high quality courses, with a solid, efficient, and cost-effective infrastructure for faculty development and student support.