|
Virtual Center Bridges UC Campuses
|
|
|
|
Virtual Center Bridges UC Campuses
|
|
 The Teaching and Learning technology Center (TLtC) is a new initiative from the UC Office of the President. Its two major components, a grant program and a "webzine" were designed with the primary aims of showcasing the educational technology being employed at UC and facilitating further use of technology in teaching and learning. The lowercase "t" in TLtC is not a typo; it is an intentional message announcing the program's emphasis on teaching and learning, with technology as a tool, rather than an end in itself. Given the cost and time required of faculty and staff to deploy educational technology, it makes sense to share information and resources among campuses. The "Center," bridging all UC campuses, is virtual, which means that it exists in cyberspace at http://www.ucop.edu/acadinit/tltc/. It provides timely, useful information about the TLtC Webzine and Online Forum, and the TLtC grants program. The TLtC Webzine and Online Forum
A webzine is a magazine published on the World Wide Web. The TLtC Webzine and Online Forum, launched November 28, is a news and communication hub about educational technology that spotlights innovative people and projects, as well as resources and services in the UC campuses. This site is brimming with helpful information and links, providing a clear sense of how UC instructors are collaborating across departments and campuses to develop innovative uses of technology in the classroom. Though there are existing storehouses of course materials on the Web, none are UC specific. For example, www.merlot.org is a large consortium of US universities, but the TLtC site will maintain a database of UC faculty members using educational technology. Faculty members can enroll in the database individually on a voluntary basis so that they can share educational technology applications with other UC instructors. UC Davis participates on the Editorial Board for the Webzine through Professor Art Huntley, Department of Dermatology. He will be soliciting material from our campus for inclusion in the webzine. Please contact Art, at achuntley@ucdavis.edu, with your comments on the webzine and suggestions for content. You can sign up for a monthly email message that will summarize new material as it is added to the Webzine. The TLtC Grants Program
The grants program is intended to foster the broader use of educational technology by supporting the migration of successful educational applications from one UC campus to others. Two types of grants are offered: Feasibility or Planning Grants of up to $5,000 are intended to help faculty from different campuses meet and plan; Implementation Grants of up to $225,000 over 3 years are for planning and disseminating valuable educational technology among two or more UC campuses.The first round of grants was awarded in 1999/2000 and a new round of awards will be made this year. The deadline for the implementation grants is April 18, 2002. The deadline for this year's feasibility/planning grants was November 15, 2001, but it is expected that there will be another round next year. If you would like to apply, you should contact me, the UC Davis liaison for the grant program. Email hrmatthews@ucdavis.edu as soon as possible. Send us your comments on this story. |
|
|
