CAUSE/EFFECT jrudy@cause.org The Center for Innovation in Instruction at Valley City State University: Improving Teaching with Technology by Ray Brown Valley City State University's Center for Innovation in Instruction is a resource center serving the entire state of North Dakota as an educational, informational, and support center for the use of emerging technologies in education. For this innovative project, VCSU received the 1996 CAUSE Award for Best Practices in Professional Development I n the last few years a number of new activities were initiated at Valley City State University (VCSU) tied together by a common theme, "Leadership for Change." The Center for Innovation in Instruction (CII) represents a powerful symbol of the institution's desire to seek strategic partnerships that meet the common needs of the groups represented in the project. With the founding of the CII in 1993, VCSU emerged as a state and regional leader for instructional innovation and implementation of technology initiatives designed to prepare students for professional roles that will extend into the next century. A year later, faculty, staff, and students developed a vision of VCSU as a nationally recognized, learner-centered caring community committed to continuous improvement. With the approval in the fall of 1994 for VCSU to become a notebook-computer campus, the institution took another big step into the future. Project background VCSU faculty members started a planning process during the 1992-93 academic year that culminated in the creation of the Center for Innovation in Instruction. At first, a faculty committee met regularly to struggle with the many issues surrounding the high cost of technology in an environment of limited resources. People recognized early in the process that creative ideas would be needed to adequately prepare and support faculty. The CII concept grew rapidly from a hope for providing a room on campus with a trainer into something much larger and more powerful. The faculty involved in the early planning observed that all kinds of educators and institutions were facing the same set of problems dealing with the rapid pace of technological change. As they studied efforts by others, their initial feelings of inadequacy were replaced by a sense that significant opportunities existed for those who were willing to step forward to gather resources and offer badly needed services. | |
|
