In late spring, IT Academic Technology Services (IT-ATS) surveyed faculty on their use of and satisfaction with supported educational technology. Approximately 15% of the 2,821 faculty invited via e-mail to participate responded, and we would like to thank all faculty who took the time to help us better understand the educational technology needs of faculty and students. Of those respondents, 75% completed most or all of the survey. The survey gathered data in three broad categories to measure faculty satisfaction with available educational technology tools, to gather usage information about specific tools or tool types, and to identify preferred ways in which IT-ATS can support faculty.
At least 50% of respondents who completed the survey indicated they agreed to some extent that available technology tools met their teaching needs for creating course content, providing student learning experiences, and supporting student success. Although feedback showed a positive attitude towards our current toolset, the results indicate a need for a better system to allow instructors to pose, discuss, and endorse ideas in a more timely and informal environment. The current process to request a new technology tool is at an individual level and sometimes faculty miss important feedback from other instructors about their challenges when considering to adopt a tool.
Over the next few months, IT-ATS will be developing a process to allow instructors to provide feedback about the teaching tools and resources they would like to explore further. The purpose of the process is to allow IT-ATS to bridge instructor technology needs and the current technology request process and, hopefully, simplify the communication. Collecting that information will help IT-ATS identify technology needs and work with faculty to determine the best solutions that integrate with other systems, protect the necessary data, and provide pedagogical value for a broad audience. Look for an update this fall, and if you would like to share your ideas about the process, please e-mail us at ats-info@udel.edu.
