Mobile Teaching and Learning Charter

Draft – 4/18/2005
2nd Draft – 5/05/05
Final Draft – 5/10/05 

NOTE: The Mobile Teaching and Learning Charter is a planning document that makes policy recommendations. Policy statements regarding mobile teaching and learning can be found here.

Learning Anywhere, Anytime: The Wireless First, Faculty First, Student Choice Two-Year Mobile Computing Initiative at Fort Hays State University

A Joint Recommendation from the Instructional Technology Policy Advisory Committee (ITPAC) and the Provost’s Council

The Vision
Fort Hays State University (FHSU) has long been recognized for its “high-tech/high-touch” vision. The underlying assumption of the vision is the integration of leading edge information technology with the humanizing aspects of personal attention to achieve the most productive learning environments available in higher education. Faculty are valued for their creative use of desktop, classroom and lab-supported technology in developing pedagogy that is student-centered, interactive, participatory, problem-solving, practical, engaging and team-oriented. The result is acquisition of information literacy and transferable computer skills that will serve students for the rest of their lives.

The logical “next-step” in this institutional vision is the creation of a wireless and mobile computing environment whereby each faculty member and student can learn anywhere, anytime in the context of increased interactivity, engagement, communication, productivity, equity of access and continuous pedagogical innovation and improvement. This enhanced institutional vision is best realized through a mandated mobile computing initiative preceded by the completion of a ubiquitous wireless campus infrastructure and a performance-based faculty development program.  Ultimately, this strategy will result in a faculty-led effort to implement pedagogically sound and student engaged laptop learning experiences that will reflect the very best and most innovative aspects of the institutional “high-tech/high touch” vision.

First Principles

• Policy and planning should drive technology; not the other way around.
• Any plan should be incremental and calibrated to avoid the failures of other mobile computing initiatives (e.g. Georgia)
• Obtain the optimal buy-in from faculty and staff before initial student acquisitions
• Provide faculty support for laptop pedagogical uses in both traditional and virtual learning environments, for learning software applications, for wireless connectivity, and for hardware issues. If faculty do not require use of laptops in the learning experience, the students’ skills remain low and resistance to mandated laptop purchases remains. When faculty engage students by requiring digital portfolios, Web page creation, collaborative projects, digital audio and video submissions, etc. , then student acceptance of the programming increases and behavior problems such as Web surfing, instant messaging and e-mailing are greatly reduced.
• Provide adequate lead-time for acceptance of a mobile computing initiative by current and prospective FHSU students.
• Provide time for the wireless infrastructure to be put in place and advertised to prospective students. With a ubiquitous wireless infrastructure in place, this should give students additional incentive for purchasing laptops (as opposed to desktop machines) and serve as a powerful Year One public relations tool in this two year strategy.
• Provide the highest quality and most responsive maintenance and laptop repair for students and faculty at all times. The Computing Center is currently in the middle of implementing a modified enterprise system and cannot provide additional customer service in Year One or Two without increased staff.
• Provide adequate resources for Year One pilot projects and experimentation
• Provide platform choice (Mac or PC)
• Provide a plan that complements the fact that 40% of new students are likely to have a laptop/computer of their own upon admittance to FHSU
• Do not implement financial requirements that contradict the university brand of “affordable success. ” Financially disadvantaged students must be accommodated along with virtual and part-time students in any demand- or supply-driven mobile computing initiative. Keep all fees and other costs as low as possible.
• Standardize as much a possible and support only specified hardware and software
• Establish a monitoring agent for the mobile computing initiative such as a “Student Computer Ownership Committee” consisting of faculty, staff and students to provide oversight and make software load recommendations

The Plan: Timeline and Elements

Year One: Starting Fall, 2005.

• Build out wireless (wi-fi) network to include all campus spaces. Networking staff acquire and learn wireless network management system. Networking staff refine wireless network security system. Incorporate wireless authentication into the single sign on system.
• Promote the use of laptops to faculty as a new communication, productivity and educational tool for learning and socialization. Encourage departments/faculty to request laptops and commit to using laptop applications in their traditional and virtual teaching environments.
• Support a number of pilot programs with at least four departments (one in each college) by providing laptops for the affected faculty. Departments must enter in local performance agreements with the Office of the Provost.
• A mobile cart of selected laptops will be available to share among departments for student participation in classroom applications.
• Departments, programs and faculty engaged in the pilot programs and experiments must identify best practices and applications in writing to be shared with other faculty in Year Two of the plan.
• Solicit and test laptops from several vendors in Fall, 2005. Negotiate with vendors for best price, specifications, software, lease/purchase programs, and other application service needs, e.g. maintenance.
• Make final decision on one or more mobile computing approaches to student laptop ownership. This implies an option for the student of either purchasing an FHSU recommended computer and/or adhering to a minimum set of hardware requirements for students currently owning a computer. Both options could be combined into a single approach. Selected vendor(s) will be required to create a Web site for the institution with special pricing for FHSU students. The FHSU Web site will identify for student use laptop receiving points (e.g. campus bookstore), software distribution processes, maintenance plans for students (e.g. library resident technicians) and faculty (e.g. Computing Center) and financial assistance/loan programs.
• By early spring 2006, decide on specific hardware recommendations, application software recommendations, vendors for lease/purchase programs and the publication of any required cost based student ownership technology fee to inform fall, 2006 prospective and continuing students.
• Work out procedures with open source software for students to store their files on FHSU servers (so they can be backed up).
• Implementation of “Student Mobile Computing Ownership Committee” for coordination and implementation needs in Year Two
• Assignment of responsibilities for Mobile Computing Faculty Development Program training, pedagogical innovation(e.g. CTELT) and technical support
• Develop plan to provide necessary support services for mobile computing initiative (see section at end of document entitled “Issues to be Resolved”)

Year Two: Starting Fall, 2006

• Begin process of providing laptops for faculty members who request them.
• Provide training sessions for faculty for using the laptops in their courses on pedagogy (CTELT Training Program).
• Provide mini courses on software packages (using instant messaging, blogging, Dreamweaver, etc. ) (Forsyth Library).  
• Train technicians to be Mac-certified, PC-Vendor certified so that some repair can be completed at FHSU (CTC).
• Set up display area for laptop peripherals and associated items.  
• Decide on and set up areas for laptop repair on specified hardware only.  
• Negotiate agreements with software vendors and create the software image so that the vendor can install that image on the laptops.
• Enhance the faculty checkout area to include digital audio recorders (IPODs), small digital video cameras, a videoconferencing-in-a-box solution, and other equipment.
• Set up a laptop rental program for part time students. Accommodate purchase and usage of laptops by students taking courses in virtual learning environments.

Year Three: Starting Fall, 2007

• Implement mandate that all incoming and currently enrolled students have in their possession one of two (PC or Apple) university-specified laptops/other non-specified models will not be software-loaded or maintained by university technicians in CTC (for faculty/staff) or Forsyth Library (for students)

Issues to be Resolved: Full Support, Software Load and Branding

Faculty Support

• CTELT – develop a list of resources for faculty and some best practices for laptop use in the classroom including blogging resources, some portfolio examples, in-class survey examples, instant messaging, laptop video conferencing, etc.
• Web-based Tutorial Support (by a third party)
• CTC – provide hardware support, wireless access, and some helpdesk support.
• Laptop carts with laptops for student use in selected classes.

Student Support Services

• Student seminars/training in Forsyth Library
• Laptop initiative contact people and points identified
• Computer security issues addressed
• Network connections/power issues/wireless instructions provided
• Printing services
• Back-up and storage information created

Enhanced Checkout Services

• Laptop videoconferencing in a box – to be sent to guest lecturers or with students doing student teaching, and other cases.
• Laptops with mini cams, mini cams, digital cameras, IPods with microphones – to be used by students and faculty for academic projects.  
• Laptop Rental for part-time students

The Laptop

• 3 Year Service Contract
• Insurance Contract (may be included in some service contracts)
• Laptop certified repair staff
• Replacement parts and replacement laptops available

Software Image on the Laptop (PC Version)

• MS Office Professional
• MS XP Home (or Professional)
• Anti-Virus (commercial), Anti-Spyware (open source)
• FTP (open source)
• Blogging client (open source)
• iTunes (for audio created by digital recorders)
• A backup utility to back up to university servers
• Secure wireless configuration
• Secure Exam software (to prevent instant messaging or Web access during exams)