Torchbearer: Summer 1998

Wired: Teaching and learning get a lift

Mike Bradley

Dollars from UT Knoxville's new technology fee have stretched further than expected.

More than 1,000 computers have been purchased since students began paying the fee last year. The amount of fee-funded equipment, software, and projects has been boosted by unexpected discounts and grants from computer manufacturers and other companies.

"We've been able to buy more computers than we planned because we have contracted with vendors and gotten lower prices," says Dr. Susan Mettlen, vice chancellor for information infrastructure. "We also have gotten grants and donated software from various software vendors. It has worked out very well."

Mettlen said six new computer labs were initially planned the first year, but 26 were created as a result of lower prices and help from vendors.

"For example, computers for the Vivace learning system in the music department were discounted 50 percent, so we really were able to stretch our dollars."

The $100 per semester fee, which began in January of 1997, raises about $5 million annually for networking infrastructure, technology upgrades, hardware, and support for students, Mettlen says.

Colleges, departments, and programs across campus report that the fee has had a positive impact.

Susan Metros, UTK's director of innovative technologies, says the Smart Classroom Initiatives program funded by the technology fee allowed new projectors and presentation equipment, digital audio equipment, computers, and Internet connections for McClung Museum, the University Center Auditorium, the Geology and Geography Building, and the Art and Architecture Building.

Metros says the fee is making possible training programs that help faculty learn to use new technologies.

"The training is going better than scheduled because faculty are so interested. We have had more than 1,100 contacts, mostly from faculty who want to talk to us about putting their classes on-line, technology components, and learning what is available in terms of equipment, websites, and other services."

Joe Gipson, director of telecommunications and network services, says the fee resulted in on-line connections in student dorms and created dial-up services for off-campus students.

Gipson says connections have been made to about 3,300 dorm rooms in 13 campus residence halls serving about 7,000 students. About 2,000 on-campus students are already on-line, and that number should top 3,000 by next year, he says.

"The dorm connection service has gone very well, better than anyone could have hoped," Gipson says. "The students using it have been very pleased."

The fee also enables UT to provide Internet connection through the telephone for about 5,000 off-campus UTK students and employees, he said.

Students pay $38 per semester for the service and employees pay $55 per semester. The charges defray the university's costs for using telephone lines and are lower than most commercial Internet provider charges, Gipson says.

"We are forced to charge for off-campus service to pay the monthly telephone bill," he says, "but we've been able to leverage our technology fee to provide one of the best dial-up services available at one of the most reasonable rates anywhere."

Dewitt Latimer, director of computing and academic services, said about 40 percent of the new computer stations on campus are replacements of old computers, and the rest are new stations where no computers existed before.

The technology fee also helped pay for the Aconda Court Service Center, which provides a single place for students and staff to get computer help, including software, installations, Internet connections, new accounts, training, and one-on-one consultations, he said.

These services used to be spread among Stokely Management Center, Dunford Hall, and Aconda Court, Latimer says. "Students used to wander around searching for the right building for their particular problems, but the technology fee has made it possible for them to go to one spot."

The College of Engineering has received about 150 new or updated computer stations, mostly for freshman engineering laboratories, says Dr. Fred Tompkins, professor and associate dean.
"We are a technology-intensive program. Finding resources to keep equipment contemporary is a substantial challenge. The technology fee gives our students the opportunity to work with technology, equipment, and software that is contemporary and consistent with what is being used in industry."

The College of Communications has acquired 47 machines to replace outdated computers in three labs and equipment enabling students and faculty to work on digital production in photojournalism, audio, video, and multimedia designs.

"In the College of Communications, it is critical to update computer, graphic, audio, and video equipment so we can compete with other universities, and our students can compete in the industry," Communications Dean Dwight Teeter says. "I am really impressed by the way the Division of Information Infrastructure has been able to get all these labs in place so rapidly.

"The technology fee is responsible for not only helping this college, but in a few years will have this entire campus on a level competitive with any college in the nation."

In the College of Human Ecology, 60 new computers will be split between three computer labs, says Mark Van Patten, the college's computer systems manager.

One lab is a classroom that is being used to teach seven sections of a required course in microcomputer applications. Another has been created to help students work on multimedia, Internet, and web page development and to allow faculty to develop on-line courses.

The college also has created a training lab designed specifically to teach students to work in high schools for vocational education.

"Before the technology fee, we experienced a lot of frustration in not being able to meet the needs of students," Van Patten says. "The reaction from students and faculty to the updated equipment is fantastic. The students love it. The labs have made a dramatic difference."

Dolly Davis, acting head of the music department, says the technology fee provided $84,000 for 26 computers for a new music education tool known as the Vivace Personal Accompanist System.

Davis says UTK is one of two universities chosen by Coda Music Technology of Eden Prairie, Minn., to test the new system.

The computerized system's sensitive, interactive music accompaniment creates a "world-class music laboratory for student rehearsals," she says.

"This technology is a major step forward in music instruction. It would not have been possible here without support of UTK's Division of Information Infrastructure and the monetary contribution of the new student technology fee."

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