School of Education Departments have identified the essential courses to be offered at a distance if needed in response to the spread of the H1N1 flu. MERIT staff is prepared to support the development and delivery of these courses. Course support will also be available at a distance through documentation in the School of Education Knowledge Base. 

Learn@UW and Moodle are the primary tools identified by faculty to support teaching at a distance. The campus has identified these two resources as high priority for continued support and maintenance in the event that the flu becomes so widespread that some or all face to face classes would be canceled. Additional tools supported by MERIT include Google Apps, MyWebSpace, LessonShare, Second Life, Library e-reserves, library course pages as well as software tools to support course work.

Tips on preparing to teach courses at a distance are available at the Teaching and Learning Excellent Website.

For further assistance, please contact Zach Buehl, IT Consultant (890-2080); Catherine Stephens (263-5949); or Jo Ann Carr (263-4755).

Twelve interactive whiteboards have been funded by the TOSA foundation for use in School of Education classrooms and will be deployed throughout the School in the coming months. This project complements a current project at Madison West High School and will provide an opportunity for shared experiences with this Professional Development School.

Faculty members from Counseling Psychology, C&I, ELPA, Educational Psychology, and Kinesiology submitted proposals for the use of this technology in response to an RFP from this foundation supported by UW-Madison alums John and Tashia Morgridge.

The proposals submitted by faculty emphasized the ways in which this technology will support the integration of a wide range of resources and support student centered learning. The ability to integrate primary source materials and student response systems in teaching was cited by the social studies faculty members Simone Schweber and Diana Hess. The potential to increase student participation in large lecture classes led to Lee Nelson's request for a "Sympodium" for room 228 Educational Sciences. Creation of simulated activities for physical education will be the emphasis of interactive whiteboard use in Kinesiology. Illustrations of problem sets and experiments will be used in many subject areas including science and mathematics education.

Program participants who submitted the proposals will participate in structured training in the integration of this technology in teaching. Additional training for School of Education faculty and staff will be provided by MERIT staff beginning in the Fall 2009.

The interactive whiteboards are scheduled for installation in rooms 131, 215, 267, 344, 401a, 401b, and 566 of the Teacher Education Building; rooms 228 and 1252 [tentative room assignment] Educational Sciences, portable boards in the Natatorium, as well as a portable interactive whiteboard for use by the Dean's office. Peripheral equipment including student response devices and portable slates will be part of the MERIT equipment pool.

The School's Academic Planning Council has selected MERIT (Media, Education Resources, and Information Technology) as the new name for the merger of the CIMC, IMDC, and SoE IT office. MERIT Services and staff are housed on the first, third, and fourth floors of the Teacher Education Building. MERIT will continue to provide the library, help desk, learning spaces, media development, technical support, instructional technology consulting, and infrastructure support formerly provided by the CIMC, IMDC, and SoE IT. Additional information about the reorganized unit including our new website will be announced later in the spring semester.

Jo Ann Carr
Director, MERIT