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LITRE plan complete,
ready for implementation
Under the leadership of co-chairs Hugh Devine and Sharon Pitt, a committee has completed its work on development of a Learning in a Technology-Rich Environment (LITRE) plan for the university. The plan is now available for public viewing at http://litre.ncsu.edu.
The LITRE plan seeks to enhance the use of technology in learning at NC State, with a stated goal to “produce students with superior abilities to harness technology to reason, investigate and communicate.”
“The LITRE plan is the culmination of 18 months of inquiry into teaching and learning with technology,” Pitt said. “The LITRE team, guided by feedback from faculty, staff, students and administrators, has developed a comprehensive blueprint for NC State's investments in technology-rich learning. I have high expectations that the ongoing LITRE effort will positively impact the quality of student learning at our university.”
Work will now begin on implementation of the plan. Provost James Oblinger has selected Dr. Lavon Page, associate professor of mathematics, to head the implementation effort.
“We have a really comprehensive LITRE plan, and we have a diverse and talented faculty and student body with a high level of technical expertise,” Page said. “The creativity is here. Our job will be to build on our present strengths – such as our strong cross-platform computing network – as we implement this plan, and our challenge is to make decisions that will look as wise five years down the road as our past choices appear today.”
The executive summary of the 90-page LITRE plan report identifies five initial actions for immediate implementation that will serve as a starting point for future LITRE efforts. They are:
- expanding and expediting the classroom technology improvement plan;
- implementing and testing the new university standard for classroom technology in a limited number of classrooms;
- deploying a new classroom-based technology learning system;
- establishing pilot technology-enhanced workspaces for student group projects;
- initiating a faculty-support grants program.
Page said some of those actions are already being addressed.
“We're already at work on a few important projects such as classroom improvement,” he said. “During the fall semester we expect to issue our first call for proposals for LITRE Grants – or grants for faculty to propose their own instructional technology projects. These will differ from IDEA grants in that they will not be restricted to distance education projects.”
The LITRE plan will also serve as the university’s quality enhancement plan component required for reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The SACS team will review the plan during a campus visit scheduled for March 23-25.
Posted February 20, 2004
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