SUNY Awards $633,000 to Share Teaching & Learning Innovations Across System
September 22, 2014
Albany – State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher today announced the recipients of the 2014 Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITG) program, awarding $633,000 to fund campus innovations and initiatives that enhance teaching and learning and have the potential to be brought to scale throughout SUNY. Since it’s inception in 2012, the IITG program has funded more than 106 campus-based projects for more than $2.25 million dollars.
Nearly all IITG-funded projects include collaborations by two or more campuses and/or with local organizations and businesses. Project outcomes are shared openly across SUNY, enabling colleagues state-wide to replicate and build upon the innovations.
“The IITG program is an opportunity for faculty to take their most innovative teaching and learning techniques to the next level, not only fostering their ideas on their home campus but teaming with colleagues across SUNY to implement them elsewhere within our system,” said SUNY Chancellor Zimpher. “We look forward to bringing the opportunity of these outstanding ideas to even more of our students, faculty, and staff as a result of this year’s grants.”
Of the 63 proposals submitted for this year’s competition, 21 were funded, with four being renewed from previous IITG grants. A complete list of funded projects is available online, and a sampling of those receiving support this year is below:
University at Albany
Dr. Trudi Jacobson and colleagues are leading Designing Innovative Online Learning: Integrating a Coursera MOOC with Open SUNY Badging, which will expand on an earlier project to promote student metaliteracy and experiment with badge-based competencies. Thanks to SUNY’s partnership with Coursera – a massive open online course platform – this class will be available to students world-wide.
Broome Community College
Dr. Andrea Wade is developing a MOOC Model for Workforce Development in the High Demand Labor Industry of Home Health Aides/Personal Care Aides. The course responds to the fast growing need for well-trained home health care workers. Students and local employers will have easy access of online materials with the aim to launch and build upon more formal education opportunities.
Buffalo State College
Ken Fujiuchi is Creating Situated Learning Environments through Mobile Device Management (MDM) to support new teacher training standards. MDM will support and document individual academic achievement and active learning as part of their teacher certification portfolio.
SUNY Cobleskill
Jim Dutcher is leading WAVE-ExSEL, which will support experiential learning through use of wearable technologies such as “Google Glass.”First Responder and animal Hoof Health classes will explore these new technologies, enabling students and faculty to better understand the nuances of a concept or circumstance through access to real-time data/information and immediate review/feedback.
Empire State College
Dr. Nan Travers is leading Prior Learning Assessment: A Competency-Based, E-Portfolio Framework, which will examine how prior learning can be documented and assessed through use of student e-Portfolios, and provide professional development to faculty advisors and evaluators responsible for assessments. Using this new framework, Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) will be made scalable, transparent, and easier to adopt.
SUNY Old Westbury
Samara Smith’s Collaborative Media Center received additional fundingto test open digital tools, and creation of online resources, in an individualized online and face-to-face format. With the Collaborative Media Center, students develop the confidence to master new technologies independently through a blend of online tutorials and individualized support that will promote life-long digital literacy.
SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Dr. Daniel Jones is developing A Novel On-line Approach for "e-student" Remote Laboratory Experiments that will determine efficacy of remote student access to lab environments for online delivery of Physics labs. The implementation of this project will enable students who don’t have direct access to labs and equipment the opportunity to fulfill General Education requirements.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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