During the first half of the biennium the work group conducted a large scale pilot of the Zoom video conferencing technology to evaluate the viability of Zoom as a possible replacement for state-wide.
In the second half of this biennium the workgroup has promoted and administered four Faculty Exploration Grants and six Work Group Exploration Grants.
As this is our initial biennium working with supported R&D funding we will be using our experience to inform our practice.
The following are some of the key projects and initiatives supported by R&D grant funding during the 2015-17 biennium.
Work Group Exploration Grants
The OCCDLA Emergent Technology Work Group established a research & development fund to enable the group to access and license technology as identified by the greater group to pilot test for possible shared implementation. As emergent technology tools and services are identified as possible viable candidates for consortium level sharing, the Emergent Technology work group will use these R&D funds to gain access for evaluation.
This process may include:
- Identification and selection of emergent instructional technology
- Pilot execution, including viability and operation plans
Ed Tech Reviews
Included below are links to several educational technology reviews conducted by ETWG work group members during the past biennium.
Statewide Zoom Pilot
During spring of 2016 the Emergent Technology Work Group conducted a large scale pilot of the Zoom video conferencing technology to evaluate the viability of Zoom as a possible replacement for state-wide. This involved pilot included 9 participating Oregon community colleges.
A broad scope of features and functionality for user experience and administrative features were evaluated in the pilot. College site administrators were able to gain direct experience with Zoom to better understand how it could be implemented at their colleges. Participants found Zoomʻs administrative functions intuitive and the administrative tools and features met their needs and expectations to successfully support Zoom as a potential video and web conferencing tool at their individual institutions.
This year a funding proposal was put forward by Blue Mountain Community College for a 2 year OCCDLA consortial license for Zoom during 2017-18. Recommendations and results from the ETWG Zoom pilot contributed to the recent funding proposal.
Faculty Exploration Grants
During the 2016-17 biennium the ETWG worked with faculty offering access to explorations grants using some of the available R&D Grant Funding for exploration of instructional technologies in distance education.
Faculty exploration grants were intended to support faculty in their investigation of emerging instructional technologies. It is also intended to enable our technical support systems access to these emergent tools for integration and implementation testing.
We held no requirements that these technologies be implemented in an actual course, only that they have the potential to enhance instruction. Grant activities included things like experimentation with software/apps. Funds were not permitted to be used to purchase equipment or hardware.