ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 3 2 6 /C&RL News Conference Circuit Teaching, learning, and technology roundtable B y I r e n e M. H o f f m a n A report o n A A H E ’s m eetin g to la u n c h local c a m p u s ro u n d ta b le s L ibrarians, faculty, administrators, and cam­pus computing experts from more than 89 higher learning institutions convened in Wash­ ington, D.C., to discuss ways to better serve teaching and learning through information tech­ nology. The Teaching, Learning and Technol­ ogy (TLT) Roundtable meeting was a “confer­ ence within a conference” that took place within the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE) National Conference, March 19– 22, 1995. AAHE’s TLT Roundtable is a national pro­ gram designed to assist individual campuses in developing their own campuswide planning and support systems— that is, their own local roundtables. The specific aim is to help sup­ port better, more appropriate selections and use o f the widening range of instructional choices (prints, digital media, face-to-face meet­ ings, telecommunications, etc.) to serve the learning . . . a s edu needs and preferences of a growing range of students, planning and the teaching capabilities be inclusiv and choices o f a diverse group o f faculty. citizens w The purpose of the TLT lobby and Roundtable program is to improve the quality and ac­ needs and cessibility of higher educa­ tion through the selective use of information technology and information resources in teach­ ing and learning, while controlling costs. AAHE’s national TLT Roundtable program encourages, guides, and assists individual campuses in es­ tablishing their own local roundtable group. The members o f each group work coopera­ tively to develop campuswide planning, assess­ ment, and support systems and to undertake related projects with other roundtable institu­ tions. The criteria for qualifying for the conference involved sending a team o f three to five people that reflected the com p ositio n o f a local roundtable. These teams included a chief aca­ demic officer, someone responsible for improv­ ing teaching and faculty development; some­ one from computing; a faculty member (who may or may not be using information technol­ ogy in his/her own teaching); and a librarian. Through this meeting and others being planned, the TLT Roundtable provides struc­ tured activities to help institutions organize, plan, and form a TLT Roundtable. This meet­ ing, the first of its kind, gave institutions a fo­ rum to work with peer institutions and to share initial finds with new teams from institutions ready to begin. During the TLT Roundtable agenda, over 275 team members assembled for over 21 hours of expert updates, information cators our exchanges, strategic plan­ eeds to ning, evaluation, and col­ laboration. B en Shneider e, and a s man, head o f the Human- need to Computer Interaction Lab, U n iv ersity o f M aryland, voice our stated that technology today needs to “go beyond user concerns. friendly.” Today’s teachers need to go from being the “sage on the stage, to the guide on the side.” Through technology, the instructor can not only find ways to guide learners through the educa­ tion process, but stimulate and infuse learning with power and energy. (Roundtable cont. on p a g e 3 44) n e Irene M. H offman is assistant to the d ea n f o r library p lan n in g & development, K ennedy Library, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo; e-m ail: ihoffman@library.calpoly.edu mailto:ihoffman@library.calpoly.edu May 1 9 9 5 /3 2 7 3 4 4 /C&RL News initiative will be necessary in the coming w eeks for it to replace the Exon-Gorton proposal. Rescissions TIIAP Grants: Two major rescission packages, o ne in the H ouse and o n e in the Senate, threat­ en e d the TIIAP (Telecommunications Informa­ tion Infrastructure Assistance Program) grants in the D epartm ent of Commerce. The TIIAP grants are adm inistered by the National Tele­ com munications and Information Administra­ tion. Several w ere received by libraries o r had libraries as partners in com munity an d educa­ tion coalitions that received aw ards last fall. In FY94, $24.4 million in grants was awarded. The original FY95 budget appropriated $63 mil­ lion. A conference committee on H.R. 889, the Emergency Supplemental A ppropriations and Rescission Act o f 1995, approved rescission of $15 million instead of the $34 million that the Senate had proposed. An additional $30 mil­ lion w as pro p o sed to be rescinded from the TIIAP grants in H.R.. 1158. It is yet to be deter­ m ined w hat the final cuts will be to the TIIAP program in these rescissions. Library program s: Before recessing, the Senate recom m ended a total o f $418.9 million in all education rescissions for the FY95 b u d ­ get. Previously the H ouse had recom m ended a $1.7 billion rescission education package. In library programs, the H ouse supported rescission of all of the $6.5 million in research an d dem onstration projects and all o f the $4.9 million for library education and training fel­ lowships for library science students. The Sen­ ate, by comparison, supported only a $2.9 mil­ lion cut in the library education an d training program. The Senate did n o t vote any rescis­ sions for library construction and the research/ dem onstration program. U pon return from Congressional recess the first w eek in May, the House-Senate conferees will m eet to negotiate their differences in their respective rescissions. It is anticipated that while the budget cutters did not completely zero out library programs, they will be far m ore diligent as the FY1996 budget evolves. Library and ed u ­ cation supporters will have to w atch closely and be ready to advocate strongly as the 104th Congress proceeds in its n ew agenda. (Roundtable cont. from page 326) Institutional teams met for over 21 hours to exchange information with representatives from industry, discuss the impact of information tech­ nology o n teaching and learning, develop m ore effective strategies for supporting faculty efforts to integrate information resources and technolo­ gies into teaching and learning, and meet with p ee r institutions to share ideas an d develop partnerships. Representatives from all types of organiza­ tions and industries shared their thoughts and visions for enhancing teaching an d learning through technology. ACRL w as represented by its executive director, Althea Jenkins, w ho spoke o n the role o f ACRL, ALA, an d libraries in this arena. We also heard from representatives from IBM, Follett Corporation, the National Associa­ tion o f College Stores, the Professional and Or­ ganizational D evelopment Network, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and many others. A keynote lun­ cheon address w as given by Reed Hundt, chair­ m an o f the Federal Communications Commis­ s io n , w h o e n c o u r a g e d th e g r o u p to le t technology becom e “cutting edge versus cut­ ting w edge.” He stressed that as educators our planning needs to be inclusive, and as citizens w e n ee d to lobby an d voice o ur needs and concerns for improving our infrastructures. The meeting w as coordinated by project di­ rector Steven W. Gilbert. In the March/April 1995 issue o f Change magazine, Gilbert’s ar­ ticle, “T each in g Learning an d T echnology: T h e N ee d fo r C a m p u sw id e P la n n in g an d Faculty S u p p o rt S ervices,” sp e ak s to th e im­ p era tiv e for form ing an d im p lem en tin g lo ­ cal ro u n d tab les. AAHE will sponsor a summ er institute in July 1995 to provide intensive training and netw ork­ ing opportunities for institutions wishing to par­ ticipate in a TLT Roundtable. There is also a listserv that provides a forum for roundtable teams and others to discuss h ow changing p at­ terns o f teaching an d learning might b e influ­ enced by new applications o f information tech­ nology and vice versa. To join the AAHESGIT listserv, s e n d an e- mail message to: LISTPROC@LIST.CREN.NET th a t says: SUBSCRIBE AAHESGIT YOUR FIRSTNAME YOURLASTNAME. To find ou t m ore about the sum m er institute contact Ellen Shorthill, Project Assistant, AAHE Technology Projects: SHORTHILL@ClARK.NET. mailto:LISTPROC@LIST.CREN.NET mailto:SHORTHILL@ClARK.NET