A Response to the Office of the President , 8/29/96
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Instructional
Technology at the Haas School of Business:
A Response to the Office of the President , 8/29/96 |
Background--In the past few years, the Haas School of Business has emerged as a vigorous technology-oriented community. We owe this development to bold leadership, good students, generous gifts, strategic partnerships, and much hard work. This combination has allowed us to pioneer multimedia and cyber-communication technologies in both the curriculum and classroom. We have also developed state-of-the-art new-media products that take our message to the world at large. We produce and distribute professional-quality CD-ROMs. Our Web site has been the recipient of numerous awards. The School would like to sustain our accomplishments and develop new technologies for instruction and research. Unfortunately, we face two difficult problems.
First problem--Cost shifting on campus has dealt us increasingly tighter budgets, despite large increases in the tuition charged to our students. For example, in just two years, we have lost one-million dollars from the instructional budget. As a result, money that used to fund innovation and strategic purchases now goes to maintaining an ever fewer number of elective courses and ever more abused skeletal-support staffs. This trend could adversely impact our recent rise in national standings.
Although we are currently the first undergraduate program in the nation, the seventh evening MBA program, and the tenth MBA program, this recognition is contingent on keeping up with wealthy competitors, staying abreast of a dynamic business environment, and remaining eminent in key technologies and strategies. Resources make the difference between winning or being a once ran. We once offered courses in multimedia and business presentations and even recently made slide presentations a requirement of the curriculum. Last year we were no longer able to afford unit-level classes in such topics for MBAs. More dramatically, the Computing and Media Center has a budget and staff that is 50-75% of the size of other top-20 business schools.
Second problem--Although we have been the beneficiaries of substantial generosity by patrons and companies, many of these gifts were Îone time only.Ì The capital campaign for our new building raised approximately $1.6 million in equipment donations. While some donations will continue, they will not be sufficient for replacement or upgrades. As a result, much of our equipment rapidly approaches senescence, because of the extremely rapid pace of technology change. There is little prospect that these problems will be solved by corporate contributions.
Solution--New support from student fees would allow us to maintain
ourselves near the cutting edge, keep up with a dynamic business environment,
and extend our accomplishments. In this report, we will detail what we
would like to do in the near future and inventory
what we have done.
FUTURE INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY
1. How we would like to improve teaching and learning
Video projector for Andersen Auditorium ($90,000). There were insufficient funds from the new-building project to equip our main auditorium with a video projector. This room is the signature public address facility of the School. It is used for classes by other departments that need a large-capacity room. It is sought after by organizations and events that need a large conference space in which to project computer and video images. We cannot currently satisfy these users with small portable projectors. Projectors large enough to fill this venue are manufactured by companies unlikely to make equipment donations.
Integrate audiovisual systems with video projectors in 4 classrooms ($200,000). There were insufficient funds in the Haas new building project to equip 4 major classrooms with audiovisual systems. Multimedia is used in all of our classes. We currently meet demand with portable systems that are of relatively low quality. These units take a great deal of valuable class time for setup. They are not always available, and they have reliability problems that often OEkillà a class session.
Build the classroom of the future ($250,000). We have acquired substantial videoconferencing equipment and are using it in conjunction with web pages for distance learning. We would like to build a prototype classroom of the future that might realize the potential of interactive technologies. It would require investments in computers and furniture. It would also need an architectural design that might support simultaneous videoconference and Internet use.
More course web pages with Intranet validation scheme to firewall our content ($60,000). We mount simple web pages for each class that offer a standard course description. Some of these pages are enhanced by students and faculty to better reflect content. We need to make all course pages reflect full curriculum content. This would require a firewall system to protect critical data and texts from competing institutions. We need funds to hire UCB engineering and computer science students to help us be informative yet secure.
Support staff to help faculty develop instructional materials ($40,000 a year). Currently, faculty develop instructional materials§such as course web pages§by receiving voluntary support from students. As a result, instructional outcomes vary a great deal and it is difficult to enroll fence-sitting teachers. We need to support instructional design with a professional staff. The school needs to assist faculty better in the development of new-media products. We need to support the development of instruction in all areas of the curriculum.
Software to create computer-based training and interactive applications ($20,000). We currently do not own any educational authoring software, such as MacromediaÃs Authorware or AsymetrixÃs Toolbox. These programs allow students to be scored and advanced depending on merits. They might make it possible for us to develop modules that could move basic and remedial instruction out of the curriculum. They might make it possible for advanced students to do self-paced work outside of the classroom. Finally, they might make it possible for us to raise revenue by selling computer-based training to businesses and schools.
Adjustable lighting systems and speaker spots in all projection classrooms ($80,000). We need enhancements to classroom lighting systems as well as purchases of portable lights and sound equipment to better support classroom multimedia presentation.
Remote videotaping camera with infrared tracker for major classrooms ($120,000). Classroom cameras would allow significant expansion of videotaping. This would provide a valuable student service to Evening MBA. These students are full-time professionals who are often obligated by work requirments to miss classes. Many have to leave work early so that they can commute for two hours from the South Bay. Traffic being what it is, they often miss large chunks of class and would greatly benefit from a back-up system. Such technology would also enhance our distance-learning capabilities and provide content for CD-ROMs and other new media products.
Upgrade RAM in all machines ($25,000). Whereas a year ago, Netscape Navigator ran in one meg of memory, today a version outfitted to display multimedia requires 25 megs. Whereas Windows used to need only four megs of RAM, today Windows 95 needs 16 megs to give passable performance. Add to this overhead, eight megs needed to run Excel, four for Word, or 25 needed to run Photoshop, and you have a rapid recipe for obsolescence. All of our machines need more RAM. Our worst machines cannot open critical business applications. Our best are falling behind the rapidly increasing demands of the multimedia technology curve.
Purchases of business simulations ($50,000). There is an increasing need for modeling and simulation exercises by the faculty. Better packages carry premium costs. Faculty cannot buy these packages out of pocket. If these packages are to become an integral part of course development, we will have to seed the money.
Collaboration with other schools ($10,000 a year). The school will soon partner with other schools like Michigan for distance-learning exchanges. Our ability to exchange courses and seminars would be greatly enhanced by better capabilities for distance learning and videoconferencing. We also need support staff that might make the technology easily useable by teachers.
Global MBA conferencing ($50,000 a year). We are also thinking about offering a global MBA that would target the Pacific Rim. Moreover, we have a sister program in St. Petersburg Russia. Both of these initiatives would benefit from enhanced video conferencing and linguistic outreach.
Development assistance incentives to faculty ($20,000 a year). Faculty members split into two groups: early adopters of technology and passive watchers. In contrast, businesses and students tend rapidly to adopt new technologies because they confer first-entrant advantages. As a result, a significant portion of our faculty is falling behind the object of their study and the clients for their thoughts. We have found that fence-sitting faculty are not much moved by monetary incentives. They might be willing to learn new ways if the general culture supported change and the obstacles to progress were minimized. We need to support pilot programs and hire student staff that could make growth painless.
Whiteboard recording systems ($30,000). Teachers who demonstrate
computer applications do not have any good way to circle and highlight
parts of the interface. They also cannot print class notes directly from
the whiteboard. Modern display and capture technologies allow for both
of these functions. We would like to make a trial of the technologyÃs
effectiveness.
2. How we would like to improve support to students
Second multimedia lab built around Windows NT machines equipped with video digitizers, scanners, and high-end software ($80,000). We currently operate a student multimedia lab with Macintosh computers. Given the emerging importance of PC/NT technology in the multimedia marketplace, a PC multimedia lab is one of our highest priorities.
Upgrade and replace computers in computer labs and classrooms ($100,000 per year.) The Haas School was quite successful in obtaining equipment donations for its new building; however, some of this equipment already needs to be replaced. Additional donations are not expected to meet the overall need.
High-speed color printer/copier ($50,000). We have color printers for paper and transparencies, but they are slow and unable to keep up with demand because of our heavy use of slide presentations and multimedia. We need a color Postrcript interpreter combined with a color printer and copier. This combination would allow increased use of color-presentation media, especially for off-site presentations by students and faculty.
Cancel or reduce computer center fees ($100,000). Although basic services are free, students must currently pay a $100 annual fee to receive nine-to-five services and access to multimedia equipment and staff. We would like to eliminate this fee but cannot forgo the revenue.
Expand our loan pool of advanced equipment ($50,000). We currently
loan to students portable computers, LCD projectors, videocameras, digital
cameras, and VCRs. Demand cannot keep up with supply. We need to make it
easier for our students to work collaboratively and present their work
all over campus and the nation.
3. How we would like to improve library resources
The Long Library is submitting its proposal as part of the overall library
report. However, our instructors would much like to see the acquisition
of a larger collection of instructional and corporate video tapes ($200,000).
4. How we would like to improve network infrastructure
Digital media server with partial network upgrade to service classrooms and multimedia areas ($100,000). We are capturing a library of business instruction on videotape for delivery through new-media formats. We have partially completed a high-speed data network for delivery of this material. We need a digital-media server and additional network equipment that would allow us to deliver instructional digital video on demand in every classroom. We would also like to establish connections to other campus DVOD servers.
Wire all classrooms for data and power service ($75,000). We
have installed cabling for data and power to each seat in most classrooms.
We have also acquired active electronics to activate ports in one-quarter
of our classrooms. To complete this project, we need additional funding
for cabling and electronics.
CURRENT INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY
1. How we have improved teaching and learning
All classrooms
Eight smart classrooms
Two computer instructional classrooms
Faculty and Ph.D. computer and copying facilities
Software requirements and outreach
Courses in computers and communication
2. How we have improved support to students
Internet access
Intranet services via Web and Gopher
LAN services
Multimedia and web development office and staff
Group study rooms
3. How we have improved library resources
On line databases
Notebook access
Group study rooms
Web services
On-line resources
Clausen Center for International Business and Policy
4. How we have improved network infrastructure
Ethernet
Switched ethernet
Broadband cable
Baseband cable
Ricochet wireless-service antenna
Two video-conferencing facilities
Modem annex
Servers
Conduit and wiring closets
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