This past January, Dr. Donn Ritchie officially assumed the role as chair of the Department of Educational Technology. Here's what our new chair has to say. Donn, as department chair, what are your hopes and aspirations for the department? What opportunities do you see? ·
What do you think it will take to support growth in these areas? The expansion is occurring through three methods. First, by reaching out to the school community more than in the past. Bernie has created a new course to weave higher-level thinking skills into school work. I worked with Bob Hoffman two years ago and developed a course for school leaders to better understand and use technology. Second, we need to do more with international connections. We currently have three Fulbright scholars in our program, and have at least one more coming next fall. We're also in a grant proposal that would allow our students to do internships overseas beginning in 2001. Third, our distance certificate is increasing. We're in our fifth semester of this program, and currently have 60 students enrolled in either 540, 541, or 544. We've also kicked around the idea of having an undergraduate EDTEC course, but having a course accepted as a GE course will be a hard obstacle to overcome. Finally, we'll be making a concerted effort to bring in more ethnically diverse students. For a university so close to the border of Mexico, we look too homogeneous. The new doctoral program with USD begins in the fall. We'll have around 18 members in this cohort, and all are extremely strong. This should be an exciting opportunity for people to expand on their knowledge and skills base beyond what they learned during their BA and MA studies. We'll be trying to keep in closer touch with our alumni through a variety of means. This newsletter is one example of that continuing community building, as was the alumni workshop and retreat held in 1998. We have a tremendously talented pool of people that we don't want to loose touch with. By the way, alumni can enter any updated address, email, job title, etc into the department database at http://edtechfm.sdsu.edu/edtech.htm. As for becoming more flexible, that will take a change to the university system. We've created a document called the "Department of the Future" that lays out some initiatives we'd like to pursue, but tradition and bureaucracy are obstacles. For instance, we'd like to move out of the standard 3-unit course. We'd also like to do away with the standard semester and have more of an open-entry and open-exit time frame for students. This would necessitate creating more learning objects for student interaction, and that takes time and funding. So we'd also like to see differentiated hirings, with staff or faculty hired to do development, grants, or focus on different items than traditional faculty. The Dean likes our ideas, and we'll be presenting them to the President sometime this semester. The SDSU Educational Technology department has an international reputation for excellence. What hallmarks distinguish the SDSU Educational Technology department? What distinguishes us is that we successfully merge both the theoretical underpinnings of our field with practical knowledge and skills. Some universities only talk the theoretical side; their graduates don't get any real-world experiences, and then take quite a bit of time to get up to speed when hired for a position. Other universities mostly stress the skill side of educational technology. Their graduates might be able to make nice looking multimedia, but they don't understand when different components work or how to make a product that promotes education, training, or improved performance. By bringing both of these extremes together, by merging project-based learning with the theory, I think we give our students the upper hand in finding and keeping well-paid jobs. You've been a faculty member since 1990. What significant changes have you seen occur in the department over this time? On the technology side, there have been quite a few changes. When I arrived the department had just placed into 278B a new lab of Apple IIGS computers. Now the slowest machines in our department are in that room, and all work at 150 MHz or faster. We also have ceiling mounted video projectors in all of our rooms. Physically the department has also changed. I initially shared an office with Brock, and then with Allison. We also had just three classrooms that were claimed by the department. Now we have five classrooms that we run, and nine offices. Next fall we will probably take over the remaining classroom and office on this floor--just in time for the new faculty hires. We've also expanded our programs. We have both the distance certificate that has served over 100 students, and this past fall began offering courses at the new National City Center. This semester we have a course for teachers to learn how to use technology in the classroom, and an EDTEC 541 at that center. In the fall, we're planning on a cohort of 30 students starting a program that will continue through five courses. We've also been doing a lot more grant work these past few years than when I came to SDSU. We currently have major portions of five grants, and everyone of our faculty is involved to some extent on one or more grants. This allows us to finance the hiring of more graduate students, and provides a wealth of opportunities, experiences, and stories to share in our courses. Finally, we have a new department administrative assistant and department chair. Pam Monroe retired last year after about 16 years. Elsa Tapia is doing a wonderful job in Pam's place. Pat Harrison retired after being department chair for most of his 30 years here, and I hope to successfully fill the department chair position. |
