AUSTIN, Texas — The Center for Instructional Technologies at The University of Texas at Austin is launching a new pilot program to team students who have specialized instructional and computer skills to work with faculty members in the development of innovative instructional technologies for the classroom.
Supported in part by Apple Computer Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp., the FAST Tex (Faculty and Student Teams for Technology) program will create a pool of 20 to 25 instructional design- and technology-literate students from a range of academic disciplines with specialized instructional and computer skills to work with faculty.
“We consider this a great opportunity for both our students and faculty. In fact, it’s based upon a model we’ve used before — combining the content expertise of faculty with the technology talents of students. Everyone stands to gain from it,” said Dr. George Culp, interim director of CIT. The center is part of UT Austin’s Academic Computing and Instructional Technology Services.
The pilot program to work on designing, developing and incorporating instruction technologies is scheduled to begin Jan. 1, and will continue through Aug. 31, 1998. The CIT has begun recruiting students well-versed in multimedia production applications and development of Web materials and who are available during this time period.
The center will send out a campus-wide call for proposals from faculty later in October. Proposals will be prioritized based upon impact, need for support, resources required and available, related departmental goals, evaluation method, and timeline. Any proposal that meets the guidelines will not be rejected, and as many as possible will be addressed during the period of the pilot program.
Support for a faculty member may be provided by an individual student or by a student team, depending on the nature of the project.
Students working with faculty projects will have the option of receiving course credit through selected colleges in addition to a salary of approximately $8 per hour, up to a maximum of 19 hours a week. Grades will be assigned by faculty project supervisors.
To date, the center has received a commitment of $30,000 and technical assistance from Apple and $10,000 plus eight microcomputer systems from Compaq in support of the program. Support from other hardware and software vendors is being sought.
The FAST Tex program is managed by Coco Kishi, assistant director for multimedia production at the Center for Instructional Technologies.
For further information, contact Culp at (512) 475-9474, or by e-mail at g.culp@cc.utexas.edu.
