The Faculty Development Institute at Virginia Tech provides faculty, staff and graduate students with workshops on the that teach them how to utilitze new technology in the classroom.
According to its website, the mission of the FDI is based on “teaching faculty how to effectively and efficiently integrate technology into their teaching and research activities.”
FDI is currently offering summer courses ranging from “Brand Certification — Writing for our Brand” to “Dreamweaver CS4: Webpage Creation and HTML Coding.”
Karen Gray, coordinator of instruction for FDI, said the main goal for the summer is to train faculty and graduate students to work with the Website Scholar.
“We want to help faculty be able to use technology to its highest level,” Gray said.
These workshops are used to help faculty with the transition from Blackboard to Scholar. Various courses instruct faculty members on how to use Scholar tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and the grade book.
Other courses instruct faculty on how to utilize the Tech brand and maximize the efficiency of online courses. All of the workshops update faculty, staff and graduate students on the latest technology offered, Grey said.
Truman Capone, director of the School of Visual Arts, praised the program and its ability to create effective communication across the university.
Four visual arts instructors are participating in workshops, while Capone encourages all younger faculty in his department to become involved.
“I’ve been involved with it since its inception. ... I started when I needed to learn software for classes I taught in graphic design,” Capone said.
The FDI was established in 1993 as part of the Instructional Development Initiative.
Capone also noted his pleasure with the FDI’s ability to supply computers, software and training to all instructors.
All workshops are free to faculty, staff and graduate students. The FDI, as part of Learning Technologies, is paid for by the computing center at Tech, according to Ed Schwartz, director of development, programs, administration and
collaboration for Learning Technologies.
Most classes are part of a series, but faculty members are not required to attend all classes within the series. They are approximately two hours and are also offered in the fall and spring. The maximum enrollment is 25 people, while most classes reach about 15 people, according to Grey. Those interested in attending workshops can register online at the FDI homepage, fdi.vt.edu.