{"id":115678,"date":"2020-11-30T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=115678"},"modified":"2022-07-29T12:51:57","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T16:51:57","slug":"ucf-helps-launch-1st-nationwide-technology-support-center-for-higher-education-faculty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-helps-launch-1st-nationwide-technology-support-center-for-higher-education-faculty\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Helps Launch 1st Nationwide Technology Support Center for Higher Education Faculty"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of Central Florida and its partners this month will launch the Center for Innovation, Design and Digital Learning, a national hub that will be open 24\/7 to help professors get a leg up on using technology.<\/p>\n

Before the global pandemic rocked the country, the U.S. Department of Education was already talking about a way to help provide technical support to higher education faculty as classes and learning trends were moving to online platforms. The pandemic that drove universities to online instruction earlier this year accelerated the federal agency\u2019s desire to help universities and colleges better use digital tools to reach students. The agency awarded UCF and its partners a five-year, $2.5 million grant to launch the center quickly. UCF\u2019s portion is $335,000.<\/p>\n

After 20 years of providing online degrees, UCF has become a leader in online learning. Ranked as a top 20 online program by U.S. News & World Report,<\/em> UCF offers more than 100 fully online programs. This platform will expand UCF\u2019s reach as an online leader \u2014  this time for higher-education faculty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe three big aims of the center are to increase knowledge and awareness of education technology, to increase the capacity of faculty at institutions of higher education, and to sustain professional learning networks for technical assistance,\u201d says Eleazar \u201cTrey\u201d Vasquez, a UCF professor of exceptional education and one of the leaders of the new center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe notion of comfort with technology is highly variable, especially in higher education,\u201d says Vasquez. \u201cWe have faculty who have had to really merge with technology later in their career, and we have faculty who are coming up as digital natives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center leaders hope to help provide enough resources to get everyone who accesses the digital center on equal footing. By improving faculty\u2019s understanding of the best way to use technology in a remote setting, students will benefit, Vasquez says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very much like a combination of Pinterest and YouTube, where there are different topics that you can select from and then you get to do a deep dive into a particular area,\u201d Vasquez says. \u201cEverything is 100% accessible. It\u2019s built on the principles of universal design for learning, which is all about intentionality \u2013 how you deliver your instructional content so that you take into account learner variability. When you design instruction with that notion in mind, it\u2019s easier for everyone to acquire content knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

If a faculty member wants to learn how to create an editable PDF, build their own website using HTML code, or simply peruse the site to find new ways to integrate technology into their courses, the center will provide guidance through articles and videos.<\/p>\n

Visitors to the site can interact with the content in different ways: by simply accessing it and learning or by being an \u201cinnovator,\u201d who creates content to display on the site.<\/p>\n

The center also plans to create a way for users to get micro-credentials for what they\u2019ve mastered, if they are interested, Vasquez says.<\/p>\n