Faculty, student users share their experiences and perspectives on the technology

December 4, 2006
Contact: communications@ihets.org

Architecture and education faculty and students at Ball State University report using IHETS' newest service has enriched their teaching and learning experiences.

A number of Ball State faculty, staff, and students were actively engaged in pilot testing during the limited production phase of  IHETS Interactive's development last year. This fall, BSU utilized the Web conferencing system to deliver 22 undergraduate and graduate courses.

What they had to say

These Windows Media Player (wmv) video clips include two Ball State faculty members and an undergraduate student discussing the power and flexibility of this tool:

• Professor George Elvin (1:37)
• Architecture undergraduate student Emily Perchlik (1:12)
• Dr. Jim Flowers (1:32)

Regional, national collaboration enhanced by "instant access and communication"

Dr. George Elvin, an associate professor in BSU's College of Architecture & Planning, used IHETS Interactive to teach a 300-level architecture this fall, which involved a number of student teams who remotely collaborated with students at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. "The students were able to complete assignment, share files, and discuss their drawings directly from their laptops, even with wireless connections. As an instructor, [I found] the training and technical support that is available almost 24 x 7 a remarkable feature service," Elvin reported.

File sharing with someone "far away" was easy, noted third-year architecture student Emily Perchlik. "There was instant access and communication...which really helped us keep the project on track," she found.

Dr. Jim Flowers, professor and director of online education for BSU's Department of Technology, was actively engaged in testing as the service was fully developed and launched. Flowers, who taught two courses—Technology Use & Assessment and the History & Philosophy of Technology—using the service this fall said, "[IHETS Interactive] is a very powerful tool...that can be used in so many ways that extend beyond the classroom."

Recently recognized with the 2006 Rawlings Outstanding Distance Education Teaching Award from the Ball State's School of Extended Education, Flowers also uses the tool to collaborate with geographically distant colleagues across the U.S., adding the service he receives from IHETS is "superior."

Significant numbers of students were home users

It appears a significant number of BSU students completed their courses from home; preliminary estimates put the number at 220 home users out of nearly 510 enrolled students at 59 receive sites.

Measures are being developed to account for students who to receive and complete for-credit courses and other educational programs from their homes, work places, and learning centers.

Proper system configuration and settings optimize bandwidth utilization

IHETS staff were initially concerned about the amount of bandwidth required to run the system, especially for home users. There was also concern about whether campuses and/or receive sites with relatively "small pipes" (i.e., T1 or lesser connections) would be able to use the system, especially during peak hours when their network traffic was heaviest.

According to Fred Nay, director of computing services at Ball State and member of IHETS' technical operations committee, bandwidth concerns have not resulted in problems for home, campus, and other users of IHETS Interactive, especially if users follow the recommended configurations and settings for achieving an optimal experience.

For more information, e-mail interactive@ihets.org or call 317.263.8900.