Faculty and students report positive experience with IHETS Interactive

February 26, 2007
Contact: communications@ihets.org

Dr. Benjamin Lee, Indiana Tech associate professor of computer studies and director of online learning, was introduced to IHETS Interactive in 2006 pilot testing and has found it to be a proven cost-effective teaching and learning tool.

According to Dr. Lee, the service is a solution for his institution to offer courses at multiple instructional sites where they otherwise might be cancelled due to low enrollments. Reduced travel time and more real-time collaboration among faculty, staff, and students are other important outcomes.

"A high percentage of our students are working adults, some of whom have jobs that require periodic travel. With Web conferencing, these individuals don't have to miss class sessions when they can't physically be present," said Lee.

“Indiana Tech has campuses and instructional sites throughout the northern and central regions of the State,” Lee explained. “IHETS Interactive is an ideal service in helping address several issues; it enables us to offer classes at multiple sites that have low course enrollments, it reduces the need to travel, and it provides better collaboration among the staff at different locations in real time.  Students and faculty have given positive feedback on the service.”

Dr. Lee reported that, "Although cost is always a factor when planning for technology inclusion, we believe the investment is worthwhile if it facilitates instructional delivery and removes communication barriers. In this case, as a member of the IHETS consortium, there was no direct cost to us for the software and hardware costs were minimal.  The institution also purchased boundary microphones and sound mixers that improved audio clarity and sound pick-up.”

While the full functionality of IHETS Interactive currently exceeds Indiana Tech's needs, Lee predicts adoption of the service will grow as instructors learn more about file sharing, whiteboarding, and other features. "I believe we will increasingly rely on Web conferencing because Indiana Tech is a rapidly growing institution."

Lee added that IHETS is a key resource for Indiana Tech and other independent institutions that rely on its staff to explore and deploy new technology innovations like Web conferencing. 

“IHETS continues to be a critical and important partner for an independent institution like Indiana Tech. We rely on IHETS to keep us abreast of technology innovations because internally we don't have the institutional depth of expertise or the resources to constantly explore and evaluate all the emerging new technologies as they enter the market."

In addition, IHETS' technical support and training is also helpful. "The staff is always available to answer our questions or trouble-shoot technical difficulties." Lee added. “We are also in the process of implementing our video conferencing system. The goal is to complete the installation and IHETS certification by late spring so that we may also use IHETS video conferencing service”, Lee reports.

Indiana Tech joins a growing number of Independent Colleges of Indiana that use a variety of IHETS services, some of who are the University of Notre Dame, DePauw University, Butler University, Tri-State University, Goshen College, Indiana Wesleyan University, and Valparaiso University.