Web Site Offers One-Stop Guide to Teaching with Technology

Mary Ellen Bushnell

Many groups at MIT provide support and services for technologies that enhance teaching and learning. With sponsorship from IS&T Academic Computing, these groups have banded together as Educational Technology Partners - Ed Tech Partners for short. The group's goal is to share information, collaborate on projects, and offer educational technology services to the MIT teaching community.

A recent initiative of Ed Tech Partners is the Teaching With Technology web site at http://web.mit.edu/teachtech/

This well-ordered site makes it easy for instructional staff to find out about academic technology services at MIT. Nearly 70 services are organized under six topic headings:

• Class Management Tools
• Digital Documents
• Multimedia
• Software and Web
• Support
• Training

Each topic page links to a subpage with brief summaries of, and links to, relevant services. For example:

• If you want to make your course materials available electronically, choose Class Management Tools. Under Course management systems, choose Stellar for a description of this course management system and instructions for its use.
• If you have paper documents that you want available on the Web, go to Digital Documents. Under Document conversion, link to Scanning for web courseware, a service of the MIT Libraries.
• If you need to set up a videoconference for an event, go to Multimedia and link to Videoconferencing, a service of Academic Media Production Services (AMPS).

The Teaching With Technology site also includes links to a glossary and a list of resources, including special interest groups, communications forums, and grant programs. A Getting Started link leads newcomers - especially new faculty - to introductory guides and descriptions of basic services. A News and Announcements sidebar reports on breaking developments and seminars on educational change. Add a Link In the spirit of collaboration, the Teaching With Technology site provides a way to suggest additions. You may realize, for example, that your area offers an educational technology service that could be valuable to instructional staff. The Add a Service link, at the bottom right of every page, takes you to a short web-based form. While you are welcome to fill out it out completely, all that's required is a URL for the service and a contact e-mail address. The Ed Tech Partners group will review your submission and consider it for addition to the web site. Ed Tech Partners To learn more about Educational Technology Partners, visit the Teaching With Technology web site or send mail to edtech-requests@mit.edu.