Revised for resubmission: July 6th, 2006
Rhetoric Department Instructional Technology Center / Speaking Center Proposal
Category B: New Initiative: Development of Instructional Technology Classroom as
Expansion of Speaking Center
Total: $30,850.00
Narrative
We are requesting funds to enhance the current Rhetoric Department’s Speaking Center
through specific upgrades to Instructional Technology resources. We also seek a smaller level of
funding to refurbish work stations and furnishings within the Speaking Center to make the most
efficient possible use of our limited physical space. Positioning our department’s IT mission
within the present structure of our Speaking Center is our most efficient way to create a
centralized ‘home’ for our department’s IT mission and to better serve the approximately 6,000
UI undergraduate students enrolled each year in our GER courses (10:01, 10:02, 10:03, 10:04,
10:05, and 10:06). We employ 110 instructors (graduate teaching assistants, lecturers, adjunct,
tenure and tenure-track) teaching 194 sections and staffing our instructional Centers.
Our Writing Center and Speaking Center are important components of our department’s GER
instruction, as well as for ongoing delivery of educational and outreach workshops to meet
undergraduate scholarship, performance, and career development needs. Examples of this can be
seen in our highly successful Writing Fellows Program, Reading for College Courses, Workshops
for Resumé and Application/Personal Statement Writing, and our Email Tutoring Program.
Our current IT ‘homes’ are split between an unassigned instructor’s office (153 EPB) and a
corner of the already cramped and outdated Speaking Center (12 EPB). From these we are
administering a popular and expanding Multimedia Instructional Training program that provides
instruction and equipment for use in our widely dispersed General Assignment classrooms as well
as the diverse instructional needs of our Speaking Center.
Given our current space constraints, it is important that our Speaking Center ‘layout’ be
revised toward effective service of our expanding mission. With the exception of one newer
workstation purchased through SCFP two years ago, our remaining PCs are all over 7 years old
and unable to run Windows XP. They are w/o DVD RW capacity, have slow processing speeds,
and outdated networking connections (no firewire…critical for digital video processing and
transfer). The hardware, software, and workstation items listed below will enable us to effectively
place digital video cameras into our GER Rhetoric classrooms, provide efficient transfer of
recorded media for use by students, instructors, and for the continued collection and cataloging of
digital instructional assets. This last measure is especially noteworthy for its direct application
with the ICON environment…allowing our instructors to search, compile and deliver texts, audio,
and video instructional materials without additional expense to students. The medium to long
vision is for this type of asset management to reduce student textbook expenses, while providing
instructors with greater flexibility to develop current, substantive course content and syllabi.
Multimedia Instructional Technology Classroom Equipment
2 Mini DV Camcorders w/battery packs, tripods & travel cases
$1,600.00
Mini DV tapes (mix of High Definition and Standard)
$250.00
3 Sony Mini DV Player/Editors (GDV-1000) for transfer of video assets $3,000.00
The Speaking Center is integral to the Rhetoric Department’s goal of enhancing students’
communication skills and providing the best possible training to the TAs who are recruited from
many different departments across campus. The addition of two digital video cameras to the
Speaking Center would greatly improve our ability to assist students and TAs both inside and
outside of the classroom. Two additional cameras would expand our currently over-taxed
equipment, giving us a working inventory capable of meeting everyday as well as peak demand
use.
Digital video cameras are indispensable in the development of speaking skills. Taping student
speeches enables the review of speech drafts and in-class performances with students. Students
benefit from reviewing performances firsthand for tangible means of improvement.
Taping speeches allows instructors to view a speech more than once when evaluating the
performance and to offer important verbal support and cues to students as they deliver their
presentations. Current digital video technology requires additional processing and editing
equipment in this type of application. Burning MiniDv or even direct to DVD taping to a DVD
format useable by students and instructors requires access to deck transfer and DVD authoring
workstations. The Sony GDV-1000 decks will allow instructors and Speaking Center staff to
quickly process digitized video (without tying up or exposing cameras to excessive wear),
allowing for greater flexibility in scheduling classroom use.
Students also benefit from viewing sample speeches in class for use in group workshop and
critique. An ICON/LOR collection of speeches that reflect all aspects of our curriculum from
analysis to mapping to advocacy would be an excellent teaching tool for the many students who
learn best through modeling and practical examples.
The addition of a HD 30” Monitor allows us to ‘project’ multimedia resources to groups of
students and staff within the limited, multi-use space we presently occupy. This monitor also
allows our web and media production work greater efficiency and effect.
Rhetoric Instructional Technology Classroom Center Workstations:
2 PC Multimedia Workstations w/media monitor
1 Apple iMac G5 Multimedia workstation
1 Apple G5 Quad Multimedia Administrative workstation
1 Apple Studio Display Monitor 30”
1 PC Laptop & Multimedia Projection Security Cart Upgrade
1 Mac Pro Laptop & Multimedia Projection Security Cart Upgrade
1 HP Color LaserJet 3600 Networkable Printer & supplies
3 Workstation Desks & chairs
4 Worktables & chairs
Assorted cabling, router, & network hardware
2 Microphones and stands (1 desk, 1 floor)
Assorted software applications for production,
Archiving, editing, and administration of assets
Miscellaneous production, editing, presentation hardware
1 Classroom Multimedia Speaker/Audio System
Miscellaneous supplies for care & cleaning of equipment
$4,400.00
$2,200.00
$2,800.00
$2,300.00
$2,500.00
$2,500.00
$900.00
$2,500.00
$1,500.00
$500.00
$450.00
$2,500.00
$500.00
$300.00
$150.00
Development, collection, cataloging and delivery of multimedia instructional materials is a
critical function of this proposal. Our Center staff needs workstations for management of our
expanding library of digital assets AND we want to provide a ‘working environment’ for our
students (and their TA instructors) to use in developing, revising, and refining multimedia
presentations. We want to provide a ‘hands-on’ space where students and their teachers can
receive instruction on effective uses of technology in the classroom. Toward this goal we have
included audio and video production, editing, and archiving capabilities. In the budget figures
cited we have included necessary ‘Extended Care & Warranty’ provisions, as well as for needed
lockdown security hardware.
While immediate needs for providing access to presentation equipment and a ‘space’ serve
students in our GER courses, this equipment will also enable our Speaking Center and Writing
Center to conduct more effective outreach instruction. These programs would include workshops
on effective use of PowerPoint, web resources, research, streaming media, and multimedia in
presentations…for business, engineering, science, and Honors courses. Such programs would
serve similar ‘across the curriculum’ needs as our highly successful Writing Fellows Program.
Giving students and their instructors a ‘hands-on’ experience is an obvious plus. But
providing such access in combination with effective presentation and performative instruction
creates a sum gain that is greater than its individual parts. This equipment will also serve our
efforts to compile a diverse repository of teaching materials and digitized assets for use in our
classrooms, an effort that seeks to reduce the need for more traditional text books and their
related expense. Our Morphing Textbook project, along with our Speaking Center, Writing
Center, and Email Tutoring programs will also gain a ‘home’ space for production, development
and application. These teaching centers continue to serve an expanding number of UI
undergraduate students and our department staffing resources can best address these needs
through a more centralized administrative ‘home’.
While our instructional efforts would also be much enhanced by the assignment of additional
classroom space, this revised proposal aims at making the most effective use of our current
operating conditions. We have met with Aletia Morgan to review our current Speaking Center
location (12 EPB) and she can readily attest to the urgency of our need to revamp and update our
Speaking Center’s instructional technology. Our recent successes with deployment and training of
mobile multimedia units underscore both the substantive need and our capable administration of
these critical resources.
Our department has an effective staffing plan in place and is ready to go to work.