Innovate to Educate Entry

Manchester Community College

Peter La Monica, Department Chair - Computer Science

What innovative technology initiative or project are you most proud of, and how has it improved teaching and learning in your school/district?

Redeveloping old tired classroom technology using new technology in a cost effective way. Creating easier ways for students to learn including Virtual Desktops that allow the instructor to see the desktop of a remote student.

These initiatives have made it easier for students to attend class, they have improved the ability of our students to understand and comprehend lectures, they have made the interaction between student and instructor more fluid and they remove the barriers to the classroom. Instructors find teaching in these classrooms easier and more enjoyable. Complex instructions and the need to be trained on tech are gone and replaced with intuitive and transparent technology. Most of the technology, and all that are included in the video, cost only a few hundred dollars each. We politely escorted the vendors with dollar signs in their eyes to the door.

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What were some of the biggest challenges to your initiative, and how did you meet those challenges?

Computer Science took on the challenge of creating a technology sandbox that allows us to implement new technologies in a controlled environment, testing those advances and measuring the impact on student outcomes. Only those technologies that are truly helpful move outward to other classrooms

What are the three biggest components that need to be in place for tech innovation to succeed are:

	Tech must be transparent to both the instructor and to the student to succeed. The rule in our lab is if it requires training it is too complicated.
	A single index card is the limit for instructions.
	Tech that needs to be 'Checked out' or requires a set up process prior to class will fail.

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