Ana Barraza
In hopes of bringing teachers out of the dark ages of chalk and chalkboards, the Faculty Staff Resource Center is looking for peer tutors to shed some technological light on their fellow faculty members. Instead of investing money or relying on grants for workshops to enhance teachers’ technology skills in the classroom, the FSRC is providing a service in which faculty would have to look no further than to their own colleagues for help in software applications such as PowerPoint, Photoshop, and Word. “Anyone can go into FSRC and say, ‘Is there anyone around that can help me?'” said Kathy Oborn, professional growth and development chairwoman. The qualifications for tutors don’t require them to be connoisseurs in all things technology. They can simply come in and say, “I know about PowerPoint if anyone needs help.” The center will match the teacher to their respective peer tutor, leaving it up to them when and where to meet. If unable to meet, tutoring online is also an option. Anyone looking to become an online tutor can look at the best online tutoring jobs and find something that suits them. The tutoring will vary, depending on how skilled the student is, but each student should end each session having learned something new.
The FSRC, previously known as the Faculty Support Center, is a new and improved room/lab for staff and both full- and part-time faculty. Many adjuncts don’t have their own offices.”It’s a place to get their stuff done,” said Oborn, who also teaches criminal justice. Instructors can use the space to correct papers, prepare lectures or answer students’ e-mails. They can scoop up some popcorn from the popcorn machine and help themselves to a piece of chocolate from the candy bowl. One staff member even used one of the leather couches in the lounge area to have a snooze session. According to Oborn, in the political science/economics department alone there are 30 part-time teachers who would have had one room. In the FSRC, slide scanner technology, media carts, faxing and webcasting are just some of the tools available to both full-time and adjunct instructors. All full-time professors are required to complete an instructional improvement obligation of about 35 hours per year. Another incentive for faculty-to-faculty tutoring is that it helps satisfy the hour requirement for both participants, giving them the opportunity to bank up to 20 hours. Teachers can attain both hours and help through this service.”It’s a win-win,” said Oborn. When it comes to incorporating technology into the classroom, “I would consider myself above average,” said economics teacher Pam Brown, who gives herself a C+. Brown, who also teaches an online Principles of Economics I class, provides Web sites for all of her classes and said she will be taking advantage of the tutoring services, although she believes the tutors should get paid.”I hope more professors start doing more podcasting and providing more videos online. It’s really important,” said Brown.”In Monday’s class, my animal science teacher was like, ‘I’m still really old-school. I still write with chalk,'” said Perla Bravo, an undeclared third-year student. “She doesn’t even know how to use a projector.””She only has a piece of paper to go by to keep track of what she’s covered,” said Bravo, afraid she would be missing out on information regarding her animal science class. Some technology tutoring “would help them to be more organized.”Teachers who are interested should stop by the FSRC, located in the library building. No deadline or limit to the amount of tutors has been set.