DMC grants appear in classrooms

Interactive software, a Wii to use in graphic design and a video which will record future teachers at work – all these ideas received funding this year through the Digital Media Center Small Grants fund. Each year in May, Layne Nordgren ‘76, Director of Instructional Technologies and his crew award three to five DMC Small Grants to PLU faculty seeking support for the integration of instructional technology into their courses. This is the fourth year of the program. All PLU faculty and staff who are teaching a credit course are eligible to receive an award. Grants are awarded for up to $1,000 with a total pool of $5,000 available for the academic year. Grants can be used to underwrite the cost of software, hardware, student wages, training, or other enabling resources. The DMC typically awards three to five grants each year, but this year’s pool was so strong, Nordgren said that the DMC awarded six grants.

Selection criteria include the innovative nature of the technology or pedagogy, overall impact on the applicant’s curriculum, feasibility of the project, and benefit to other faculty and students.

Recipients of 2008-09 DMC Small Grants

Jan Weiss, Assistant Professor of Instructional Development and Leadership: Weiss will use her $500 award to buy four Flip video camcorders. This will help build reflective practices around video recordings of teacher candidates, enhancing teaching skills and promoting learning in elementary and secondary classrooms

J.P. Avila, Assistant Professor of Art: Avila will use $1,000 for a Nintendo Wii to construct a cost-effective digital whiteboard and interactive screen to promote visual communication through graphic design.

Matthew Levy, Assistant Professor of English, Division of Humanities and Genevieve Williams, Assistant Professor of Library: They will use a “Turning Point” audience response technology to educate students about plagiarism. Their $1,000 will be used for software, a USB receiver and audience-response clickers.

Joanne Lisosky, Associate Professor of Communication: To accelerate expansion of The Mast’s online presence, the staff will receive training and consultation by Mark Briggs, a national expert on integrated news media and digital literacy. The $1,000 grant will pay for three sessions by Briggs with selected students, faculty, and staff.

Wendelyn Shore, Associate Professor of Psychology, Division of Social Sciences: Shore will use $980 for four “Inquisit” licenses to enable more professional quality student research projects by equipping psychology lab computers with the “Inquisit” psychology testing software.

Emily Mize, Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing, School of Nursing: Mize will use $900 to enable a wireless projection gateway for a Tablet PC to use statistical and bibliographic software interactively in a classroom setting.