Group Project Proposal

Members:
Oscar Trevino
Edith McAllister
Gail Weatherly
Charleen Worsham

Synopsis:
Our project will provide the technical specifications for the remodeling of an existing building on a community college campus for purposes of creating a "Center for Instructional Technology". This building will have four primary functions as follows:

1. Serve as a community technology center for a community network. It is open to the general public and will provide very low-cost, high-quality Internet access to residents and visitors to the college community. The center will also provide free training to individuals and businesses in the use of general computer and Internet technologies. The center will be open for approximately 60 hours per week and will be staffed by a combination of internship students, community volunteers, and a full-time coordinator.
   
2. House an ITV classroom connected to a network of similar nodes in area health-care and higher education institutions. The constituencies served will be current and potential health care workers seeking to acquire and retain professional as well as academic credentials. Using an incremental approach to ITV services at the college, a second ITV classroom will be prepared for future expansion to connect the college to service area high schools in order to offer dual-credit educational opportunities. This room will also be connected to a satellite campus approximately 15 miles from the main campus. This second expansion classroom is being considered for an IP/VC solution, but the technology must mature before these plans can be implemented.
   
3. Provide human and technical resources to faculty members in order to facilitate the infusion of technology in the traditional classroom as well as advance the distance learning program at the college. The faculty technology center will provide campus-wide access to high-end equipment which is generally not feasible to provide at the division, department or faculty member level. Technical and user support will be provided by a Technical Support/Training Specialist and a Multimedia Specialist.
   
4. Encourage innovation in the classroom by providing a classroom facility for experimental purposes. Instructional applications of emerging technologies can be demonstrated, tested, and used in a fully supported setting. This will serve as a training area for successes before their appropriate replication across campus.