Preface
As an institution of higher learning, Nicholls has served as a
traditional gatekeeper and steward of mankind’s knowledge base. As we
move away from a manufacturing base in the
Merriam Webster defines technology as the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area, or a capability given by the practical application of knowledge. The key is that technology is a tool and it is our application of that tool which we need to manage.
Computer technology has allowed us to dramatically increase our knowledge base and continually shorten the amount of time in which we “double our knowledge”. The Internet has provided access to these knowledge islands and created a “digital network” for all of society to share.
If Nicholls is to continue our mission of offering an excellent comprehensive education that meets the needs of the communities it serves, our use and management of technology will help us address our philosophy in the optimum use of the institution's human, intellectual, and fiscal resources.
It is an exciting time for the role of technology in institutions of higher learning. Technology is still in its infancy and its meeting with well established disciplines provides for exciting, challenging, and interesting possibilities. Foresight and proper identification of future trends and standards are vital to protect the current investment and properly position the institution for future events. By itself the state of technology is truly incredible, but the Internet is providing a catalyst that will propel events more quickly and efficiently. Future breakthroughs in technology such as neural computing or advanced reasoning could change future events even more dynamically than what is transpiring into the foreseeable future.
Our technology plan promotes a vision of technology which leverages existing technology and looks forward to promising technologies that will support the university’s mission, goals, and strategic plan. One focus of the plan was to utilize readily available resources from the state and federal government, and the Internet. By utilizing resources already developed, one may focus on the transfer of knowledge instead of the creation of content. Another focus was to scan the environment and focus on those industries in our area and within the state that are affected by technology. By sharpening our choices of technologies we can make better use of these resources. Distance education was another focus of the plan. Technology is steadily increasing our ability to deliver digitized course materials and to utilize other course content such as the MIT open courseware project to deliver high quality distance education. Lastly the plan develops a plan of action that has assessable goals and a timeline for implementation of each initiative.
The mission of technology at Nicholls should be aligned with the university’s mission, goals, and strategic plan, since the transfer of the knowledge generated from technology is the ultimate goal. Likewise the mission of technology should discover what can be done effectively with technology and identify the appropriate audience. Additionally these technologies should only be adopted at the point where it can be properly managed.
A vision of technology should present possibilities of what can be done. Collectively this shared vision for technology should include the use of technology by transforming and improving the quality of instruction, learning, the business process, outreach, and the goal of better aligning technology with the university strategic planning initiatives. This vision can be divided into the broad areas of instruction and learning, the business process, and support services.
A Vision of Technology in Instruction and Learning
There is a technology resource center where faculty can attend seminars and training sessions that focus on empowering individuals to make effective and efficient use of technology. In this resource center, there are demonstrations of the latest applications of multimedia, solid state and optical data storage and retrieval, distance learning, video utilization, communication technologies, and other forms of educational technology. This resource center also serves as repository of best practices with technology. With this knowledge, faculty ensures that students understand what technology can and cannot do, and how technology may be used in the future. Staff members can come to the resource center to learn about and effectively utilize technology. Students of all abilities have equal access to technology including assistive devices for the enhancement of their learning.
Students and staff use technology to facilitate instruction in all curricular areas. Students and staff use technology to develop critical thinking skills. Faculty and students are more engaged because of a campus culture in which technology has linked them with ways to research and extend their base of knowledge. Faculty members can schedule rooms where the lecture is digitally recorded, compressed, and published to the web within 2 hours in an automated system that allows for students to review what had been presented that day.
The power of networking is starting to be exploited by faculty and students. New methods to use technology in an educational context are made available to all faculty members via a portal driven website, one that sends the appropriate information to the type of user. The instructor or advisor can check on student’s attendance in tutoring. Student portfolios are compiled electronically and are available online or can be transferred to DVD. New methods of sharing files in a peer to peer method allow for direct connectivity between students and faculty, or between each other so as not to clog up the email system.
Electronic learning has blossomed, since streaming video services are now available and are fully integrated into Blackboard and available on demand. Video clips, flash tutorials, and other tutorials from object repositories such as MERLOT and MIT’s open project are being used in order to reduce the time to create online courses. Further into the future, electronic learning and traditional learning environments are fused now that “being there” walls have been installed in classrooms. This technology allows for off campus students to “be there” in a lecture via powerful networks that automatically adjust to network conditions and employ the proper quality of service for that session. The virtual students appear on the wall of monitors and can interact just like students in the class via voice commands.
The learning experience has changed for students as learning takes on more collaborative solutions for the community and industry instead of lecturing. Powerful simulation models combined with powerful hardware provide scaleable virtual experiences as learning takes a more constructivist approach. Students can now model their theories before trying them in reality. This technology facilitates a more visual context for learning. The multifaceted role of the teacher as lecturer, tutor, counselor, subject matter expert, record keeper, evaluator, and curriculum designer is largely reduced by the replacement of automated systems on subject matter, evaluator, and curriculum designer. Learning becomes more personalized this way and allows the instructor to focus on facilitating the process of learning.
The Learning Management System has intelligence built into it. New programming hooks allow for third party capabilities and intelligent programming. Online assessment tools are available from a variety of resources. These assessments allow the faculty members to pretest students and provide feedback on areas of deficiency.
A Vision of Technology for Business Processes
Standing in lines has been eliminated because technology has transformed the business processes. Students receive automated services when and where they want. All of the correspondence is now done through electronic mail. All scheduling is done online, and payment is now predominately done via electronic methods.
Faculty use the purchasing portal to assist in developing programs, completing grant proposals, maximizing dollars, and purchasing the optimal equipment for a given project. This purchasing portal offers purchasing guidelines, bidding procedures, vendor lists for placing equipment on bid, recommended equipment supported by Academic Computing/Computing Services, approximate costs of technologies, intent to place on bid, and other outstanding grants to possibly obtain matching funds.
The content management portal manages forms and routes them to the appropriate approvals and submits a confirmation to the requestor that can be tracked. Data is now accessible and easy for authenticated users to use. Department heads have access to the data they need in order to complete reports required reports.
The effective use of technology across campus has resulted in a perception by donors, perspective students, and business partners of a more progressive, intellectual environment consistent with the realization of our institutional vision.
A Vision of Technology in Support Services
A web portal is available to faculty, students, and staff members to request services. If a faculty member is looking for specific information to be channeled to them, they can configure their portal to send that specific information to them. Likewise information that is not needed can be turned off to reduce clutter. The web portal can also be configured with real-time class schedule and student information. Faculty computers are renewed regularly and specified using individual faculty preferences.
Students can have the system search for open classes for specific time slots. Students can also obtain matriculation checks to determine if courses they are scheduling meet their program requirements. All services that are available to face to face students are available in electronic format to completely online students. Students can receive information about services as they walk by an office on their hand held device or mobile phone. Messages are sent to students via Instant Messaging to give them time sensitive information. Instant messaging is also now integrated into all services. A message comes into a student’s watch and it’s a request for community involvement for a hunger drive. The student responds back by a voice command and her online schedule is updated and she will receive a reminder. A rules based agent is available to students to assist them with video based information for common problems.
The campus is now more secure because of the latest in digitized camera technology is now installed throughout campus with a command post at University Police. The digitized camera system is used in conjunction with the card access system that now is programmed to allow door access at specific time frames, and verifies that doors are closed and locked when they should be at night and weekends.
The goals for this plan have been identified with input from faculty, staff, and students, and are truly a cooperative endeavor. The goals are part of a plan of action which includes the rational for each initiative, a performance measurement, and a timeline for completion. The major goals are:
o Increase the use of technology in teaching, learning, and student life
o Improve and expand technology access and infrastructure to adequately support future plans
o Increase operating efficiency university-wide through the use of technology
o Increase technology reliability and security
o Increase the use of technology by training and developing faculty, staff, and students
o Protect the investment in technology and reduce the total cost of ownership by adequately planning, supporting, and assessing promising technologies or standards
Resources are necessary for a plan to become a reality. Resources for a technology plan can range from hardware, software, financial, pedagogy, training, and support. All forms of resources are limited, so proper identification of existing resources is prudent to the planning process. This section is devoted to the identification of resources available today.
· Academic Resources – Academic Computing at http://acs.nicholls.edu/acs can assist with Blackboard, hardware selection, specialty projects, and resource planning. Instructional Technology at http://acs.nicholls.edu/its can assist with computing resources in labs and classrooms, Blackboard, training, and ITS projects.
· Administrative Resource - University Computer Services at http://www.nicholls.edu/nsucs/ can assist with hardware selection, hardware repair, specialty projects, and network connectivity including wireless access. University Computer Services can also assist with Email and connectivity to the mainframe for access to SIS, FRS, and HRS.
· Electronic Education at http://www.nicholls.edu/distance offers courses electronically for students through the Internet (WWW) and Compressed Video (CV). Students unable to attend classes on campus can earn college credit and even a degree by simply logging onto the Internet from their computer.
· Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at http://www.nicholls.edu/projects/ - promotes and facilitates research and scholarly activities for faculty and administrative staff by helping them locate and secure external funding. The office encourages the inclusion of students in grant projects. ORSP provides a central source of information on major governmental agencies, foundations and corporations that support research, and pedagogical and creative activities.
· PT3 at http://www.nicholls.edu/pt3/ - Preparing tomorrow’s teachers to use technology today is a systemic collaboration between many educational stakeholders. The basic concept of the re-tooling process is to alter teacher behavior by modeling and engaging in the effective use of technology in undergraduate coursework, arranging field experiences for teacher candidates in technologically rich K-12 classrooms, and infusing technology applications within professional education classrooms.
These resources can be used for overall technology planning, business and marketing purposes, financial sponsorship, services and training, and pedagogy. This technology plan should link to our strategic plan and align the university to advance the plans at the state level. Our technology plan should adhere to the standards created at the state level and allow us to concentrate on our core services.
IT Standards and Planning
· LA Connections at http://www.state.la.us/oit/laconnections.htm - A plan released in February 2001 which is a blueprint for digital government. It is a combination of statewide policy and services aimed at promoting technology as a way to improve the state’s economy, technology infrastructure, and preparedness for the future. Two critical needs were identified were the need to implement a digital government as a means to provide high quality citizen services, and to centralize and consolidate the many and varied IT assets within the state government into an enterprise operation. Two of the main goals in this initiative is to:
o Transfer the state’s technical environment from one of fragmented data centers to one of enterprise architecture and standards.
o Enable departments to concentrate on delivering service instead of one of the technology being employed
· The Office of Information Technology at http://www.doa.state.la.us/oit/ - The state agency responsible for implementing a six year statewide plan for information technology issued in November 2003 which has the following key points:
o
o IT portfolio planning, budgeting, and procurement
o Return on investment
o
o Centralization and consolidation
·
LA Visions 2020 at http://www.led.state.la.us/vision2020/
- The state’s master plan for economic development. This plan is to establish
o Re-create
o Create an economy driven by diverse & thriving technology-intensive industries
o Rank among the top 10 states in the nation in standard of living indicators
IT Business and Marketing
·
The Louisiana Business and Technology Center at
http://www.bus.lsu.edu/lbtc/ – The Louisiana Business & Technology Center
(LBTC) strives to assist entrepreneurs and small businesses with access to the
resources that they need to grow and attain long-term success. The LBTC plays a
crucial role in the economic development future of
· The Louisiana Technology Transfer Office at http://www.louisianapartnership.com/ltto.html - The Louisiana Technology Transfer Office goals are to:
o Serve
as a conduit for
o Assist Louisiana businesses seeking solutions to technological problems by identifying appropriate resources at particular federal laboratories and facilitating communication between the parties through its Technical Assistance Request (TAR) program.
o Provide
·
The Louisiana Department of Economic Development at http://www.led.state.la.us/secretary/
- This office is charged with developing action plans to implement Vision 2020.
Part of their vision is the Technology, Innovation and Modernization (TIM)
initiative to promote an aggressive technology environment, develop collaborative
programs and build partnerships for the technology-driven economic progress of
Financial Sponsorship
· The Board of Regents' Office of Sponsored Programs at http://laregents.org/www2/index.htm - The Regent’s Office of Sponsored Programs provides opportunities for funding through endowed chairs, enhancements, graduate fellows, pilot funding for new initiatives, and travel grants for emerging faculty.
· The Board of Regents’ Select Program at http://elearn.regents.state.la.us/distance_education_initiative.htm - In 1997-98, the Louisiana Legislature funded a multi-year Distance Education Initiative (DEI) to develop and extend electronic learning capacities to all public institutions of higher education in the state. Efforts during the first phase focused on the installation of high-grade compressed video and Internet connectivity, building a solid faculty knowledge base and system of technical support, and fostering collaborative projects in research and curriculum design. Efforts during the second and third phases had similar foci, but pilot projects were encouraged to become more program-specific while the fourth and fifth phases of the program set the stage for expanding the programs to students across the state.
· The Louisiana Technology Innovation Fund at http://www.doa.state.la.us/ltif/index.htm - The Louisiana Technology Innovation Fund (LTIF) was created by Act 481 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session to provide "seed" money for innovative agency projects. The fund was created to be an incentive to accelerate the implementation of electronic government and to encourage state agencies to pursue innovative and creative approaches using technology to provide needed citizens services most cost-effectively and efficiently.
Services and Training
·
The Board of Regents Electronic Campus (BOREC) at http://epscor.phys.lsu.edu/lasrec/student.htm
- gives students convenient access to a growing inventory of courses,
certifications, and degree programs offered electronically by
·
Louisiana Board of Regents NETg on-line
comprehensive training at http://www.subr.edu/techtrain/ - a
Louisiana Board of Regents initiative aimed at providing Information Technology
Training to the IT staffs at all
Cooperative Endeavors and Private Resources
·
The Louisiana Technology Park at http://www.latechpark.com/
– The Louisiana Technology Park is a private-public alliance formed to create
the most active and innovative atmosphere for e-business, high-technology and
biotechnology between
· The Louisiana Technology Council at http://www.notc.org/ - The primary mission of the Louisiana Technology Council (LTC) is to assist with the technological development of individuals and member organizations by providing programs, events, organizational support and other value added services that contribute to their competitiveness and growth.
· The Louisiana Technology Guide at http://www.latechnologyguide.com/ - A guide to learn, research, network and communicate with the Louisiana’s leaders of tomorrow's technological advancements today.
Pedagogy
·
State Library at http://www.state.lib.la.us/
- The State Library’s collection includes books, magazines, newspapers, state
and federal government documents and audiovisual materials. The Louisiana
Section houses a comprehensive collection of information about
· The Board of Regents Electronic Learning Committee (ELC) at http://epscor.phys.lsu.edu/lasrec/ - Seeks to maximize opportunities for learning for the state's citizens through the effective, efficient, and cooperative utilization of electronic learning technologies regardless of time and distance. The goal of electronic learning is to complement and enhance the state's existing higher education resources.
·
The Board of Regents Electronic Campus (BOREC) at http://epscor.phys.lsu.edu/lasrec/student.htm
- gives you convenient access to a growing inventory of courses,
certifications, and degree programs offered electronically by
· Best Practices in Electronic Learning at http://www.lpb.org/streamedia/regents.html - A series of streaming presentations on topics such as:
o Learner Characteristics
o Teaching & Learning Strategies for Electronic Learners
o Delivery of Instruction
o Interactivity for Active Learning
o Managing the Electronic Classroom
o Pre-Planning & Preparing for the Electronic Classroom • Web-based Instruction (WBI)
o Multimode Presentation Skills
o Copyright in the Digital Millennium
·
· United Streaming at http://www.lpb.org/education/classroom/itv/unitedstream/index.htm
o The largest and most current K-12 video/video clip library available today
o The only standards-based video-on-demand application shown to increase student achievement
o Practical teacher and student learning resources
o Access to a wide variety of producers—Discovery Channel School, United Learning, Standard Deviants, Weston Woods, and many more
o Unparalleled options for customization and local control
· Louisiana State Education Technology Standards for K-12 at http://www.doe.state.la.us/DOE/LCET/curric/k12stand.pdf - Provides a framework for integrating technology across the curriculum in K-12.
The massive resources of the Federal Government are impressive and can be used for financial and pedagogical resources across all disciplines. Our technology plan should take advantage of the electronic based resources in all of our program offerings. By concentrating less on developing resources, we can engage students and facilitate their experience through the resources provided and accessible by the Internet. The general resources listed are gateways to most federal resources on the Internet. Please find the Selected Federal Resources listed in Appendix 1 for a categorization of some the remarkable ones.
General Resources
· The US Government’s Information Portal at http://www.firstgov.gov/ - An entry point to various federal programs such as:
o Benefits and Grants - Loans, money, funding, financial aid.
o Consumer Protection - Consumer action, publications, credit, complaints, scams.
o Defense and International - National defense, foreign relations, immigration, visas.
o Education and Jobs - Employment, training, careers, labor, wages, workplace, online learning, schools, student and teacher resources.
o Environment, Energy and Agriculture - Farms, food production, natural resources, conservation, weather.
o Family, Home and Community - Housing, human services, community development.
o Health and Nutrition - Medical, health care, insurance, nutrition, public health.
o History, Arts and Culture - Museums, libraries, genealogy, ethnic, traditions.
o Money and Taxes - Unclaimed government money, credit, saving, retirement.
o Public Safety and Law - Crime, prison, law enforcement, disasters, emergencies.
o Reference and General Government - Acronyms, directories, data, forms, photos, laws, libraries, publications, regulations.
o Science and Technology - Biology, engineering, space, innovation, communications.
o Travel and Recreation - Transportation, air, train, international, tourism.
· Fedworld at http://www.fedworld.gov/ - The FedWorld.gov web site is a gateway to government information. This site is managed by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) as part of its information management mandate. Find information such as:
o Find a Federal Government Job - Search for open Government Jobs Updated Daily
o Search for
Government Research & Development Publications - Locate
Scientific and Technical Publications
from ALL Government agencies at www.ntis.gov
o Search FirstGov - Search 30 Million Government Web Pages
o Supreme Court Decisions - Search and view full text of Supreme Court Decisions issued between 1937 and 1975
o Top Government Web Sites - Gain access to key agency and topical site
o Locate Key Government Science and Technology Web Resource Sites - Provides the Scientist, Engineer, and Techno-minded citizen with easy, one-step access to valuable U S Government resources
o Internal Revenue Service - Locate IRS archived Forms and Publications through Fedworld
· The Science/Technology portal at http://www.scitechresources.gov/ - the government catalog that provides the scientist, engineer, and technologist with easy, one-stop access to key U.S. Government web resources. One can find such resources as:
o Computer software
o Expertise
o Federal laboratories
o Information centers
o Inventions for licensing
o Online databases
o Sources of images and photographs
o Sources of publications, reports, and data
o Technology transfer opportunities
o Information for the science-aware citizen
The immense resources of the Internet may be even more
remarkable than the resources of the Federal Government. In the spirit of
the Internet, individuals, groups, and organizations have come together to
provide resources on a scale never seen before. A classic David and
Goliath case study is the Linux software movement. An unknown computer
programmer with access to the Internet started in 1991 to develop an open
source version of UNIX in cooperation with programmers around the world via the
Internet. Starting from nothing, Linux is now estimated to be a $35
billion dollar market by 2008 and has established versions of its product
offered by major technology firms such as IBM, HP, and Novell. There is a
serious acceleration of Linux in the enterprise which has been further boosted
by the partnership with Red Flag
Software Company, Ltd., the leading developer of Linux software in
IT Standards, Planning, and Technology Transfer
· Educause at http://www.educause.edu/ - EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. Membership is open to institutions of higher education, corporations serving the higher education information technology market, and other related associations and organizations. Resources include professional development activities; print and electronic publications, including books, monographs, and the magazines EDUCAUSE Quarterly and EDUCAUSE Review; strategic policy advocacy; teaching and learning initiatives; applied research; special interest collaborative communities; awards for leadership and exemplary practices; and extensive online information services. The current membership comprises more than 1,900 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 200 corporations, with 15,000 active members.
· Campus Technology by the Syllabus Group at http://www.campus-technology.com/index.asp - Campus Technology is the only monthly publication focusing exclusively on the use of technology across all areas of higher education. Campus Technology provides in-depth, aggressive coverage of specific technologies, their uses and implementations, including enterprise resource planning; eLearning and course management systems; presentation technologies; communication, portal, and security solutions - all the important issues and trends for campus IT decision makers.
· 32 Trends Affecting Distance Education at http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/howell63.html - This article provides decision makers with 32 trends that affect distance learning and thus enable them to plan accordingly. The trends are organized into categories as they pertain to students and enrollment, faculty members, academics, technology, the economy, and distance learning. All the trends were identified during an extensive review of current literature in the field.
·
The Louisiana IP Directory at http://www.louisianaip.org/index.pl
- was created in order to promote
Open Source Course Materials
· The Merlot Project at http://www.merlot.org/ - MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students of higher education. Links to online learning materials are collected here along with annotations such as peer reviews and assignments.
· MIT’s Open CourseWare at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html - a free and open educational resource for faculty, students, and self-learners around the world. OCW supports MIT's mission to advance knowledge and education, and serve the world in the 21st century. It is true to MIT's values of excellence, innovation, and leadership. MIT OCW:
o Is a publication of MIT course materials
o Does not require any registration
o Is not a degree-granting or certificate-granting activity
o Does not provide access to MIT faculty
· Creative Commons at http://creativecommons.org/ - Taking inspiration in part from the Free Software Foundation's GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), Creative Commons has developed a Web application that helps people dedicate their creative works to the public domain — or retain their copyright while licensing them as free for certain uses, on certain conditions. Unlike the GNU GPL, Creative Commons licenses are not designed for software, but rather for other kinds of creative works: websites, scholarship, music, film, photography, literature, courseware, etc. We hope to build upon and complement the work of others who have created public licenses for a variety of creative works.
· Connexions at http://cnx.rice.edu/ - Connexions is an environment for collaboratively developing, freely sharing, and rapidly publishing scholarly content on the Web. Our Content Commons contains educational materials for everyone — from children to college students to professionals — organized in small modules that are easily connected into larger courses. All content is free to use and reuse under the Creative Commons "attribution" license.
·
The Sofia project at http://sofia.fhda.edu/
- Modeled after MIT’s OpenCourseWare Initiative with funding support
from The William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation.,
· Materials Digital Library at http://repository.matdl.org/index.jsp - DSpace is a groundbreaking digital library system that captures, stores, indexes, preserves and redistributes the intellectual output of a university’s research faculty in digital formats. Developed jointly by MIT Libraries and Hewlett-Packard (HP), DSpace is now freely available to research institutions worldwide as an open source system that can be customized and extended.
· The Internet Archive at http://www.archive.org/ - The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) public nonprofit that was founded to build an ‘Internet library,’ with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Founded in 1996 and located in the Presidio of San Francisco, the Archive has been receiving data donations from Alexa Internet and others. In late 1999, the organization started to grow to build more well-rounded collections.
·
FEDORA: http://www.fedora.info/ -
The Fedora project was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to build an
open-source digital object repository management system based on the Flexible
Extensible Digital Object and Repository Architecture (Fedora). The new system
demonstrates how distributed digital library architecture can be deployed using
web-based technologies, including XML and Web services. Jointly developed by
the
Open Source
· The Open Source Web Design at http://www.oswd.org/ - Open Source Web Design is a community of designers and site owners sharing free web design templates as well as web design information. Helping to make the internet a prettier place.
· The Open Source Portfolio Initiative at http://www.theospi.org/ - The Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) is a community of individuals and organizations collaborating on the development of the leading non-proprietary, open source electronic portfolio software available.
·
o A framework that builds on the recently ratified JSR 168 portlet standard and the OKI open service interface definitions to create a services-based, enterprise portal for tool delivery
o A re-factored set of educational software tools that blends the best of features from the participants’ disparate software (e.g., course management systems, assessment tools, workflow, etc.)
o A synchronization of the institutional clocks of these schools in developing, adopting and using a common set of open source software.
·
Edtudes at http://foothillglobalaccess.org/etudes/
- ETUDES is a course management system that was developed by Michael Loceff, a faculty member at
· DSpace at http://www.dspace.org - DSpace is a groundbreaking digital library system that captures, stores, indexes, preserves and redistributes the intellectual output of a university’s research faculty in digital formats. Developed jointly by MIT Libraries and Hewlett-Packard (HP), DSpace is now freely available to research institutions worldwide as an open source system that can be customized and extended.
· The Java Architectures Special Interest Group at http://www.ja-sig.org/ - The Java Architectures Special Interest Group (JA-SIG) is an independent organization promoting the use of Java technologies and architectures within the higher education community. JA-SIG supports the development and adoption of low cost, flexible, open source solutions that adhere to best practices and open standards.
· Moodle at http://moodle.org/ - Moodle is a course management system (CMS) - a software package designed to help educators create quality online courses. Such e-learning systems are sometimes also called Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLE). One of the main advantages of Moodle over other systems is a strong grounding in social constructionist pedagogy.
· The JBoss Initiative at http://www.jboss.org/products/index - JBoss Enterprise Middleware System (JEMS) is a true open source architecture designed for plug and play with leading technologies to bring greater flexibility and technology choice. JEMS offers cutting-edge technology components, from persistence to caching to workflow, which customers can mix-and-match and roll out into their line of business infrastructure with zero-cost software licenses.
· uPortal at http://www.uportal.org - uPortal is a free, sharable portal under development by institutions of higher-education. This group sees an institutional portal as an abridged and customized version of the institutional Web presence... a "pocket-sized" version of the campus Web. Portal technology adds "customization" and "community" to the campus Web presence. Customization allows each user to define a unique and personal view of the campus Web. Community tools, such as chat, forums, survey, and so on, build relationships among campus constituencies.
· Source Forge at http://sourceforge.net/ - SourceForge.net is the world's largest Open Source software development website, with the largest repository of Open Source code and applications available on the Internet. SourceForge.net provides free services to Open Source developers.
· Limewire Open Source P2P File Sharing at http://www.limewire.org/ - We believe that the Gnutella network could and should be one of the core distribution tools on the Internet. We believe in open standards, open networks, and that any global networking protocol must have an open source piece at its core if it is to remain uncorrupted. We believe that the best people to develop the Gnutella network and its applications are its users.
· LionShare at http://lionshare.its.psu.edu/main/ - The LionShare P2P project is an innovative effort to facilitate legitimate file-sharing among individuals and educational institutions around the world. By using Peer to Peer (P2P) technology and incorporating features such as authentication, directory servers, and owner controlled sharing of files, LionShare promises secure file-sharing capabilities for the easy exchange of image collections, video archives, large data collections, and other types of academic information. In addition to authenticated file-sharing capabilities, the developing LionShare technology will also provide users with resources for organizing, storing, and retrieving digital files.
· The Open Source Cluster Application Resources at http://oscar.openclustergroup.org/tiki-index.php - OSCAR version 4.0 is a snapshot of the best known methods for building, programming, and using clusters. It consists of a fully integrated and easy to install software bundle designed for high performance cluster computing. Everything needed to install, build, maintain, and use a modest sized Linux cluster is included in the suite, making it unnecessary to download or even install any individual software packages on your cluster.
Nicholls has an impressive amount of technology across its two campuses. Following is a survey of the technology at Nicholls taken in the Fall of 2004. These resources will be presented alphabetically and grouped by areas that are closely associated. This survey should serve as a reference point for future growth.
Academic Computing/University Computer Services
The Academic Computing labs, classrooms, servers, and compressed video – 3 open labs for any major, 51 specialty labs, 65 classrooms, 1 server room, and 6 compressed video suites. Consisting of:
o 1065 Computers
o 65 Classrooms
o 90 LCD Projectors
o 84 Networked printers
o 13 Servers
o 1 Blackboard server
o 6 Smartboards
o 6 Visualizers
o 6 Compressed video suites
o 1 Dolby Surround Sound theater system
Academic Software supported:
o Microsoft Office
o SPSS and SAS for statistical analysis
o Peachtree Accounting
o Exam Master III
o Various software titles to allow for the visualization and evaluation of sports injuries
o Skill training for Nursing and Respitory Therapy students
o PopGrow – Population growth modeling
o ArcGIS - Software that allows students to author, analyze, map, manage, share, and publish geographic information
o Adam Interactive – Human anatomy visualization and evaluation
o Tneel - Toolkit for Nurturing Excellence at End-of-Life Transition
o Westpoint Bridge 4.1 – Engineering design software
o Electronic Workbook - A word processor that includes numerical and symbolic computation capabilities, as well as graphing.
o Eagle Point – Software for designing civil engineering, surveying, hydraulics and hydrology, landscape design, and presentation solutions.
o Academic Systems – Math tutor
o Food Safety Training 2.5
o Microsoft Frontpage
o Autocad 2002
o SolidWorks 2004
o Research Insight
o Visual Studio .Net
o JBuilder
o Inspiration Ver 7
o Adobe Acrobat
o Winzip
o McAffee
The University Computer Services consists of 2 RS/6000 servers in rack enclosures with the following peripherals:
o 4 processors each
o 8 gigabytes of ram each
o 500 gigabytes of total storage
o Administrative Applications: SIS, FRS, HRS, Focus
Software for above RS/6000s is SCT’s IA Plus with the following modules
o SIS
o FRS
o HRS
Computer Services back office servers (16) – Management of Network Services, Network Management, Wireless Security, E-mail Scanning, Electronic Report Distribution, File/Print Services, E-mail, Web for Student/Faculty/Staff, Payment Gateway, Virus Scanning, Institutional Advancement, and the main university web server.
Faculty, staff, and administrative computers and printers
o 950 Computers
o 70 Networked printers
The Telephone Switch and Network Infrastructure - Infrastructure consisting of the main telephone PBX and 19 remote PBXs. The Telephone system is a Meridian Option 81C equipped with Meridian Mail. The phone system consists of 8 T1 PRI lines, 900 digital lines, and 1200 analog lines.
Computer network switching/routing infrastructure – The electronics necessary to allow communications over the data network.
o The main backbone consists of 14 large switches and 6 small switches connected to the computer network via a gigabit connection.
o The fast Ethernet backbone consists of small stackable switches for labs and small academic/staff buildings connected back to the gigabit backbone switches.
o The wireless network backbone consists of 10 small switches, a main router, 89 Roamabout AP3000 802.11a/b/g wireless access points, 56 Roamabout R2 802.11 a/b wireless access points, and six omni directional outdoor antennas. The wireless coverage includes Picciola, Elkins, White, Powell, Peltier, Polk, the quadrangle, Student Union, Student Union outdoors, Library, Library outdoors, and Ayo Hall.
o The inside wiring infrastructure consists of all the category 5 computer network cable within all the buildings on the computer network. This includes the cost of the cable, termination, and installation.
o Fiber Optic Cable Plant – The interconnection of the 50 campus buildings via fiber optic cabling consisting of 27,500 feet of 96/24 and 6,000 feet of 24/12 strands of single mode/multimode hybrid cable. 25,000 feet of 24 strands of multimode cable only. Also included in the fiber infrastructure are the OTDR, Fusion Splicer, and various kits necessary for the repair of the fiber cable. This Infrastructure is used for the Computer Network, Telephone Network, Video Network, and Fire Alarm Network and LARECON.
Athletic Training
o 2 Chattanooga CPS 2 Channel devices – Allows the students to apply high frequency sounds waves that travel into the body to increased blood supply which promotes healing, produce a pain killing effect which can reduce muscle spasm and promote normal function, and softens fibrous tissues and scar tissue which are formed during healing.
o 1 Intermittent Sequential high-pressure compression device – Allows students to apply high pressure in order to prevent deep venous thrombosis.
o 1 AED Training System – Allows students a realistic automated external defibrillator training solution by providing on-board capabilities to safely train using realistic training scenarios.
o 4 Manual sling psychrometers – Allows students to check ambient air conditions in an HVAC environment, temperature readings, relative humidity measurement, dew point, and wet bulb readings.
o 10 Goniometers – Allows students to rotate an object or sample about a point in space. The center of rotation is located over the center of the table and allows for the students to observe the point of rotation.
Biology
o 10 CPS base units - Interactive wireless response pad technology that allows students to interact with questionnaires or quizzes
o 1 Electron Microscope – Magnification up to 20,000x
o 1 Fluorescent gel electrophoresis and transillumination device – Allows students to do DNA and protein analysis.
o 1 Thermal Cycler – Allows students to reproduce exact conditions by heating and cooling to exact amounts over exact time periods.
o 30 Binocular Microscopes – Allows students to magnify specimens
o 1 ELISA Plate Reader – Allows students to quantify proteins and protein activity
o 10 Hand held GPS devices – Allows students to mark exact coordinates of findings in the field.
Cardiopulmonary Therapy
o 12 ventilators – Allows students to train in providing ventilatory support in a variety of patients and symptoms for the treatment of obstructive lung disease, atelectasis, pneumonitis, and other acute and chronic pulmonary conditions.
o 1 IPV device - frequently coupled with a nebulizer, is increasingly used as an airway clearance device.
o 1 CPAP/BiPAP device – Allows students to train on patients who are experiencing Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and are not properly responding to continuous positive airway pressure therapy.
o 4 Air compressor units – Allows students to study the delivery of air to patients.
o 2 Adult/infant lung simulators – Allows students to accurately simulate realistic compliance, resistance and inertial loads of adult or child lungs.
o 2 Blood gas analyzers – Allows students to analyze blood gases for use in determination of illness.
o 1 PFT spirometer - A pulmonary function test is a series of five tests that allows students to measure lung function. The test provides information about the amount of air a person's lungs can hold, and how effectively the lungs work.
o 3 Arterial sampling arms – Allows students to assess gas exchanges in the blood.
o 6 Pulse oximeters – Allows students to measure blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate.
o 3 Oxygen analyzers – Allows students to measure gases in oxygen systems.
o 1 EKG/hemodynamic simulator – Allows students to as