College Benefits from Visioning Forums

Paradise Valley Community College
Our campus leaders have a better understanding of the technology issues facing us. The need for more collaborative spaces and campus and support for the increased use of electronic content dominate our discussions. Security issues are now addressed and understood by more faculty and staff as a result of the Technology Visioning Forums.

Phoenix College
Several people who attended a number of the Technology Visioning Forums said they have found them to be informative and motivating. Many of those making such comments work in such areas as Admissions and Records, Advising, Financial Aid, and other administrative areas. I think this is important to bring the entire college together to learn about technology possibilities. Probably one of the neatest and most evident results of Forums was the feeling of camaraderie among faculty and management personnel. It has made working together much easier, more fun, and more productive.

Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Many of our campus leaders, both faculty and management, attend the first Technology Visioning Forum with Philip Parsons. Parsons offered a vision of learning "without boundaries," learning that takes place not only in but also outside the traditional classroom. One forum participant suggested we 'rethink learning to move it outside the traditional confines of time and space' leading to development of a summer Hybrid Course faculty institute.

This forum had a dramatic impact on our thinking and planning. A few weeks later after that forum, our technology committee adopted a statement formalizing its commitment to this vision of learning without boundaries. This fed into our college-wide initiative to create a wireless network available anywhere on at our three college campuses, a project selected as our college's Innovation of the Year.

Rio Salado College
The Technology Visioning Forums have motivated us to take time for richer and deeper conversations and helped us stretch and enhance our capacity to think about the future, not just the tasks at hand. This time together provided us opportunities to develop relationships with the speakers ho have helped us think through some of our challenges. Over the past year we have reinforced our commitment to a "systems approach." The "Killer App" discussion helped us think through the finer points of our e-learning system. Mike Zatrocky reinforced for us that one size does not fit all, and we developed a core of Rio people who now have common mental models and vocabulary.

Estrella Mountain Community College
We have recognized the need for continuous upgrading our infrastructure to support a hybrid campus, such as building a wireless capability and inviting students to use their portable devices on campus (Parsons). We are moving towards the concept of eCare with discussions on a help desk for students (Oblinger). There is considerable more discussion on the use of ubiquitous tools vs. specialized tools (Milliron). Lastly, we recognize that we need to join district initiatives to benefit of our greater community with common portals and course management systems (November & Zastrocky).

GateWay Community College
Following the first meeting (Philip Parsons) we made a few changes to hallways and other areas to encourage student congregations. TLTR has also recommended that the college have a 1-800 number and prominently place it on the college homepage, part of the e-Care concepts presented by Diana Oblinger. This came after the forum with Michael Dolence. Those of us who have attended have a new awareness about different topics that may change how we relate or react to new ideas.