$200,000 to Expand Classroom Digital Technology

Knox College is expanding digital technology in classrooms across its campus with a grant of $200,000 from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

The grant will support the purchase and installation of state-of-the-art computers with display or projection systems tailored for specific uses in more than two dozen classrooms and teaching spaces. These enhancements will be supported by a newly established office of instructional technology, dedicated to supporting faculty in the use of classroom technology.

"This grant will have an immediate impact on faculty and students in every Knox department and program," said Lawrence B. Breitborde, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College. "We have seen growing numbers of faculty making imaginative and effective use of digital classroom technology. This investment is an outgrowth of that use and will provide a foundation for additional innovations in the future."

Breitborde adds that, increasingly, new faculty members arrive at the College well-versed in these technologies from graduate school and expect it to be available in their classrooms.

The grant includes funds for digital document cameras that project items faculty and students bring into the classroom, such as scientific specimens, books, musical scores, and three-dimensional objects, and for mimeo or smart boards that allow for information to be projected, manually manipulated, and recaptured digitally from the classroom wall.

The systems are customized for specific uses, Breitborde said. "Art studios require units on carts and the use of dustproof storage. Some of the larger classrooms will have simultaneous displays for dual images, such as panoramas and details, while the large music rehearsal hall will get high quality audio components."

The grant proposal grew out of a year-long digital technology planning process carried out in 2005-2006. The planning committee ? supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ? included twelve faculty and staff members, who surveyed the campus community, consulted with technology experts from peer institutions, and studied how leading-edge digital technologies are incorporated into teaching and learning.

The committee's work resulted in a multi-year plan to enhance how technology is used in the classroom and expand the number of technology-equipped classrooms available for classes. Their first recommendations included outfitting 26 additional instructional spaces with these new technologies and establishing a staff position to support instructional technology. The Office of Instructional Technology was created in late 2007.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 46 states and 50 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.