Unit Resources Including Technology
The unit’s allocations are distributed across all programs, as can be seen in Table 6.1.
The unit has limited resources for developing and implementing the unit’s assessment plans. Part-time faculty are paid to assist the department chair and certification officer with gathering and analyzing data for the key assessments. A significant amount of departmental meeting time is spent with full-time and part-time faculty and academic staff looking at the data gathered for the unit assessment plans. The part-time staff member’s duties are largely to enter data collected. This includes inputting the data for the State’s Data Warehouse System.
The unit has access to the College’s Oasis system, which is used to maintain course materials. Faculty and candidates are able to exchange files and keep up-to-date records of graded assignments, in addition to being able to set up threaded conversations among other features. Some of the unit’s faculty also make use of the LiveText system. Graduate candidates learn to use the features of the system in their first semester of the program. They are required to buy the license for one of their technology courses. Faculty members can receive individual instruction on use of LiveText within the unit.
The undergraduate program uses the Chalk and Wire system with its candidates because of the flexibility available in its alternate platform. The program supports an account for each candidate and Chalk and Wire provides an account for each faculty member. Candidates receive instruction on Chalk and Wire in Technology for Teachers, which they take during the first term of the methods sequence. The instructor in that course provides instruction to the faculty as well.
The Columbia College library houses more than 258,800 books and 13,800 full-text journals. It also maintains over 2000 serial subscriptions and 90 research bases. In addition, there are 22,000 digital images more than 1,970 e-books, 7,000 sound recordings, 13,000 films and videos, 33,800 microforms, and 130,000 slides. In addition, the library subscribes to interlibrary loan. As with other academic units, the education unit has a designated librarian as liaison. The liaison librarian is charged with focusing on the information needs of the education unit and, in consultation with faculty, acquiring relevant library resources in support of the curricula. All requests made by the unit for education-related materials have been granted.
In addition to the college library’s holdings, the unit houses educational audio and videocassettes relevant to teacher education in its Resource Room.
