Other Master Classroom Topics

Inspiring and Supporting Faculty
Maintenance and Upgrades
The Future of Master Classrooms
Evaluations
Master Classrooms and Network Connections

Inspiring and Supporting Faculty

Incentive and encouragement ensure the effective widespread and long-term use of master classrooms by faculty who recognize the value of instructional improvement.

ITD provides instructional technology development grants, training, consulting, assistance with application development, and support programs. These services give faculty the necessary time, support, and inspiration to learn to use software, develop applications, and use technology effectively in the classroom.

Maintenance and Upgrades

Maintaining and upgrading master classrooms is an ongoing process. All equipment in the master classrooms is tested weekly by ITD: Microcomputing & Master Classroom Support to insure that it is operating properly. In addition, staff are available to help if faculty have an equipment problem during a class.

Through daily research, ITD staff investigate new equipment, hardware, and software as well as improvements for the way existing equipment is used. Faculty suggestions also play a significant part in determining maintenance and upgrade needs.

The Future of Master Classrooms

Perhaps in the not too distant future there won't be a need for a term "master classroom" on the MTSU campus because the standard classroom will be a master classroom. Until this happens, our goal is to constantly improve and upgrade not only the hardware and software in the master classrooms, but also the ability of our faculty members to effectively use instructional technologies in their teaching.

Evaluations

The use of the master classrooms is evaluated every semester by faculty and students, who are encouraged to provide suggestions for improvements. Feedback from the faculty includes what equipment they use and how often, equipment reliability and ease of use, and the effect of instructional technology on their presentation of materials and their students' comprehension of materials.

MTSU students are asked questions such as

• are you more likely to take future classes in a master classroom?
• how much did the technology enhance your interest in the course?
• how much did the technology influenc your comprehension of the subject matter?

The results are compiled and taken into consideration for training, maintenance, and upgrades of current master classrooms. Suggestions are also kept on file as reference material for the construction of new master classrooms.

Master Classrooms and Network Connections

Having access to MTSU's campus network and the Internet allows faculty to connect to a wealth of content-related information and to demonstrate network use for students.

Within the campus network, faculty can:

• demonstrate how to use e-mail
• search for information in the campus library
• retrieve files from other computers on campus
• demonstrate use of network tools such as Telnet, FTP, Gopher, and the World Wide Web.

The instructional possibilities of the Internet are endless. Examples include:

• an aerospace professor displaying for a weather class a satellite image of the earth's atmospheric condition photographed
  only an hour before class
• a political science instructor accessing the President's latest press conference
• and a business law class analyzing and discussing up-to-date Supreme Court rulings pulled from the Internet.