NONPF 40th Annual Meeting
2. Faculty Ipad Institute
The Center for Academic Technologies & Educational Resources (CATER) developed the iPad Institute 1.0, an intensive technology bootcamp designed for faculty to promote innovation in nursing education. Through a competitive application process 21 Early Adopter faculty were selected (Moore, 2006). Faculty participants were challenged to: 1) create a strategic plan on how the iPad will be used in the classroom and how to measure its success/effectiveness, 2) integrate the iPad into the classroom during the Fall semester, and 3) present the outcomes to the university community.
The institute included four days of training on how to use the iPad, supporting technologies, and incorporating this into higher education. Days 1 and 2 covered an overview and introduction to the iPad. Basics such as iCloud/cloud storage, creating and editing documents, communicating with the iPad, capturing pictures and videos and using the iPad as a presentation tool were demonstrated. With this knowledge, faculty began incorporating the iPad into their courses and professional activities. After approximately four months following the initial training participants attended two full-day workshops that discussed topics such as iPads in higher education, active learning strategies, interactive apps, and eTextbooks. Serving as the content experts, faculty worked with the college’s instructional design team to develop their own strategic plans for integrating the iPad into their teaching, content delivery, course management, and/or student collaboration.
In addition to faculty training, developing and promoting a community of practice around the use of the iPad was an important focus of the institute. Three strategies were used: 1) standardized suite of Apps, 2) periodic meetings to discuss use and integration of the iPad, and 3) participants prepared presentations to share outcomes to the university-wide community.