Group Spotlight: The START Team
Professor Adams wanted a recommendation on a portable recording device for his Oral Communications course that was offered in the fall quarter. He intended to uniquely present the course material and incorporate the latest technological advances to reinforce the subject matter. To that end, he turned to the NSIT START Team (Support for Technology & Applications for Research & Teaching). After some discussion of what his requirements were, the Team recommended the MicroTrack 24/96 from M-Audio. Professor Adams instructed the students not to take written notes during his lectures. Using the MicroTrack device, he recorded each lecture (along with any Q&A). After each class, he went to the Digital Media Lab to optimize the uncompressed audio to create manageable files that could be uploaded to his Chalk course site. After some initial training and guidance, he learned the process and was able to work on his own. The class ended a few weeks ago, and students rated it as a huge success. He will continue to use this teaching method and has even purchased his own recording device.
MicroTrack 24/96 from M-Audio
“The START Team is dedicated to helping faculty explore what is possible with technology and then acts as a bridge and guide to the broad range of expertise, resources, and services available within Academic Technologies, throughout NSIT, and across campus,” explains the group’s Assistant Director, Ken Sadowski.
A division of Academic Technologies, the START Team can be found at the Regenstein Library in the room 220 office suite. Also conveniently housed in this area is the Digital Media Laboratory, which provides faculty, Teaching Assistants, and graduate students with a wide array of audio and video innovations that they can incorporate into their courses. The available technologies include Macintosh-based digital video editing systems for creating, recording, and editing audio and video; publishing streaming video; high-resolution flatbed scanning; CD and DVD authoring tools; and large format color printing. The Lab also assists staff when they want to engage in remote collaboration and limited video conferencing capabilities or explore and implement new technologies and services. Digital video and still image cameras are also available for rent to faculty, Teaching Assistants, or graduate students that prefer to work independently. “Our Goal is to get faculty to understand and embrace the use of technology – first in a simple way - then moving to more complex applications,” Sadowski adds. As a result of the team’s cross-collaborations and creative uses of technology, no two courses on Chalk (out of nearly 1000 each quarter) are the same.
The START Team
From top left, Roberto Marques, Jamie Cunningham, Andrew Johnston, and Ken Sadowski
See http://nsit.uchicago.edu/academic/start/ for further information about the START Team.
Last updated: 8/8/07