ACE IT SIG Fall Report 2007
From Extension Collaborative Wiki
Information Technology Special Interest Group Report
Fall 2007
Name of SIG: Information Technology SIG
Mission statement: The Information Technology Special Interest Group (IT SIG) provides a means for communicators and technologists to share information internationally on current and emerging technologies with an emphasis on the intelligent and appropriate use of these computer-based technologies for education and information dissemination.
Officers:
Chair: Ray Kimsey, NC State University
Vice Chair: Vishal Singh, University of Nebraska
Vice Chair-elect: Floyd Davenport, Iowa State University
Summary of SIG business meeting at annual conference:
Eight members were in attendance and four non-members attendended the IT SIG meeting in Albuquerque. A summary of the agenda for the meeting follows:
- The meeting opened with a welcome and introductions of those present.
- New ways to communicate within the SIG were discussed mentioned. These include the SIG’s wiki and a new group within Facebook.
- The members in attendance reviewed the SIG’s mission statement. No changes were suggested.
- Anne Adrian was elected to the office of Vice-Chair Elect for 2008-2009.
- Professional development plans were discussed and topics of interest were suggested. See below for more details on the SIGs plan for professional development.
- Silver and bronze award winners for the SIG’s C&A were announced.
- Review of the C&A classes were discussed and it was decided Floyd Davenport, Vice Chair-elect, would work with past judges to review and come up with recommendations to the SIG.
How are leadership responsibilities being divided among the officers? The Chair will provide the overall leadership and coordination. The Vice Chair will give leadership to providing professional development for the SIG. The Vice Chair-elect will give leadership to providing recommendations for revision of the C&A classes. All three officers will collaborate on communicating with the SIG, selection of a winner for the Award of Excellence, and providing input on ACE conference session proposals.
What is your SIG’s three-year professional development plan? The IT SIG is partnering with eXtension to provide multiple opportunities for professional development throughout 2007-2008. The vice-chair is scheduling and coordinating the professional development activities. Currently, several webinar opportunities on social networking have been given. Thirty-two people attended the Facebook session and an additional fifty-eight attended the session on Second Life. Possible future topics include: Open ID, Moodle, Flickr, and other Web 2.0 topics.
How are SIG leaders communicating with members, and on what schedule? The SIG communicates via email in the traditional manner. Several conference calls are being planned for the fall and spring. The SIG is also experimenting with using a Facebook group as a means of communications. A professional development session was offered on the use of Facebook for the SIG also.
How are SIG leaders encouraging members to communicate with each other? Communications are encouraged via email, and the wiki. As an experiment a Facebook group has been established to facilitate communications via the “wall.”
What is the status of the SIG Web site? Web pages are hosted on the eXtension collaborate wiki (http://collaborate.extension.org) and may be edited by any SIG member with and eXtension account. The web pages are up-to-date.
What are the SIG’s concerns relative to the C&A program? The biggest concern is revision of the classes and / or to create new classes that are more inclusive of all IT professions. Also, updating of some of the classes is a concern. The Vice Chair-elect is working with past judges to compile recommendations to the SIG this fall.
What steps will you take to solicit nominations for the Award of Excellence? How will the SIG select its Award of Excellence winner? We will solicit nominations from the SIG members. We also solicit renomination of unsuccessful nominees from previous years. The Chair, Vice Chair, and Vice Chair-elect are the selection committee. The Chair or the Vice Chair will collect the nominations, and then distribute them to the SIG leader group.
What steps are you taking to encourage members to submit articles and reviews to the JAC? The SIG leaders will remind the members of opportunities for publishing in the JAC and areas of submission.
What other issues or concerns would you like to bring to the board? What action would you like to request? None at this time.
Submitted by: Ray Kimsey
