Grant gives resources to technically challenged

The politically correct way to say you cannot figure out how to use a computer, VCR, digital camera, Power-Point program or scanner is to refer to yourself as “technically challenged.” Knowing that this syndrome affects many faculty and staff, the union — through the New York State/UUP Joint Labor/Management Committee on Technology — created grants to provide learning resources.

UUPer Peter Friesen, an instructional technology coordinator at SUNY Plattsburgh, was awarded a $90,544 grant from that committee to put together a campus-based instructional technology resource center for faculty and staff. The center is stocked with the most recent development tools. Slide printers, digital cameras, scanners and high-end computers loaded with software and hardware fill the room, along with their accompanying instructional manuals.

“We’ve brought software and hardware here that this campus has never seen before,” Friesen said. The tools can be used for graphics, design, imaging, desktop publishing, animation, Web site creation, Web course creation, programming and multimedia development. Users can digitize audio and video for use on a media server or on CDs. The campus planetarium uses the center to run synchronized slide projects.

“We make it possible for people to do things,” Friesen said simply. If that sounds like a tag line from an ad campaign, well, Friesen’s job is to keep things simple. Like instructions.

After all, establishing a comprehensive instructional technology plan is complicated enough. Friesen simply wanted to create a cutting-edge faculty computing facility and offer workshops to assist people in learning about how to make technology work for them.

By the response, he was obviously on to something.

“The support, assistance and interest shown by the college’s administration, faculty and professionals were apparent at every stage in the development of the project,” Friesen said. A workshop on using Adobe PhotoShop drew double the number of people the room could hold, and a second class was scheduled.

Faculty and staff can access the room, which is located in the college’s library, with a key checked out at the front desk.

“It’s recognized as a place on campus where specialized equipment is available or can be shared,” he said. “In the long run, it’s designed for professional development, self-improvement and exploration.”

— Liza Frenette