Matt Reed recently wrote in his Confessions of a
Community College Dean blog for Inside Higher Education that it would be a
great idea if college campuses had a “dedicated lab/room with plenty of
up-to-date technology where faculty could go to learn” how to use the latest
gadget for their courses.
“The idea was that the best way to learn a technology
is to play with it—I strongly believe that, just as I believe that the best way
to learn a concept is to teach it—but that playing with it requires the
presence of both the tech itself and a safe space,” he wrote.
Reed went on to list funding as a major obstacle to such
a lab, adding that he doesn’t have a solution for the idea. He even solicited
his readers for their thoughts. Hopefully, the college store on his campus read
Reed’s post and replied.
That’s not to suggest that a campus store has unlimited
space or funding, but many already stock the technology products or have the
contacts to the experts who could come to campus for periodic “faculty night”
events to demonstrate devices. For example, the KSU Bookstore, Kennesaw State
University, Kennesaw, GA, recently took part in an e-book fair,
bringing together major publishers and the school library for an event that
featured hands-on demonstrations of e-books, electronic devices, and associated
technologies.
So, Mr. Reed, that partner for your dedicated tech lab
might be closer than you think.