Four faculty members have been awarded small grants to enhance their use of educational technology for teaching and/or learning. Funds were awarded through MUSC’s Information Technology Innovation (ITI) grants program.

Luis Leite, DDS, assistant professor of pediatric dentistry/orthodontics in the College of Dental Medicine was awarded $12,938 for his proposal, “Using Videoimaging Technology to Develop Computer-Based Instructional Units for Dentofacial Diagnosis and Treatment Planning.”

Leite plans to use the funds for the acquisition of a computerized videoimaging system that will provide state of the art innovations in the areas of orthodontic education, research, and clinical services at the Medical University.

Computer imaging will allow clinicians, students, and residents to visualize hard and soft tissue relationships before and after surgery and conceive the impact of different treatment modalities. It will also enhance discussions with patients about treatment options and expected outcomes.

The expected outcomes of this project include not only the establishment of a diagnostic center within the College of Dental Medicine with computerized videoimaging technology available, but also the creation of interactive computer programs written especially for educational applications.

Thierry Bacro, Ph.D., assistant professor of rehabilitation sciences, and Becki Trickey, Ph.D., associate professor of rehabilitation sciences, College of Health Professions, received $7,568 to support their attendance at a syllabus conference and the purchase of a laptop for their development work. The primary purpose of their proposal, “Multimedia Instructional Technology: Evaluation of Portable Technology to Deliver Health Care Information,” is to utilize multimedia technology to deliver instructional content to learners with different educational levels and needs in diverse learning settings. A faculty development workshop will be presented and a resource guide will be provided to interested faculty.

David C. Morrisette, Ph.D., assistant professor of rehabilitation sciences, College of Health Professions, was awarded $15,000 for his proposal, “Computer-Assisted Learning for the Analysis of Human Movement.”

This project is designed to assist physical therapy faculty to develop the capacity to teach human motion analysis to students both locally and through distance education technology, to allow for the dissemination of educational materials in multiple formats including CD-ROMs, departmental web sites, and analog video productions, and the eventual creation of interactive learning tools that allow students to view aspects of an evaluation and standardized treatment scenario.

The University Educational Technology Articulation Committee, which includes representatives from each college, various academic support services unit, and the Student Government Association reviews proposals, using the following criteria: “aims deliverables/outcomes and plan for measuring the project’s impact degree to which the project contributes to enhancing the applicant’s and/or other faculty’s skills in using the proposed technology for a teaching-learning degree to which the project contributes to the educational mission and priorities of the university, college, and/or department capacity for successfully implementing the project potential for replicability in other courses or departments.”

This cycle completes the first year of the ITI program, which has been enthusiastically welcomed by university faculty. MUSC’s ITI grants program has funded 11 faculty projects, providing almost $100,000 to help faculty apply emerging technologies like the World Wide Web, on-line testing, and computer imaging to enhance MUSC’s curricula.

As projects reach completion, results will be shared campus-wide in open demonstrations and discussion sessions.