Link to full mission statement here.
Below is an excerpt from the Mission of the Innovation in Teaching and Technology Initiative in the College of Education at the University of Georgia:
A fundamental assumption is that innovation even in the smallest increments is valuable and contributes to the mission of the College. Innovation is also a very relative and personal phenomenon: What is innovative for one person may not be so for another. Similarly, a small innovation for one person can be a dramatic innovation for another. Ultimately, an outcome of this initiative will be for the College to define and nurture one or more signature themes around which most College faculty can rally and be identified with among our constituents and professional communities. Examples of such signature themes for which some of our peer and aspirant colleges and universities are known include online learning, mobile learning, inquiry learning, digital literacy, and service learning. These might be called “Big I” forms of innovation due to the way practice within the entire college or a department is shaped by the innovation. Achieving this outcome cannot be done in a top-down way, but needs to emerge from the faculty. Consequently, the ITT Director will work towards establishing a spirit of innovation within the College that recognizes and encourages all forms of innovation, however small. These might be called “little i” examples of innovation because of their personal nature.
The role, duties, and responsibilities of the ITT Director will evolve over the 2010-2011 academic year; however, an initial set of duties include the following:
- Chair the COE Technology Work Group.
Organizational Chart for Innovation in Teaching and Technology Initiative
- Recognize and document forms of innovation that are occurring at the faculty, program, department, and college level.
- Work with faculty to generate ideas, activities, and programs that promote or exemplify innovation in teaching and technology.
- Seek resources to support faculty to acquire innovative teaching and learning practices.
- Be available to consult with faculty about innovation in teaching.
The Director will collaborate with the College’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), and especially the Teaching with Technology (TwT) group, in the coordination of the above activities. Specifically, the Director will work to enhance and extend the TwT group’s efforts to meet the following objectives:
- Help faculty use technology to support and enhance innovative teaching practices.
- Build and develop faculty literacy in new media and technology.
- Support faculty as they prepare pre-service teacher education students to teach in technology-rich classrooms.