Clarifying the scattered and confusing realm of technology-enhanced classes ranks as priority number one for the new Center for Academic Technology and Support (CATS), said Robert Augustine, interim vice president of academic affairs for technology.

Technologically-Enhanced and Delivered Education, or TEDE, consists mainly of Web-based courses and traditional courses augmented by on-line quizzes, digital presentations and or multi-media activities and testing.

TEDE is housed in the new CATS facility located in Blair Hall Room 108, so Eastern now has a centralized place committed to providing support and assistance for both faculty and students.

“CATS was deemed necessary because good intentions on the part of faculty were getting lost in the confusing mixture of technological administration at the expense of the students,” Augustine said. “Basically, many teachers were attempting to use products from outside multi-media sources which, for one reason or another, did not work properly or were more complex than the teachers and or students were prepared for.”

These technological problems could create tension between students and teachers, especially when they aren’t realized until midway through the semester, said Augustine.

In the past, teachers had five different technology resources centers from which to seek assistance. Augustine said that, while the services were helpful, they often didn’t provide the level of coordinated support necessary to make a system run well and work through technological difficulties.

“These technology resource services were five separate entities in different departments under different leadership. Naturally, they moved at different speeds with different agendas and goals,” said Augustine. “This can be a great source of stress for well-intended teachers with a system down and students staring them in the face.”

CATS’ first priority will be to assign students passwords and PIN numbers and ensure that those passwords and PIN numbers are functioning properly.

Orientation classes may also be offered to get students up to speed on Web-based courses. Keeping students informed will be vital to implementing technology-based courses, said Augustine.

“Making sure students understand from the very beginning the equipment and skill needs necessary to complete the course is fundamental to ensuring the success of on-line courses,” he said.

CATS will also be relied on to resolve flaws in the system.

“Dealing with system failures is something we look forward to tackling quickly with CATS,” Augustine said. “We don’t have a model picked out yet for dealing with down systems, but obviously this is a topic of great importance as more communication between students and faculty takes place via the Internet.”

Eliminating system failures before they occur can be difficult because of the short time between semesters and the enormous amount of system maintenance.

Once the system is running, keeping it running error-free for an entire semester can be a daunting task. Augustine said starting summer classes earlier is one option for increasing maintenance time.

“We have considered beginning summer classes the Monday after the spring semester ends in order to create another one-week opening for maintenance of the system at the end of the summer,” he said.

Augustine explains the primary objectives for CATS this semester are introducing the center to faculty, working to upgrade and support the TEDE courses already in progress at Eastern and preparing programs for the upcoming spring semester.

Teachers can still contact outside technological sources on their own. The program is designed to support faculty members, not limit their options.

While they will assist the faculty, Augustine said the TEDE and CATS programs are intended to enhance students’ quality of education.

“I want the student body of Eastern to know that this program was created solely for their benefit,” he said. “This program is a response by the administration to better expand the vast resources that on-line education is capable of delivering to the students.”

Augustine noted that Eastern possesses a solid foundation of classroom education and the TEDE and CATS programs have the resources necessary to provide the same high quality of instruction.

“Eastern has a 100-year history of excellence in education,” Augustine said. “Eastern has allocated the funding, has the resources and employs the necessary staff to deliver the exact same degree of excellence.”