Undergraduate Technology Advocate initiative pilots spring semester at West Lafayette – apply now

Technology Advocates are part of a new initiative at Purdue’s West Lafayette campus that aims to improve student learning and reduce instructional technology burdens. The Office of the Provost will hire up to 100 Technology Advocates to provide instructional support to West Lafayette instructors and students during spring 2021.

Feedback on fall 2020 from instructors and students identified course technology as an area where more support was needed for spring 2021. Technology Advocates can assist instructors with their Brightspace course, streaming and lecture capture tools (e.g., BoilerCast), and other instructional technologies related to their courses. They can also answer student questions on these topics. A Technology Advocate will serve as a point of contact who is connected to Purdue’s technology support infrastructure.

Full-time staff will serve as supervisors on an overload basis. Supervisors will oversee and coordinate teams of Technology Advocates, and will establish the initial relationship with interested faculty so they can determine how best to meet each instructor’s needs. Supervisors will be liaisons to Innovative Learning and ITaP when additional support is needed.

This initiative is a collaboration between Teaching & Learning, college IT staff, Innovative Learning, and ITaP. It builds on existing relationships within colleges when possible, and Innovative Learning educational technology experts are helping to develop the training plan for students and their supervisors. Victory Soe, a Senior Instructional Technologist in the Computer Science department, will be leading the team.

Instructors who want to request a Technology Advocate for a spring 2021 course should complete this request form. If more requests are received than can be staffed, priority will be given to larger courses and those that are primarily taken by first- and second-year students.

Students who want to apply to be Technology Advocates should start the process by completing this application form.

Full-time staff with experience teaching courses with Brightspace should email Victory Soe (vsoe@purdue.edu) if they would like to be considered for a supervisor position.

For additional questions, contact: Sheila Hurt, Senior Program Director, Boiler Success Team at sfhurt@purdue.edu.

Innovative Learning is Purdue West Lafayette’s hub approach to connect instructors to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Members include the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries and the School of Information Studies, Purdue Online and Teaching and Learning Technologies. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.