Fall 2021 instructors can tap Undergraduate Technology Advocates for Brightspace, ed tech assistance

The Technology Advocates program for Purdue’s West Lafayette campus is expanding to include fall 2021 courses. Student Technology Advocates are immediately available to assist instructors who want to work on their fall Brightspace course set-up and other educational technologies, or provide remote access for students who may need to isolate or quarantine. Instructors simply submit this request form for a Technology Advocate for their courses.

The Technology Advocate program was initiated in 2020 by the Office of the Provost with the aim of improving student learning and reducing instructional technology burdens. 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 serves as a point of contact who is connected to Purdue’s technology support infrastructure.

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 train students and their supervisors. Victory Soe, a Senior Instructional Technologist in the Computer Science department, and Amy Haston, a Senior Educational Technology Consultant in Teaching & Learning Technologies co-lead the team.

Full-time staff serve as supervisors, overseeing and coordinating teams of Technology Advocates, and establishing the initial relationship with interested faculty so they can determine how best to meet each instructor’s needs. Supervisors are liaisons to Innovative Learning and ITaP when additional support is needed.

For additional questions, email techadvocates@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.