The University of Idaho receives a $1 million grant from Gov. Brad Little’s emergency relief fund to support remote learning and enhancements.
The grant is intended to help educators provide remote instruction by providing resources like software, digital infrastructure and other technology.
Expanding the university’s virtual offerings was a goal even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For a number of years, the university’s been expanding its offerings in online education,” Vice President of Information Technology Dan Ewart said. “And one of President (C. Scott) Green’s early actions was to form an online education work group tasked with providing recommendations (on) how best to shape our university’s online offerings, and that work group is ongoing.”
While final decisions will be made in the upcoming weeks, the university’s goal is to use the grant money to improve the overall quality of online education, Ewart said.
The university plans on improving its streaming service over platforms like Zoom, One Button Studios and Lightboard Studios. This will provide high-quality lectures and services for course materials, Ewart said. One Button Studios allows faculty to record entire lectures in a simple and professional way while Lightboard Studios assists instructors who prefer to write on whiteboards while lecturing.
“The connections that are able to be made that maybe couldn’t be made without this technology are huge,” Ewart said. “And they can facilitate multiple styles of teaching and multiple styles of learning.”
New technology will also make communication with research and extension centers across the state straightforward. A portion of the grant money will enhance access to online research and expand broadband presence across the state, Ewart said. This will allow remote researchers to work with data at their site.
The university also plans to provide laptops for faculty and a loan pool of laptops for students who don’t have the technology needed for remote learning.
“Any time that you put quality technology in the hands of faculty allows them to be creative and find new ways to impart their knowledge and to engage the students,” Ewart said. “And providing students with that same modern technology allows them to maximize their education whether or not they’re in person or online.”
The grant is an opportunity rather than a challenge, but needs to be spent quickly, Ewart said. The money is part of the federal CARES Act funding. The funds from the CARES Act must be used by December 2020.
“This new technology will help us all get through the current challenges of COVID-19, but just as important, it will set up faculty and students to succeed in the environment post COVID-19,” Ewart said.
Some of the grant money has already been spent to upgrade almost 200 classrooms. The university will continue to use the money throughout the semester.
“By providing options that are critical as we deal with this pandemic and the changing world beyond, I think that us getting this technology into the hands of the people will open up opportunities that we haven’t even thought of yet,” Ewart said.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Emily _ A_ Pearce.