Faculty members need a conceptual framework, taxonomy, set of labels , and an introduction to relevant models. They also need guided practice at using these new intellectual tools. They need to know how and where to find the options most likely to be relevant to their own instructional goals and their institution s educational mission. In fact, academic support professionals and administrators have very similar needs. They require resources and expertise beyond the reach of individual faculty members.
Many new initiatives require institution-wide support for successful implementation.
Getting a diversely representative group to suggest and endorse a recommendation may also lead to the kind of widespread engagement necessary for success. As expectations for implementing new educational uses of information technology rise, t he demand for related support services grows dramatically. But the traditional workloads are growing for technology support professionals, librarians, and faculty development specialists as the information and technology infrastructure keeps getting richer, more complex, and less stable. And with the growing possibilities for linking information systems of more components of an entire college or university, the list of offices or departments that control resources relevant to teaching and learning also grows. The time available to these support professionals for fulfilling their new expectations is shrinking.