What is the Atlas Project?
The Atlas Project is a $3 million Title V grant awarded to Imperial Valley College in October 2011.
ATLAS stands for Access to Technology Leads to Advancement and Success. Among the goals for the grant is the development of a comprehensive faculty training program that will focus on innovative approaches to teaching.
The grant has three main goals:
- Goal #1: Increasing student success by developing a comprehensive and college-wide effort to provide appropriate pedagogy and technical skills, providing more access to computers in labs, adding server storage space and email accounts for students, and extending the wireless network to all areas of the college
- Goal #2: Providing excellence in education by helping faculty develop new and richer courses by pairing basic skills with career and technical courses, by training faculty in the use of social learning and collaborative learning, by providing training in culturally-relevant instruction, and offering training on the use of technology in the classroom and encouraging students to develop and use their technological skills.
- Goal #3: Develop resources to increase the college's effectiveness by improving the technology infrastructure and training faculty, administrators, counselors, and staff to make the most effective use of this infrastructure.
Among the many highlights of this grant:
- Improving Banner efficiency and expanding access to reports in Banner
- Campus-wide wireless (coming 2011)
- Wireless at the extended campus (coming by Spring 2011)
- Student email accounts and expanded access to software for students
- Student debit card system
- Smart podiums for high-use classrooms
- Charging stations and student printing stations
- Pedagogy training for faculty (see info on page 1)
- Campus-wide "Futures forums" to increase awareness of cutting edge technology
- Etudes course management system training
- Banner/Argos training
- Computer technician training
- The goal of a Title V grant is to transform a campus and a community by providing the resources needed for innovation. We believe Atlas will accomplish this and more!
