Name:  Doug McCartney

Title:    Director, Instructional Technology Services, Portland State University
(28,000 students), Portland, OR

Hometown:  Toledo, Ohio 
                    (Bedford Senior High School “Kicking Mules” Temperance, Michigan)

Education:  University of Toledo

Employment: 

University of  North Dakota-Lake Region Campus, Devils Lake, ND

Bowling Green State University,  Bowling Green, OH

College of Wooster, Wooster, OH

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Lewis and Clark State College, Lewiston, ID

What has changed in the last few years?
There’s a wider gap between instructors who are savvy and demanding about the newest technology and those that still need basic help.  We have a professor of Rock and Roll, for instance, whose multimedia presentations pack rooms with 190 students.  On the other end, we have instructors who don’t have laptops.  Our systems need to accommodate both users.  They need to be intuitive enough for basic users and robust enough for the more sophisticated users. 

What are some of your challenges in providing good service?
One of my challenges is finding the right people who both know the technology but have the people skills.  Our field support is young.  They may be very knowledgeable but they need to relate to people who aren’t as knowledgeable and help them with their problems.  That requires patience, tact and good communication skills.  Another challenge is having consistency in our platforms and interfaces so instructors are not looking at something different in each classroom.  When we had different systems and interfaces there was a lot of frustrated users.

What strategies have proven successful?
We began to work with Klasstech a few years ago to develop a custom solution that is perfect for our environment.  It allows us to serve both the demanding user and the more basic user.  The podiums are not techy-looking, which is intimidating to instructors. The interface is simple and easy to use.  At the same time, these systems can easily handle any new technology.  And the fact that there’s uniformity throughout the campus, our support staff can more easily and quickly provide support over the phone, which accomplishes our goal of less down time and more instructional time.

What do you like best about your job? 
Helping instructors teach students with technology

What do you like least?
Negative staff attitudes.

What’s on the horizon?
I see more technology classrooms, especially with high-definition.  One of the challenges will be scheduling instructors for the right rooms, depending on their needs.  We are also going to be looking at recording audio and integrating it with data, like a Power Point, instead of the talking head approach to recording classes.  There are institutions that are doing this successfully now.

What do you think institutions need to do to prepare for the future?
Technology is always changing.  You have established administration and support staff that don’t want to really acknowledge that don’t always embrace change.  They promote consistency and uniformity, which has its benefits.  But the younger generation, which are often providing the field support, are pushing for the newest technology.  They’re both necessary.  The simplicity of the Klasstech podium allows us to expand with new technologies but keep the consistency of the platform and the simplicity of the interface.