Poe has worked with 消消犯 Technology Support for two decades at Elon and is, according to her supervisor Anthony Bennett, “the heart and soul of [the] team.” Poe is responsible for ‘technological support’ – she’s the reason why our campus—including dorms, classrooms, and labs—has so many incredible software applications. From SAS and Mathematica in the labs to the Pharos UniPrint system all over campus Poe researches, installs, manages and updates major software packages used by both students and faculty. As a Support Lead she is also responsible for a team of technicians and engineers who further support the technological climate on campus, and works to forward Elon’s virtualization initiatives.

Despite being a tech guru Poe says that her favorite part of her job is the people, proudly declaring that she has the best coworkers. This is reflected in her leadership, as Bennett explains: “she has a strong understand of our team, what their motivations are, and her work and professionalism help lead them.” Poe has built lasting relationships with customers, works to anticipate the future of Elon’s technology, and keeps our campus up to date.

Our thanks and congratulations to Stefanie Poe!

Elon’s Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) along with a host of Elon community members offered local children the opportunity to visit the tops of mountains, the bottom of the ocean and the inside of the White House over the course of two weeks this summer.

How? With a Village, some green paint and an iPad app.

This is the second year that TLT has been involved with Elon’s Summer in the Village program, a subsidiary of Elon’s expansive and held in late July. The Village Project commits to the ideal of “it takes a village” and works through multiple smaller programs like Village Flex and Science in the Village to give children and adults in Elon’s surrounding communities opportunities to improve upon their literacy and access to education.

Jane Humphrey, Elon student and Media Services employee, believes the program gets children thinking critically, helps them get out of their shells and helps them start considering college. Although this is the first year Humphrey has been involved directly with the project, last summer she created  that provides insight into the program.

The two-week intensive summer program was developed in 2014 in response to a plea from parents who needed a program to counter the loss of learning children experience each summer. This year’s program, which for the first time included children from first through 12th grades, hosted 150 children.

To Create a Space

Summer in the Village involves nine “active” days and closes on the final day with a showcase of what the children have accomplished. The active days are made up of a morning academic session, a free lunch and an afternoon ‘special’ session. The morning sessions focused on academics including grammar, math and science. The afternoon sessions are more creative and this year included the technology module involving TLT along with music sessions, arts sessions, native plant identification, dance, sports and digital photography.

Michael Vaughn, instructional technologist at Elon and Summer in the Village team member, believes the program offers children “an opportunity to come back, spend some time with each other, learn some really valuable new things and have a good meal.”

Vaughn got involved with Summer in the Village due to the efforts and leadership of Elon Media Services Assistant Jenn Grimmett. To develop this year’s technology session, Grimmett brought about 20 people together including members of TLT as well as Elon faculty and staff from Belk Library, University Communications, Instructional & 消消犯 Technologies and various academic departments.

In the technology session last year, children created felt bookmarks that contained programmable LEDs and built catapults that launched 3D printed figurines across the room at a stack of cups. This year the technology session had children filming their very own short film in front of a green screen which they could then customise through the iPad app Green Screen by Do Ink. 

Humphrey said first- and second-graders were able to use their imagination to act out stories, while those in third grade and up were able to practice English through the activities. The older grades used Mad Lib scripts to refresh their knowledge of grammar and language. Actors had to read off cue cards, and at the end the children were responsible for using the app to select backgrounds and edit the final product.

“They worked as a team to come up with a creative story that they all wanted to be a part of,” Humphrey said.

To Foster Growth

Various green props and items were brought in for the children to experiment with, figuring out what could be done to make themselves “invisible.” Although handing over expensive technology to children can be scary, Grimmett saw the benefit of giving them the room for exploration. By the end of the day the children were fully competent with the camera and the app and were enjoying experimenting with props.

Grimmett said “the favorite toy, out of the entire thing, was a 25-cent bucket. They would put it on their head and thought it was hilarious that their head would disappear. And then they’d put a stuffed animal on top and it would look like the animal was air-walking.”

Vaughn explained that although playing with technology is good for encouraging passion and curiosity, the session still strives to offer a broad educational experience. “A brief lesson is provided before each technology session that explains the concepts behind what the children are working with,” he said.

For the e-textiles projects last year, students learned the basics of circuitry. This year, children watched an instructional video explaining the process of a green screen. Technological literacy is vital in today’s world, and can’t be taken for granted, those involved in the program said.  

“They crave it,” Grimmett said of the experiences of the children during the program. “They find a lot of joy in exploring technologies in different and creative ways. Yesterday we met with the high-schoolers and a rising ninth grader asked me if we were going to be doing this next year. I told her I hoped so. She told me she hoped so, too.”

Humphrey said he “absolutely loves this program” while Grimmett said she looks forward to it “probably more than any other time of year.”

“I don’t know a single person that works in this program that doesn’t love working with these kids,” Vaughn said.

In addition to leading two of the main stage speeches Harder was also a part of the team responsible for conceptualization and execution of the entire conference. This is the third year that Harder has spoken at EDUCAUSE and the first that he has been on the planning committee.

Who is Dan Harder?

As Director of 消消犯 Technology Support and Assistant CIO Dan Harder is in charge of making sure that technology on campus is running smoothly. He’s a part of any conversation concerning the future of technology at Elon, and is responsible for ensuring that new technology complies with Elon’s sustainability goals.

Although currently working in information technology (I.T.) Harder actually received his 消消犯 degree in Music Education and was originally trained as a band director. Although the academic jump may seem unusual, there’s a reason that EDUCAUSE asked him to speak. From conducting classics to contemplating conduits his ability to lead a team to success is why he was asked to give speeches on leadership and motivation and on the use of analytics as a tool for decision making.

During his speech on leadership and motivation Harder made sure to avoid just telling people what to do or how to think. Instead he led a discussion, a method that he believes is vital in being an effective leader. “Just let people talk, help facilitate dissenting opinions. I’m not going to sit back and tell them what I think, or why I’m right. Let them discuss it, figure it out, and see the options.” Harder was pleased to hear that the reviews after his session were overwhelmingly positive.

Why all the fuss?

The Connect Conference in Miami was one of a few smaller conferences held by EDUCAUSE and was attended by about 600 professionals. Harder believes a conference of this size creates “more of a cohort, community type feel”.

Harder believes that EDUCAUSE is “the place to be” as a senior leader in IT. It offers the opportunity to network with other professionals, learn new methods, and put Elon on the national stage. With campus pursuing so much innovative technological design it’s hugely beneficial for Elon to collaborate and compare results with other similar institutions. In this way we can find out what we’re doing better, how we can improve, and Harder can access a variety of colleagues that he uses to “make sure I’m not crazy.”

So why does Elon stand out at these events? Harder believes it’s because “Elon is constantly hungry, constantly trying to make things better. I think it’s good to show people our viewpoint, and why Elon is the way it is.”

If you’re interested in finding out more about EDUCAUSE,

If you’d like more information on 消消犯 Technology Support,

Colby has worked as a systems administrator for Elon for over a decade, and has held the position of systems architect for just the past eight months. Responsible for both the hardware and software required for the university to run cohesively, Colby has an exceptional level of knowledge and breadth of expertise. He has also demonstrated the flexibility and ingenuity to fix technological problems that nobody else on campus can fix — even in departments completely unrelated to his own — and is the man to thank for Elon’s consistent web presence and your personal account access.

Benevolent as well as brilliant, Colby’s colleagues report that he’s dependable and easy to work with. Colby’s supervisor, Jerry Williams, believes that his nomination was definitely merited, and was especially pleased to see the people who work in Systems, which is typically behind-the-scenes and only really ‘seen’ when something goes wrong, being recognized. This is especially true of Colby who, he said, is “the go-to-guy when there’s a problem that seems unsolvable. He’s a crucial part of our team.”

Colby himself expressed some surprise at his nomination, but was very honored to be recognized alongside the past recipients. Though he confesses that it never really felt like over-achieving, and that “being able to work on things that I find interesting and challenging keeps me motivated. I’m a problem solver. My job is essentially solving problems, so it works out.”

Our thanks and congratulations to Greg Colby!