A Triumphant Return

By Jenny Barnett, April 1, 2024

Education Technology Day is back at Ithaca College.

Virtual reality was a focus at Ithaca College's 30th annual Ed Tech Day.

(Photo by Ethan Beer '26)

Marking a milestone year, Ithaca College played host to Educational Technology Day for the 30th time this spring. Back by popular demand after a four-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the event drew more than 1,000 attendees from across upstate New York to explore uses of technology in higher education.

David Weil '87, MS '89, vice president and chief information and analytics officer, who spearheaded Ed Tech Day, was excited to be bringing it to Ithaca College once again. Last year, when discussing with colleagues around the state whether the college could continue to host, he discovered that they really missed it.

“I always knew that it was a place that people looked forward to coming to and interacting,” he said. “I didn't totally appreciate the value that others were getting from it. It is unusual for a technology event to run for 30 years, so we are proud of that.”

This year’s offerings, where more than 60 national and regional hardware and software vendors showcased their latest innovations, were much different than those at the inaugural event. In 1991, sessions included “Desktop Publishing,” “DOS 4.0,” and the “Multimedia Classroom of Tomorrow”—which, it was stated, would allow faculty to “blend together several media . . . including sound, still graphics, text, and animation.”

“While many advancements were barely imaginable by the attendees at the first Ed Tech Day, the need to intentionally think about the ways we use technology to advance our teaching, learning, and work guided our conversations then and continue to do so today.”

David Weil '87, MS '89, Ithaca College vice president and chief information and analytics officer

The aim of the event, however, remains the same: to provide students, faculty, and staff—and the broader regional community—with an opportunity to experience the latest computer and related technology and hear from thought leaders about how those tools can be used in and out of the classroom.

Artificial Intelligence was a hot topic throughout the day. (Photo by Ethan Beer '26)

Ithaca College faculty and staff gave several of the presentations at the event, showcasing how the college remains on the cutting edge of technology.

For example, Tim Reynolds ’12, DPT ’14, assistant professor of exercise science and athletic training, spoke about how he utilizes social media to increase learning opportunities. Reynolds believes it is important to acknowledge that traditional pedagogical approaches are not necessarily the best way to reach students today.

For the past two years, he has been uploading short quizzes and videos to a TikTok account—which now has 870,000 followers—and an Instagram account, with more than 42,000 followers. This allows students to assess their knowledge of class material—and review it, if necessary—any time, any place.

“If they're standing in line at Wegmans and take out their phone and pull up a social media app, for 30 to 60 seconds—which is typically the length of my videos—they can take advantage of this extra learning opportunity,” said Reynolds. “We can access all this information in the palm of our hands.”

In a featured session, “Exploring AI's Impact Across Our Institutions,” Weil addressed the fact that rapid advances in artificial intelligence — particularly in the past 14 months since the launch of ChatGPT — will have a significant impact on higher education, and that anyone in the field should be thinking thoughtfully about AI.

“We’re always thinking about how we can bring that data up to the next level so that we can look across the whole institution and help it drive strategic decision making.”

Rob Snyder ’92, Ithaca College director of analytics and special IT projects

To help frame conversations around AI on college campuses he explored several key questions, including: How can AI enhance the student experience? What are appropriate uses of AI at an institution? How does it align with the values of the institution?

AI, in general, was a big draw among attendees. And so was IA — institutional analytics.

Rob Snyder ’92, the college’s director of analytics and special IT projects, led a talk on “A Modern Framework for Institutional Analytics.”

Dave Weil, the college's vice president and chief information and analytics officer, speaking during his presentation. (Photo by Ethan Beer '26)

“We’re on a journey to modernize and enhance the way that we store and work with data at the college,” he said. “We’re always thinking about how we can bring that data up to the next level so that we can look across the whole institution and help it drive strategic decision making.”

Also giving a presentation was Colleen Countryman, assistant professor of physics. Countryman specializes in educational technology development and assessment, and in her symposium explained how she and a team of undergraduate researchers worked in the lab to develop instructional simulations and games to help introductory physics students deepen their insight into difficult concepts.

Along with co-presenter Ted Mburu ’23, who worked with Countryman throughout his time as a student at IC, she discussed the design, development, and assessment of the simulations—and how her undergrad researchers led the charge.

Countryman also hosted a tour of the performance-based physics lab—the student-centered integrated classroom/lab environment, aimed at facilitating collaborative experimentation, problem-solving, and critical thinking—where the research was done.

Other campus tours explored IC’s Makerspace—aimed at engaging students and encouraging development of cross-disciplinary skills and equipped with 3D printers, a laser cutter, sewing and embroidery machines, Cricut machines, and a range of low-tech crafts and tools; the Center for Print Production; the virtual production tool in the Roy H. Park School of Communications, known as The Cube; and the movement analysis lab in the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance.

Victoria Waldron, an instructional support specialist from the University of Rochester, attended the event with several colleagues.

“We are all trying to go to different things and then share, to get the most out of it,” she said. “I think anyone with an interest in technology can take something away from today.”