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Faculty and Student Support
Over sixty persons received support from the ODL
during the period April 2014 – March 2015 by way of
training, coaching and technical support relating to the
design, development and production of resources and
learning materials for online modules. To ensure that
persons have a variety of options to facilitate ongoing
orientation and training, self-paced tutorials have been
made available to enable orientation to the UTechOnline
Learning Management System and the FuzeMeeting
web-conference application.
LINKAGES
Jamaica Research and Education Network (JREN)
The University of Technology, Jamaica facilitated a
regional videoconference on Campus Security jointly
organized and hosted by the Jamaica Research
and Education Network (JREN) and the Caribbean
Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN). The twenty-five
participants were drawn from five National Research
and Education Network (NREN) sites, Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic and Trinidad and
Tobago.
Captain Robert Finzi-Smith, Director of UTech, Jamaica
Safety and Security, moderated the sessions which
included presentations on formulating and supervising
security policies, strategies and plans, managing small
campuses, student challenges on campus, strategies
for women safety on campus, counteracting the
“informer” culture and a demonstration of the Crimebot
application developed by UTech alumnus.
Upgrading of Technology Systems
The UTechOnline Learning Management System was
upgraded to Version 2.6 which affords greater course
management and system performance. A plug-in
allows incorporation of the University’s plagiarism
software,
Turnitin
.
THE CALVIN McKAIN
LIBRARY
Mr. David Drysdale
University Librarian
The launch of the Library’s
Virtual Reference Service
“Ask A Librarian”, and the
opening of an attractive
learning commons area
in the first floor reading
room were two major
enhancements to the facilities, in the effort to
continuously improve service to the community.
The appointment of Mr David Drysdale, University
Librarian, to the OCLC Global Council and also as a
member of the Proquest Advisory Board for Latin
America and the Caribbean served to enhance the
library’s standing within the international library
community. OCLC (Online Computer Library Center,
Inc.) is “a nonprofit, worldwide, membership, computer
library service and research organization dedicated to
the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s
information and reducing information costs”. Proquest
is a global information-content and technology
company that provides solutions, applications, and
products for libraries. Its resources and tools support
Students using the new Learning Commons in the Calvin McKain Library.
University of Technology, Jamaica
• ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015
Page 11