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Our History:
The Catalyst Initiative was launched on February 1, 1999 to support
instructional uses of technology at the University of Washington
(UW). The Catalyst support concept is simple: provide examples,
promote good teaching practice, build technology skills, and make
technology easy for faculty to use. Beginning in 1996, the Center
for Teaching, Learning & Technology (CTLT) supported faculty who
wished to teach with technology, and by 1998 drop-in visits to the
CTLT had increased dramatically, seriously taxing staff resources.
Yet the absolute numbers of teachers reached by CTLT staff was relatively
small, no more than a few hundred per year. The need to extend support
to a much wider audience without a major infusion of staff and resources
was clear. How to do so was not.
Wide-ranging conversations with campus stakeholders,
UWired partners, and faculty focus groups led to a new framework
for faculty support. This framework, the Catalyst Initiative, depends
upon the Catalyst Web site to provide anytime-anywhere resources
that also serve as the foundation for Catalyst workshops and one-on-one
consulting in the CTLT. The Catalyst Initiative played an integral
part in helping the UW earn the 2000 EDUCAUSE Award for Systemic
Progress in Teaching and Learning. At the same time, Catalyst has
provided flexible and scalable instructional technology support
that is aligned with the emerging needs of faculty, teaching assistants,
instructors, librarians, and staff campus-wide.
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the Catalyst Web Site |
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In the second year of the Catalyst Initiative:
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The Catalyst Web site has logged almost
1.7 million page views, an increase of more than 300%.
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Educators registered as Catalyst Toolkit
owners at a rate of 3.3 per day, up from 1.8 the previous
year.
- Almost 16,000 unique students used Catalyst
Tools for learning during January 2001, surpassing the prior
year's high by 9,000 students.
- Catalyst workshop attendance climbed
35% to 948.
- Catalyst outreach efforts reached over
900 campus educators and staff.
- Drop-in visits to the CTLT remained high
at 1700.
- The Catalyst Initiative reached instructors
in 93% of UW departments.
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