Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning

In 1998, a Columbia University Task Force representing a broad cross-section of junior and senior faculty and administrators produced a platform of seven far-reaching recommendations embodied in a strategic-planning document of May 1998, entitled “Implications of New Media Technologies for Columbia's Educational Programs.” The Task Force recommended that the University provide incentives to encourage a larger number of faculty members to adopt at least some level of new technology in their teaching. The Task Force committed itself to the notion that any viable program fostering the integration of informational technology must be structured in such a way that the value of risk-taking would be clearly evident and occasional failures would be viewed as opportunities for future success. In this regard, it was deemed to be of the utmost importance that a means to achieve broad implementation of digital technologies be found. The Task Force unanimously agreed upon and mandated that the University create a service, support, and development group to provide assistance and advice in matters of digital and communications technology and new media to Columbia University's faculty and instructional staff.

In collaboration with faculty, this new group would help to create innovative pedagogical approaches to course content through the use of advanced technologies that would significantly alter and enhance various instructional environments. The same organization would serve as the campus hub for technology initiatives as they relate to the classroom. Activities would entail developing means to augment academic quality and learning environments at Columbia University. Hence, the Task Force gave its wholehearted endorsement of what was to become the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) as a collaborative effort building on the success of Academic Information Systems (AcIS) and the Institute for Learning Technologies (ILT). CCNMTL, rooted in the pedagogy developed by ILT, is buttressed by the superior network and computer systems provided by AcIS. Thus, the University's intention to combine inventiveness and the efficacious use of advanced instructional technologies and their broad dissemination was realized in CCNMTL.

CCNMTL's service philosophy is to provide the most supportive environment possible for Columbia University faculty who invest their time and energy in new media technologies for their courses. The Center's educational technologists have extensive pedagogical training and offer advice and direction to faculty who wish to discover and develop best practices in the educational uses of new media.

These efforts often lead to the creation of a course website that offers students convenient access to online course information, including custom content, selections from Columbia's Digital Library Collection, and communication tools. CCNMTL's educational technologists assist faculty and instructors interested in using CourseWorks, Columbia University's course management system, and Columbia Wikispaces, a service from Wikispaces.com that provides a wiki to every registered course at Columbia University. In 2008, CCNMTL also launched Columbia on iTunes U, which allowed Columbia students, faculty, and the public to download free lectures, seminars, and other Columbia-produced media content to mobile devices or personal computers via Apple's iTunes. Additionally, CCNMTL offers workshops for Columbia faculty and instructors who wish to explore uses of new media in teaching and learning.