UM offers Technology and Opportunity

 "The goal of the Faculty Technology Development Center is to provide each individual faculty member with skills that will enhance the use of the computer technology in classrooms and laboratories and also to provide advice and technical support for the academic computing needs of UM faculty and staff.", according to the Center's website. 

The FTDC goes above and beyond that to help students, staff and faculty not only have a technological paradise but also to stay abreast on new technological additions that the UM offers.

The FTDC offers a lab in Weir Hall, where students can utilize high-end Windows and Mac computers, video digitization stations along with flat bed scanners and color printers. The FTDC also offers technical support, departmental software, technological training, test scanning and BlackBoard training. 

      "Right now I would have to say the most interesting feature is the shift from paper textbooks to eTextbooks and the usage of devices such as the iPad, in the classroom. Also, the ability to access Blackboard from a mobile device has been something that students have requested for a while now. This ability was put into place last October," said  Penny Rice, Instructional Technology Specialist at the FTDC.

Not only does the FTDC offer ample amounts of technological devices and quarterly workshops, but it also provides students with jobs, offering a couple of student jobs each semester. Rice started out as a student worker and now has been working in the Center for 13 years. 

      "Its also a great place for students to volunteer and take advantage of IT jobs," said former UM student and volunteer, Elizabeth Zaremba. "I'm not very tech-saavy but being around so much technology is what drew my interest."

Students just like Zaremba can take advantage of the technology offered in FTDC and also job opportunities. 

For more information visit the Faculty Technology Development Center website at www.olemiss.edu/ftdc.