For the 2009-10 school year I have continued to keep current on information management, and have also been studying open educational resources, with a particular focus on open textbooks. The tech scouts as a group also researched and evaluated screen monitoring software at the request of faculty.

I have converted the KCELT workshop "Information Management Tools" into a website called "Simplify Your Life", making it a handy reference for anyone who wants to see which of the many information management tools available might be worth trying out. I see a lot of people groan over any new tool because they see it as just another new thing that they're supposed to learn that they don't have time for, so I've focused this site on tools that are easy to use, quick to learn, and actually save you time.

This year I have focused on learning all I can about open textbooks. In addition to keeping up with the work of the group Community College Consortium for Open Educational Resources (CCCOER), I have taken a workshop offered by Open Textbook Advocate Trainers which is a "train the trainer" course, and effectively gave me the tools to present training sessions here at Kirkwood for interested faculty, administrators and any other staff who currently work with textbooks. I will begin these presentations in April, and will then schedule more sessions at times convenient for interested parties through May and into the summer. I think this is an important topic, and I hope that supporting the open textbook option for instructors and students becomes a larger movement in Kirkwood.

If you have any questions or research interests you think the Tech Scouts should investigate, please let us know!