At the Friday, September 28 Student Government Senate meeting, Innovative Learning Institute (ILI) Project Lead Dr. Neil Hair presented a plan for the future of technology-based learning at RIT. They are focusing on three major areas of development: online learning, tradition course transformation and the role of the non-traditional — including returning and distance students — students, such as returning and distance students, at RIT.

Hair stated that the ILI’s leadership — which also includes Professor Therese Hannigan, Professor Mary C. Boyd and Director of Faculty Development Donna A. Dickson — feel learning is moving online for many non-traditional students. They noted the large supply of lectures currently available online from schools such as MIT, and Khan Academy, as well as new virtual reality training tools at Duke University. The ILI wants to collaborate with other universities and also develop its own new learning tools. This technology would be then used in both traditional and online courses.

This innovation would be done in a “collaborative laboratory” which would consist of students and faculty working together with a focus on experimentation and risk-taking. Traditional lectures would be moved online in order to use class time for interactive learning and experimentation. They also plan to transform the Center for Multidisciplinary Studies into the School for Integrative Learning. This new school would encourage students to take courses outside their skill set or develop custom degrees.

The plan will be discussed further this quarter before it is brought to RIT’s governance groups for approval.