You Can't Teach an Old Prof New Tech

Online, August 19, 2010 (Newswire.com) - On a mission to prove that faculty will adopt new technology; Intellidemia, the self-proclaimed "syllabus geeks", are kicking-off a challenge that defies the faculty pushback stereotype. Developed by Intellidemia, Concourse is the first off-the-shelf, syllabus management platform for higher ed. The challange begins with the release of a free instructor version of Concourse. So that you can hit the ground running, Intellidemia will enter one syllabus for each of the first 100 instructors that upload their syllabus to Concourse Basic by September 10, 2010.

Designed with faculty in mind, Intellidemia targets the instructor that is looking to create an online presence for their course, get their syllabus online, and be lite-touch tech savvy. Instructors immediately benefit from easy editing, linking files directly to the syllabus, and syncing the syllabus with a calendar. An added benefit is that a Concourse syllabus does not appear all that different from its paper counterpart.

Dr. William Wales, Professor of Entrepreneurship at James Madison University stated, "I absolutely love how Concourse structures my announcements, assignments, and schedule. Students like its straightforward simplicity as well. It really delivers on what's important to me when putting my course content ( http://campusconcourse.com/view_syllabus )online," Wales added, "You quickly become comfortable with Concourse, and by having everything in one place I have significantly saved myself and administrators time."

By making syllabi more accessible, students can easily preview course objectives and requirements before they register; and instructors can instantly update assignment details and automatically send an email to notify students of the changes. When syllabi are in a central database, they can be accessed anytime, anyplace.

"Faculty appreciate Concourse because it's a natural transition; it looks and feels like the paper syllabus they're used to. However, once you get this master syllabus online you can create public and section-specific views, embed policies, link relevant content, and generate a calendar feed. Capabilities like these did not exist in the paper world," said Judd Rattner, CEO of Intellidemia. "You can easily drop your Concourse syllabus right into your other online tools."

Intellidemia recognizes that faculty adoption of new technology is a persistent concern, but they believe faculty will adopt new technology if it works for them, if it's easy to use, and if it enhances learning and engagement.

Learn more about the faculty adoption challenge (http://www.intellidemia.com/products/adoption.php ), or get started now by sending your syllabus to: [email protected]. For the full release go to http://www.intellidemia.com/company/faculty_adoption_082010.php

Contact

Jennifer Connally
Marketing and Sales Manager
Intellidemia, Inc.
Telephone: 518.444.2060
E-mail: [email protected]