Over the course of the next several weeks, we will be profiling a prominent member of the Teaching & Learning Center Staff. This week Keedra Smith, an Academic Technology Consultant for the TLC, took time out of her busy schedule to answer a couple of questions.

TLC: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Keedra Smith: I was born and raised here in Memphis, TN. I attended Hamilton High School, home of the Mighty Wildcats. After graduating from high school, I attended Middle Tennessee State University where I received my Bachelors degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Computer Information Systems.
I am very family oriented and my family and I are very close.  I am the proud mother of a 7 year old son, whom I adore.  He has the key to my heart.

I enjoy what I do here at UTHSC because it gives me the opportunity teach.  I get a great feeling when I know that I was a part of getting someone to understand and comprehend something that they didn’t know before.  That means that I have done my job!

TLC: What is your role at the Teaching & Learning Center?

KS: My role in the Teaching & Learning Center is to manage special projects and initiatives related to the use of academic technology in teaching/learning.  I also have to maintain knowledge of a range of academic technologies and appropriate/relevant pedagogical uses as well as participate in program level, larger group discussions of the uses of academic technology.

TLC: What are some new exciting things that are happening with the TLC and the technologies that are your specialty?
KS: I have currently been working on the implementation of TurningPoint Cloud. It is an upgrade from TurningPoint 5 which is a software supported by Turning Technologies. TurningPoint’s technologies gives students the opportunity to interact during the lecture. In the past, we used TurningPoint 5 which allowed students to participate by the use of a ResponseCard called Clickers. They were able to respond to multiple choice and true or false questions with this device.  Now, with TurningPoint Cloud, the students have the ability to not only participate with the Clickers but also have the ability to respond by using their web-enabled devices (smart phone, tablet, laptop, or iPad).  This is called ResponseWare. The use of TurningPoint Cloud will allow faculty to be creative, receive instantaneous feedback and help keep the students engaged.

TLC: What is something that you would like the UTHSC community to know about the TLC that they may not currently know?
KS: The Teaching and Learning Center is a new addition to the university. We offer support for some of the same technologies as before such as ExamSoft, TurningPoint, and Blackboard. Just to name a few. We are staffed with Academic Technology Consultants, Instructional Designers and a Digital Media Specialist. We are growing and we are here to support our faculty, staff and students to make sure that we provide technology that is relevant to teaching and learning. It is our mission to provide proper training for the academic technologies that we support here on campus. We want them to be user friendly but at the same time effective.

TLC: What do you like to do with your free time, when not working at the TLC?
KS: In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, working out, and sometimes enjoying a quiet evening at home.

Please contact Keedra or any of the other Academic Technology Consultants; LaDale Whaley, Samba Diop, or Bryan Berretta, for information regarding the technologies supported by the Teaching & Learning Center. For a complete list of technologies and contact information, please click here.