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Research and Development Group

The Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT) was established in 1985 as a research and development group focusing on emerging interactive learning technologies. Its primary purpose is to conduct original technology-based development and research projects providing graduate students with an opportunity to work on "real-world" projects. The IIT is a consortium of faculty, staff, and graduate students in Bloomsburg University's Department of Instructional Technology. This strategic alliance offers students practical hands-on experiences as they apply theoretical knowledge to real-life projects and, at the same time, fosters the development of effective and innovative instructional solutions. The Institute also assists corporations in their efforts to achieve business goals through technology.

"The IIT combines the highest quality faculty and students with state-of-the-art facility to produce future leaders in computer-based education." --Ann Marie Mendrzycki Unysis Corporation

The Institute seeks to help business leaders understand the impact of interactive learning technologies and e-commerce on their workforce, improve the performance and competitiveness of their corporations, and providing a fact base for sound instructional interventions.

Staff and Faculty

The staff and faculty of the Institute are drawn primarily from leading instructional technology practioner/academicians at Bloomsburg University. These practitioner/academicians include Dr. Timothy L. Phillips, Dr. Karl M. Kapp, Dr. Mary J. Nicholson, Dr. Helmut Doll, and Dr. Celina Byers. The commitment of these individuals to both the theory and practice of instructional design helps to set apart the IIT.

Projects

To date, the IIT has undertaken such instructional technology projects as: designing workshops for AT&T and Bell Atlantic to convert their stand-up trainers to web-designers, delivering distance education courses to five sister universities, designing technical interactive lathe training for TRW, developing a database-driven web site for Ben Franklin Technology Partners. Each of these efforts has provided an opportunity to push technical capabilities to provide a solution to practical business issues.