PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (July 1, 2020) – As quickly as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way the world operates and communicates, Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) has had to rapidly adapt to provide a seamless digital experience across campus.
“COVID-19 has completely changed the delivery and impact of academic services to students,” said Tony Moore, chief information officer at PVAMU. “The pandemic has forced colleges and universities to embrace a new way of thinking about the student academic experience. These are both challenging and exciting times in higher education, and PVAMU is in a great position to meet the ever-changing technology needs of our campus community.”
Tony Moore
Moore and his team in the Center for Information Technology Excellence are tasked with equipping students, faculty, and staff with digital resources that are needed to thrive both on and off campus. Since March, they have leveraged several new technologies to improve the campus’ digital experience, communication, collaboration, and secure access to information.
Some of these initiatives include Microsoft Teams, which improves digital campus communication; My Panther Amazon Skill, a voice-activated technology that allows students to ask questions across campus units; Microsoft OneDrive, which provides users with 15 GB of free storage space; MyDesktop, a virtual desktop infrastructure service that provides faculty and students with a standardized desktop environment outside of a traditional computer lab setting; and MyDegreeWorks, a degree audit program and academic advising tool designed to assist students and advisors in monitoring degree process.
Fortunately, PVAMU didn’t need to make many technological changes due to its foundation of strong digital infrastructure and portfolio of applications. However, the rapid transition to online work required Moore and his team to quickly train users on the array of digital tools that were already available.
“We used online platforms to provide live support sessions with users and chatbots to allow users to solve basic problems using artificial intelligence-infused technology with no human intervention,” Moore said. “We are continuing to explore new classroom enhancements for lecture capture, digitally-enhanced teaching and learning, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality.”
These immersive technologies require a robust infrastructure to handle the storage, compute, and network capacity needed to experience them completely. It involves building out spaces and upgrading equipment to prepare for implementation across various academic units.
“This time calls for out-of-the-box thinking, which requires us to work across campus to seek opportunities to improve both student experience and work environments,” Moore said. “We are constantly challenged to optimize new digital capabilities and rethink deliveries that enhance PVAMU’s mission. Next-generation learning environments will require the adoption of open standards in educational technology applications that provide more flexible learning experiences.”
Moore and his team plan to complete the current round of digital offering improvements by fall 2021 and incrementally roll out additional features and systems.
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By Kendall Hebert