PDA Event: Increasing Faculty Engagement with Makerspace Technologies

Tuesday, October 4, 2022 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Have you had trouble getting faculty to make use of the technology in your makerspace? Libraries often build spaces that offer all kinds of exciting technologies, but sometimes faculty do not make use of the equipment. Due to budgets that are already stretched thin, faculty do not always have the resources or expertise to try out new technologies in their courses. Woodall highlights how they turned this around when Salisbury University Libraries partnered with the campus’s Faculty Learning Communities (FLC) program to create an opportunity for faculty interested in technologies like 3D printing and AR/VR to share their knowledge and explore how these technologies can enhance their courses. Through this program, they were able to develop a core group of evangelists on campus who could spread the word about how these technologies can be helpful for teaching in a wide variety of disciplines. Faculty were much more engaged and willing to work with the makerspace.

Chris Woodall is the Technology Librarian for the Salisbury University Libraries and the coordinator of the SU Libraries MakerLab. He has a BA in Music from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, and an MLS from Indiana University. In addition to running the day-to-day operations of the MakerLab, he provides instruction to SU students using MakerLab equipment for coursework, supports various back-end library technologies, creates custom web and mobile applications for the libraries.

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Sponsored by ASERL