Empowering Educators for Success with Technology

Erin Ford Sicuranza, Director, IT Academic Technology Services, University of Delaware

Erin Sicuranza leads a team dedicated to facilitating the teaching and learning process through the strategic application of technology at the University of Delaware. Her technical proficiency and instructional design skills blend the best of education and technology, driving success for the institution.

In an interview with Education Technology Insights, Sicuranza shares insights about the post-pandemic landscape in higher education and how academic technology services are transforming the education sector.

Can you briefly explain about your responsibilities as director of academic technology services?

My primary background is in education with the technology component layered on. I started my career in higher education as an instructional designer, concentrating on supporting online programs like our MBA. I currently serve as the director of IT Academic Technology Services at the University of Delaware, overseeing a team whose mission is to empower university faculty and students through the judicious use of technology.

What are some of the leading challenges impacting the academic technology space today?

Post-pandemic, we’re facing several pressing challenges. One priority is reshaping our organizations and strategically incorporating the valuable lessons from the crisis. This includes addressing supply and demand volatility and embracing the increased reliance on online learning tools. Ensuring we have the necessary resources in place while maintaining responsiveness is key. Academic leaders are reimagining work modes and service delivery, seeking increased flexibility for their clients and staff. Simultaneously, keeping pace with rapid technological innovation, especially in AI, presents challenges. To overcome this hurdle, we need to adapt to the speed of technological advancements and handle the large influx of information effectively.

"Take advantage of being part of a learning organization that provides resources to acquire diverse skills, explore new ideas, and collaborate to enhance your work."

What are some of the emerging technological trends driving the industry?

We are currently witnessing two significant trends in the industry. One is capitalizing on all the educational resources available to augment mixed modes of teaching (online, classroom, hybrid). Online learning is growing in participation, so maintaining and utilizing high-quality online learning experiences becomes vital. Second, there's a growing emphasis on leveraging AI. Incorporating AI into academic technology can transform teaching, learning, research, and various university operations.

Can you give an overview of any project initiative you have been working on recently?

Our team is working on a fascinating project that originated from a single person's brainstorm. The concept revolves around tapping into our university's repository of recorded video lectures archived in our in-house lecture capture system. We're creating a proof of concept in which we extract the text transcripts from a subset of these lectures and build our internal language models using the expertise of our teaching and research faculty. The goal is to create bespoke AI-driven solutions and study aids for our students, reducing the reliance on external sources like ChatGPT. We believe that this project has the potential to shape our educational journey and empower both our educators and learners. Importantly, we're using this opportunity to develop internal technical expertise to offer AI as a service to our community.

What would be your advice for the budding professionals and your peers in the field? 

Always stay curious and have a sense of wonder. Use technological change as a guide to selectively introduce innovations. Take advantage of being part of a dynamic learning organization that provides resources to acquire different skills, explore new ideas, and collaborate with others to enhance your work.