Rozgonyi of Academic Computing Named Top 30 Trailblazer
Jay Rozgonyi, ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University’s Director of Academic Computing, one of 2015’s Top 30 Technologists, Transformers, and Trailblazers by the Center for Digital Education. The award winners “represent thought leaders and innovators in higher education, K-12 and the education nonprofit community, which offers sustenance and influence to the field of education.”
Rozgonyi has been an integral part of advancing ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ’s technological innovations across campus. During the summer of 2015, he helped implement a unique Active Learning classroom for the University, thanks in part to a generous grant from Steelcase Education. The classroom is an integrated system of furniture and technology designed to support a variety of learning and teaching styles, allowing for fluid transitions between modes. The environment encourages dynamic movement, engagement and interaction between students, content and the instructor, something Rozgonyi recognizes as essential to a successful education.
“The Steelcase room represents a significantly different approach to classroom design,” Rozgonyi said, “and I'm proud to have been able to contribute to it with my vision of making the technology both easier to use and -- when an instructor needs not to use it -- easier to ignore. Still, without the high level of support and collaboration I experienced from my colleagues in Academic Affairs, Facilities, and amongst the faculty, few of the changes I've been honored for would have been possible.”
Rozgonyi also recently spearheaded an effort to refresh campus classrooms, removing outdated equipment and outfitting more than half of the University’s classrooms with wireless projection. He helped introduce over 250 iPads to full-time faculty members in an effort to better facilitate enhanced teaching and flexible learning through the use of technology. This flexibility was further extended by Rozgonyi’s introduction of a cloud-based virtual desktop to deliver individual apps to students and faculty, enabling them to do their work on their own devices, from anywhere they be, rather than being limited to specific classrooms or computer labs.
“Jay is a visionary who conceptualizes classroom technology best practice,” said Paige Francis, ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ’s Chief Information Officer and the one responsible for nominated Rozgonyi. “The environment he creates complements the teaching and learning experience by putting the user first, whoever that user might be. As a direct result of Jay’s very thoughtful and even more deliberate work, our campus has set a new bar in seamless, integrative and nearly-invisible-yet-never-stronger classroom technology. He is a collaborator, an absolute trailblazer and he has transformed how we at ¼â½ÐÊÓƵ University think about how technology can best support and facilitate teaching and learning."
