This project will develop a template that can be used for supporting interdisciplinary ‘alternate reality’ simulations that are collectively played by students using the Web. These simulations ask participants to analyze a fictional problem based on real-life situations, articulate a variety of possible responses to it, and examine the question of what form action should take in the real world after the simulation. The exercise combines online interaction with face-to-face activities that support the learning process. The template and the simulation guide will be released under an open access license.

Awarded Grant: $20,000 Principal Investigator: Mark Ludwig, University at Buffalo We will implement an instance of VIVO open-source, semantic web based software to provide an e-portfolio service for SUNY students. Since VIVO tracks scholarly works, publications, research, awards, projects and detailed specialties of interest, it serves as a springboard for open access scholarly communication. We will provide video based educational modules explaining the virtues of the open access movement along with practical instructions for making contributions to repositories and linking works to a personal VIVO profile. A final report will be submitted and publicly posted in the UB Institutional Repository. It will summarize the results of student pilots, student survey results and metrics from web statistics. Recommendations will be offered regarding the efficacy of VIVO for supporting emerging SUNY scholars Co-PI’s and Key Partners: A. Ben Wagner, SUNY Buffalo Dean Hendrix, SUNY Buffalo Andrew Perry, SUNY Oneonta Reports and Resources: SUNYport Final Report Project outcomes report Creative Commons License:

Awarded Grant: $20,000 Principal Investigator: Brian Lowe, Oneonta This project will offer instructors across a wide variety of disciplines at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) the tools and methods necessary to discern patterns and trends within “Big Data” — on the order of petabytes (or 1015 bytes) to zettabytes (or 1021 bytes) — as it emerges through social media. The capacity to organize and critically dissect claims and information found within social media becomes increasingly important pedagogically for both social scientists and scholars within other fields, as the learning environment for undergraduates is increasingly dominated by social media. The capacity to coherently organize and analyze claims and information circulated through social media becomes increasingly important as the topography of social problems and controversies is influenced by social media. Co-PI’s and Key Partners: Dr. Gregory M. Fulkerson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, SUNY College at Oneonta Mr. James Greenberg, Director, Teaching, Learning and Technology Center, SUNY College at Oneonta Dr. Brett Heindl, Assistant Professor of Political Science, SUNY College at Oneonta Dr. Achim Koedderman, Associate Professor of Philosophy, SUNY College at Oneonta Dr. William R. Wilkerson, Associate Professor of Political Science, SUNY College at Oneonta Reports and Resources: Nov. 2014 Presentation at SUNY Wizard Sample Student Paper from Sociology Course Project Website Project outcomes report Publications: Brian Lowe, SUNY Oneonta – Analyzing “Big Data” – August 5, 2013 Creative Commons License:

The IITG project, “The E-Textbook Opportunity: The Time is Now for SUNY,” will use IITG funds for the licensing of electronic versions of textbooks, or e-textbooks, that are used in common courses across three SUNY schools: SUNY Brockport, SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Delhi. Leveraging the extensive licensing and resource delivery expertise of the participating libraries, this pilot project seizes the opportunity that the recent emergence of e-textbooks represents to serve SUNY students more efficiently both academically and financially. The pilot will investigate the opportunities and challenges of implementing e-textbooks across diverse SUNY campuses.