~FAST Tex Student Show 2005
The ~FAST Tex (Faculty and Student Teams for Technology) team held its 2005 student project show at DIIA's multimedia lab in early May, spotlighting student work in this year's program.
The ~FAST Tex program features the collaboration between UT Austin faculty and technology-literate students to develop and implement instructional projects. Faculty find that the amount of support through the program allows them to bring a richer level of instruction to their students more quickly than before; and participating students not only receive a paycheck, they develop valuable and marketable skills such as project management, client relationships, and content acquisition outside their own area of study. The finished product becomes an impressive addition to their portfolios.
Suzanne Rhodes, ~FAST Tex program manager, emphasizes the range of soft skills students must learn and apply for a successful collaboration. "The technology development is merely the visual result of their work - there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes! ~FAST Tex students are basically freelancers working with a client for the first time in many cases. They have to schedule and run meetings, solicit feedback, communicate technical information in a language that the faculty client can understand, scope and prioritize work, track project status and progress, and much more."
Michael Sweet, ~FAST Tex student coordinator, points out that "the wide range of technologies represented in this year's projects includes 3-D animation, incredible Flash art, creative uses of databases and other top-end technologies."
For more information about the program, contact Suzanne Rhodes or Michael Sweet
