Translational Technologies

2012-12-04T13:29:00.001-05:00

Christensen on change in higher education

2012-07-12T08:52:00.000-04:00

An interesting article from Inside Higher Education on actions university leaders must address in the next few years to remain relevant.

Social Media in Higher Education

2012-02-04T09:41:00.002-05:00

Mashable offers an interesting Infographic on the Use of social media in higher education

Future of Higher Education - Larry Summers

2012-01-24T10:17:00.004-05:00

Larry Summers recently wrote an Article for the New York Times titled "What You (Really) Need to Know" . The article looks at the University today and discusses changes that should be considered to remain relevant.

Universities Responsibilities

2012-01-05T07:59:00.004-05:00

Two recent articles in the New York Times points out the importance of the freedom of access to information. The first was an article by OP-ED columnist by Thomas Friedman that challenged readers to understand the importance of ubiquitous access information. The article suggests the growth of the Internet produced two important outcomes, the first was access to information and the second was economic growth. It is clear Universities were critical to the development of the Internet by becoming anchors of the Internet 2 project and leading the effort to ensure information was available to the general population. The new university based project GigU expects to do the same for economic development. The challenge to universities is to transform and innovate, MITx online access to education is an excellent model for others to replicate.

The second article was a letter to the editor by Vince Cerf, titled Internet Access Is Not a Human Right. Cerf points out that technology is an enabler of rights and must be available to everyone to ensure the expansion of freedom in the world. It is amazing how social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook provide access to what is really happening in real time. Universities must continue to be the spokesperson to demand that emerging technologies are allowed to remain open and available to everyone everywhere. Cerf states Internet access must become a civil right.

The two articles challenge university leadership to remain committed in their resolve to ensure the Internet is allowed to grow and not be restricted by others who would like to control information for profit or political gain. Universities should be proud of the success they have achieved in their investments in technology to support the growth of the Internet. Universities should be congratulated on the leadership that ensured everyone has equal access to information.

Future of Libraries

2011-12-22T07:54:00.005-05:00

David Weinberger offers a view of the future of libraries and the role information technology plays in assisting patrons identifying the right resource. Weinberger is co-director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab.

Top 10 Educational Technology Developments of 2011

2011-12-21T08:13:00.002-05:00

Brian Farrell offers the Top 10 Educational Technology Developments of 2011. Take a minute to read developments that will impact you in the near future.

A New Business Model

2011-12-13T10:42:00.003-05:00

Chief Academic Officers need to be aware of technology changes taking place this fall with learning management systems (LMS). In the past few months we have been introduced to three new contenders; the first was a product from Instructure called Canvas, a second is from Pearson called Open Study and the last is a startup called CourseKit. All three offer students and faculty services from the cloud, IT departments no longer have to purchase servers, buy an application or hire a support staff. All three systems support collaboration through social networking, providing the faculty and students a Facebook like experience. Early responses from universities that have implemented the products are positive and a common response is the LMS in easy to use, intuitive.

Open Study and CourseKit are offering LMS services at no cost to the University. The two LMS systems offer faculty a choice of many third party applications and the cost of the service is added to the cost of the textbook a student purchases. The business model looks like Apple’s iTunes. All three LMS systems offer services today, Canvas is installed at several major universities and Open Study and CourseKit were introduced in Fall 2011. All three products offer Academic support departments need to review the new offerings to see if there is a fit with their university.

Cloud based LMS systems appear to be following the same path that Google and Microsoft offered with campus email systems. Previously, the two services required significant investments in applications, hardware and support staff. The new model removes all three cost from the university budget. Imagine two of your largest expenses will be gone, you will be able to reinvest in other important projects.

The future of Libaries in a digital world

2011-11-27T08:12:00.008-05:00

Reading blogs this morning and found one to be interesting, it focused on Innovation and collaboration: the future of academic publishing and HE libraries. A random comment from the article.....

Both publishing and academia are facing huge change – for the former, entering a new digital paradigm, and for the latter, facing an overhaul of the way universities are funded – which, together, see the Higher Education system being churned. And with churn must come innovation.

By working together, both in terms of across the HE sector and between the HE and publishing sectors, publishers and librarians should be able to rise to the challenges presented and exploit new opportunities without compromising the quality of teaching and research experienced by students. It may mean untying some knots, collaborating in some areas rather than competing, and searching out new opportunities; however, it is necessary if both the academic publishing industry and UK universities want to survive.

I encourage you to take time to read the entire blog post.

From the mind of the CIO

2011-11-10T15:19:00.005-05:00

I have been with a group of higher education CIO's in New York City for the past two days discussing all issues technology in higher education. Love this city.....

An early topic at the meeting was consumerization of the market place, it is clear the student is leading technology transformation at many universities. The CIO's were evenly divided on IT's ability to influence consumerization and I doubt university CIO's will influence what students bring to campus. The next discussion was IT's role to ensure all enterprise systems work with mobile devices, students are used to systems like Google & Facebook and expect the same from all our campus systems. The Amazon Fire could raise the bar on expected services on a mobile device.

The CIO's discussed their responsibility with teaching and learning. All the universities are making significant investments in mobility, learning management systems and classrooms. It was frustrating CIO's did not understand the importance of making larger investments to enable faculty to integrate new tools into the curriculum. The Chief Academic Officer and the Chief Information Officer must work with Deans to understand what is needed to encourage faculty adoption.

The final discussion was on disruptive technologies in higher education. The CIO's acknowledged the iPad was disruptive and all were surprised by its success. The discussion centered on information technology's role in the future of higher education. It was clear if technology disruption accelerates many universities will not meet the expectations of the university communities and IT will not remain relevant in the eyes of the students and faculty.

Putting Faculty First

2011-10-13T13:03:00.007-04:00

The learning management system world might be changing soon with the announcement of Open Class from Pearson. Pearson introduced Open Class at Educause 2011, the interesting fact is the learning management system is focused on faculty. Previously universities were required to make a university wide commitment to an enterpris system, one size fits all. Open Class is a cloud alternative that allows adoption by individual professors. Each professor can customize the learning management system to fit their unique requirements. Best of all, the system is free and the IT department does not have to buy servers or hire administrators. An early view and buzz suggests Open Class will be a strong competitor to Blackboard and others.

Another interesting fact is Pearson has integrated Open Class with Google Apps. Imagine a student logging on to their Google account to access their course materials, very interesting. Now imagine a student wants to work on an assignment with a peer, they make IM contact and decide to use Google Docs to complete their work. If they need to talk Google + is available.

Over 500 universities are testing Open Class. Will faculty use the new learning management system? Time will tell.....

Additional thoughts by Michael Feldstein on his e-Literate blog. Feldstein's review give faculty insight on the similarities and differences between Blackboard and Pearson's learning management systems.

A man who made a difference - Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T10:09:00.003-04:00

Steve Jobs taught the world to be passionate, to envision a different future and to listen to an inner-calling. Steve Jobs is described by many as the best CEO in the last 50 years, I agree. Steve Jobs looked into the future 30 years ago and recognized technology could revolutionize an individuals life while other technology companies focused on corporations. His early ideas resulted in offering an alternative to the PC, later he change the music industry and recently he inspired the tablet. Can you imagine a world without his touch, I can't. He taught me to be passionate about my beliefs and to be willing to take a risk. Thank-you Steve Jobs.

Educational Technology

2011-10-04T07:40:00.009-04:00

The adoption of Web 2.0 technologies is transforming the use of Educational Technology in the classroom. The personal purchase of tablets and smart phones from Apple and Google provide faculty a new medium to deliver course materials. Today's student is able to access university resources anytime, from anywhere. Today's technology allows students to work on a learning management systems, participate in a virtual classrooms or watch a lecture online. The innovative professor is able to offer course information 24/7 365 days a year.

The next era of technology to emerge is HTML5 web sites, the technology offers a university the option of creating a single web site that presents the same information to all mobile devices without having to create a unique client for each cell phone. Deploying this technology with a learning management or library system will be exciting and provide students with a rich academic resource. Imagine a text book that has interactive simulation or video rich demonstrations of a concept.

Tablets and smart phones are becoming less expensive and data plans can be purchased for twenty dollars a month. A recent add in the paper allows a student to purchase a smartphone for $1.00 with a two year commitment. Apple's announcement of the 4GS iPhone lowered the cost of a 3GS to "free" with a similar commitment. The total cost for the phone and the data plan is less than $50.00 a month, similar to the cost of only a phone two years ago.
Electronic textbook vendors are offering multiple options to keep the cost of textbooks low. Today the student has the option of monthly or semester rental, or the option to purchase a text book. A low cost tablet like the Amazon Fire offers students an attractive new option in acquiring textbooks.

Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps are available to students. A student is able to access traditional desktop applications in the "cloud" from any mobile device. Collaboration and virtual access changes the way students will work on projects. The purchase of Skype by Microsoft and the introduction of Google+ to add voice and video to enrich the collaboration experience is exciting.

The responsibility of universities today is to work with faculty to ensure they are aware of the resources available to use with their courses. A second responsibility is to work with departmental IT staff to ensure they have the skills to assist faculty implementing the technologies. The next few years will be transformational for students.

Amazon Fire

2011-09-29T08:01:00.006-04:00

Amazon released a new tablet called the "Amazon Fire". The new tablet introduces a new era by combining a low cost mobile consumer device with online access to one of the largest retailers today. The intrigue of the of the "Amazon Fire" for higher education is mobility, textbooks and entertainment. Amazon is the vendor of choice by university students for textbook purchases, offering both digital and print versions. The "Fire" will provide Amazon a solution to offer to college students textbooks at a lower cost The company will be able to offer the student a mobile device that provides one stop shopping for all textbook requirements and provide access to unlimited entertainment on is popular "Amazon Prime" video services. Combining this with Amazon's cloud music platform is a powerful Treo for today's student.

An innovative university might see the "Amazon Fire" as a one-stop-shop for student textbook requirements. Amazon has proven with it's Prime service it understands how to be successful selling entertainment to the masses for a low cost and be profitable. A university could team with Amazon to create a subscription model for student textbooks, imagine signing up for a fixed monthly cost for all your textbook requirements. Amazon has the resources to change the marketplace.

Universities have invested in wireless technologies to create a mobile friendly environment. Many students already use services like Hulu and iTunes to access entertainment. Providing a total solution for textbooks, music and entertainment is a possible hit for today's student. Imagine everything available, anytime and everywhere at a low cost.

Consumerization

2011-09-22T09:04:00.004-04:00

A Provost watching students use technology on a university campus today recognizes consumerization rules technology adoption. If you doubt this I suggest you count the number of smartphones, tablets, and laptops owned by your students. Students are impressed when the college enterprise systems are friendly with mobile devices and frustrated when the library, class registration, email, and learning management systems only work with computers. Students' purchase of mobile devices have relieved the college of the need to invest in student computers. The result is a CAO should consider reinvesting in mobile-enabling enterprise applications. The forward thinking IT departments have developed a roadmap for the campus and have started the necessary changes. The New York Times had a story on this topic titled "More Offices Let Workers Choose Their Own Devices" in the September 23, 2011 edition.

Interesting E-Text News

2011-09-16T07:47:00.006-04:00

Quoted from Indiana University's e-texts at IU news page:

Indiana University has announced eText agreements with the following publishers: John Wiley & Sons, Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, W.W. Norton, and Flat World Knowledge, along with Courseload, the provider of the eText eReader software. These agreements will result in lower cost options for eTexts that save students money on required course materials and provide new tools for teaching and learning. The IU agreements evolved from two years of pilot testing and substantial input from students, faculty, textbook publishers, and authors. For more information see http://ovpitnews.iu.edu/news/page/normal/19482.html.

Since 2009, IU's objectives around eTexts have been to:

Substantially drive down the cost of digital educational resources (eTexts) for students
Enable access to high quality educational resources (eTexts) -- in both digital and hardcopy formats -- that are valued by faculty and students
Enable new tools for teaching and learning (e.g., social annotation, ease of access)
Shape the terms of eTexts models to favor the interests of IU students and authors

The Frequently Asked Questions provides more details on IU's evolving pilot and trial studies.

Wake up Blog

2011-09-16T06:11:00.003-04:00

Translational Technologies is reborn. The last year has been busy with job responsibilities and a new doctoral program. The future of the blog will be Provost-focused academic emerging technology suggestions, educational technology, and leadership. Look forward to posts each week. Prepare for brisk discounting of tablets this fall followed by a renewed interest in e-texts.

Options for Academic Technology

2010-07-06T08:25:00.002-04:00

The Chief Academic Officer will soon have many opportunities to determine how to use technology to support faculty and students on campus. We have written about the opportunities the CAO has in the area of desktop services: Google is providing a number of services beyond email and Microsoft is matching Google service for service. Take an inventory against you own campus offerings. Do you provide your students:

A full featured email system with at least 5 gigabytes of mail storage that is optimized for all Web 2.0 services and offers everyone mobile-friendly access.
A location to save your files: today it is common for Google and Microsoft to offer you another 25 gigabytes of storage space for your PowerPoint slides, your PDFs, your Word and Excel documents, and the ton of video and pictures you want to keep to reuse in your courses.
Now we find a number of companies teaming up with service providers to offer additional core services. Dell has combined with MoodleRooms to offer a course management system a faculty member can access from anywhere. Google has decided to offer a product called CourseSmart that will offer a service that will look a little like a course management system and a little bit like a course registration system.
Several large companies are offering cloud-based research computing by teaming with low cost server providers and specialized university researchers to offer access to specialized research data sets in the cloud. No longer will the liberal arts college or the regional university faculty member be at a disadvantage because the university cannot offer computational computing on campus.
Just this year two new Web 2.0 web sites have emerged: Academia, a location where faculty with like research interest can collaborate or can develop curriculum together, and Einztein, a site just entering public beta where faculty can share their content with the world or can develop a course with peers.

What this means to the CAO is you no longer have to invest in significant technology infrastructure capital unless you would rather spend money on technology instead of your academic programs. All of the above do not require a capital investment for the host hardware or software and only a small (or no) recurring services cost. The CAO needs to task the CIO in researching the options available today to create a roadmap that would allow the university to shift capital funding previously associated with technology to academic interests. It appears the only future funding for campus applications will focus in two areas: the devices the faculty, student, or staff uses for access, and a few programs governed by compliance laws that should remain on campus.

Two Cloud Reports

2010-06-24T08:32:00.002-04:00

Two reports of interest have been issued recently: the first is Shaping the Higher Education Cloud and the second is The Future of cloud Computing. The chief academic officer will find both reports informative and should assist in future planning efforts.

The first report, Shaping the Higher Education Cloud, is a joint report from EDUCAUSE and NACUBO. The report provides the findings from a meeting held earlier this year in Tempe, Arizona attended by CIOs from many colleges and universities. The outcome of the meeting was a list of issues each campus must address prior to implementing cloud computing services; the topics are all the familiar ones led by security and content location. The CAO needs to be aware of the issues that are coming from a single voice on campus, Information Technology. Another report needs to be developed from a faculty and/or student perspective. The right plan for a campus will always exist between the early adopters and the departments being asked to change. IT has always been eager to ask colleges to change but have been reluctant to follow that advice with emerging cloud computing technologies.

The second report is from the Pew Research Center, The Future of Cloud Computing. The theme of the report is two emerging technologies will impact higher education by 2020. The first is change will be future access to university IT resources will be with a mobile device. The success of the Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android are defining the future requirements of our students. The second change will be cloud computing. Microsoft and Google have established a new model for campus IT departments and have shown many CAOs that the University can save money using the cloud. Recently the State of Kentucky moved 700,000 students and teachers to Microsoft mail and saved millions of dollars. There are many examples of Universities implementing Google’s mail solution and experiencing similar savings. The future will be defined by many of today’s university IT application providers moving their software to the cloud and sell the application to the university on a software as a service (SaaS) platform. What this means with regard to students, faculty and staff has yet to be imagined. The report is very clear the change is coming, and universities need to be prepared.

Relevant Actions for the Next 18 Months

2010-02-09T18:07:00.003-05:00

Higher education leaders must ask themselves the age-old question: will today’s technology change the university experience? We predict some elements of legacy practices will survive to ensure existing good experiences continue, but overall higher education must change business processes to remain affordable.

To achieve this goal, the Chief Academic Officer must wisely choose what remains and what changes. Faculty will be faculty and the migration to a technology-enriched learning experience should happen in an orderly manner. Further, technology will offer the faculty member productivity enhancements that will be embraced and adopted. Faculty adoption will be gradual and manageable.

Student adoption will be different; today’s student will expect an online world, a rich web experience, instant access, and a user-friendly experience. The day of limited university email systems, dated library systems and many one-off vertical applications is over and judged wanting by the students. A recent dialogue with student leaders suggested that students would believe the university cares when it begins to address the above issues. The question for the CAO is how relevant is the student's request to adopt emerging Web 2.0 technologies.

What relevant and affordable actions can be completed in the next 18 months?

Several of the suggestions are similar to earlier suggestions but are worth repeating:

Software portfolios must be rationalized. The CIO and Deans need to create a strategy of technology support that makes sense and is not duplicative. A good start would be single sign on to all core systems, a simple but powerful student system for registration, a user-friendly library system, and student -centered customer support. The change suggested does not require the university to change applications. Implementing many of the above ideas will save the university real dollars.
The CAO, Deans, and CIO must agree to work together to improve the adoption of technology by faculty and students. Students frustration with multiple support organizations and multiple applications is growing and students are beginning to understand their tuition dollars are paying for inefficiencies that are frustrating. Further, the university cannot afford to offer duplicative services without value being added.
The university should look at outsourcing its email. Recent research suggests only 25% of universities are using cloud services from Google or Microsoft. The cost for providing cloud based email for all students, faculty and staff is zero!!!!! Many universities are spending thousands of dollars annually to offer an inferior campus based service and hiding behind security or compliance rumors that are false. Both the Google and Microsoft solution far exceeds what universities are offering locally on campus.
Google search is a verb, students know and understand its value and use it daily. Faculty and administrators must ask how the existence of Google Books, Scholar, and Search available at no cost could enhance the student learning experience.
Students are familiar with Rate My Professor, myedu.com and Wikipedia and have incorporated them into their university experience. University supported applications will be evaluated against what is available on the Web and the student will expect the experience to be equally rich.
Facebook is central to the social life of the students. The CAO must understand how Facebook will change the student life experience and incorporate it into the technology plans of the university.

The above changes will not require a significant financial investment by the university. The above changes will require organizational changes and coordination in offering technology services. The above changes could be made in less than a year and result in a savings of thousands of dollars annually.

New Standards for Student and Faculty Support

2010-01-24T12:54:00.002-05:00

Yesterday’s support for students at universities was departmentally focused; information was highly segmented allowing the communication to become fragmented and often ineffective. Today’s students are quickly becoming frustrated with this type of structure and expect the environment to be more student-centered. You might wonder what I mean by this; it is common for today’s students to go to one location to get resolutions to complex issues throughout their high school careers. High schools are offering comprehensive access to online academic resources, have coordinated student services, and have encouraged collaboration. One can just count the number of smartboards in high schools or review the online student portals offered to find the difference between the student experience in high schools and in universities. Graduation from high school results in the student entering a different support environment that is based on business practices founded in the past decade.

Today's university support services are in need of change. Some examples:

A student must call multiple customer support centers to get help on a single issue, such as getting support for an online class. It is not uncommon for the student to be expected to call three areas looking for that support: the Information Technology department, the teaching-learning support center, and the academic department.
The library and the teaching-learning center support the faculty member in offering online courses. The student is often expected to know what services each group offers to call the right department.
Central Information Technology departments and academic departments offer support services, many times supporting different systems (email, course management systems, collaboration systems). The result is a student being expected to learn all the systems offered by any department.

To correct this, the Chief Academic Officer must establish a standard for faculty and student support. This effort is similar to the centralization of IT ten years ago and for the same reasons: efficient and effective customer services. Today’s technology-experienced students and their parents are demanding a support organization that makes sense. The university that figures out how Apple and Best Buy can satisfy the masses will be able to grow and expand despite declining budgets.

What should be the Chief Academic Officer’s first steps to determine if the university is providing relevant services and support to students and faculty?

The university needs to contract with an independent customer service consultant that uses a formal methodology to analyze if the student and faculty services are relevant. The methodology should also provide the CAO with facts on the quality of support being offered. It is clear higher education offers significant support; it is not clear that the faculty or students consider the support relevant in today’s environment. A formal analysis can take the emotion out of the services and support issue and provide a foundation for change.
Count the number of groups that offer students and faculty support and attempt to itemize what each support organization is offering. An organization that has 2-3 locations to contact to get support is questionable; any more than three is unreasonable.
Spend personal time with students and faculty, determine what is really happening and how well the library, Information Technology, and teaching-learning center are meeting the needs of each group. Focus groups suggest the students and faculty opinions are much different than the leadership of the support organizations.
Look at organizations like Google, Apple, Best Buy, and Target and ask yourself what they are doing to be so successful in the eyes of the customer.

Students and University Technology Support Services

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

An interesting convergence of events during the past three weeks has resulted in this blog post. In the past year it has become evident that most research universities are struggling with student technology support, among the issues:

Is the university IT department relevant for today’s students? Most feel that if they are offering the minimal number of services, they must be relevant. Time to ask the students what is relevant in 2010; is the campus meeting the requirements of the present day student?
Is the library relevant to today’s students? Does today’s investment in information resources (the library staff) need to be reexamined? Never thought I would ask this question so directly.
Does today’s university have the appropriate relationship between campus departments to remain relevant in a technology and information rich environment?

Several weeks ago, the campus IT group spent time with students in two focus sessions. The first glimpse of student impressions was in a senior level marketing class, and the second was a focus group between IT and interested student government leaders. Both groups resulted in similar student perspectives. First, the students did not know who offered technology support on campus and did not feel it was relevant to know the source of services. Second, the focus group had seven seniors/graduate students, and of the seven, only 3 had ever attempted to contact the campus IT department and only one had ever visited the customer support center during their tenure at the university. Third, students all agreed that anything online was preferred to going to a campus department, including the library. It does not take a genius to recognize today’s IT organizations are using yesterday’s methods to meet today’s students requirements, and it does not appear to be working.

The second event was the release of the latest Project Information Literacy Progress Report from the Information School at the University of Washington. The report recognized that students and university professionals are not in alignment. The student is focused on efficiency, and the university departments are focused on thoroughness. Two outcomes were evident in the report: 1) students want to acquire information online and 2) students rely on instructors first, not the library staff or IT staff. As universities focus on retention and graduation rates, Chief Academic Officers must ask several hard questions:

What must be done with the university research library to make it relevant to students in a search-oriented, information rich world? It is clear that students are not going to use the traditional methods encouraged by the library staff, so what is next?
Today’s IT departments are offering support services the students are not using. Why? Are the services relevant? Are the methods of offering the services relevant?
Students are using online library resources and are using the services offered by IT, but the student is not connecting the online resources with the available human resources. Should the CAO consider future organizational alignments that address the students use of technology and library resources? If yes, what would the organization's mission and goals state?
Is today’s information resource staff relevant? If it is, why are today’s students not connecting with the professionals? What can be done to bridge the gap between services and professionals in the minds of the students?

Throughout the year, we will address these issues on this blog and will suggest directions the CAO follow to ensure the university is meeting student needs.

Thoughts for the Chief Academic Officer in the New Year

2009-12-14T10:41:00.002-05:00

Many students and their families have made the commitment to attend your college or university. This is not new, has happened for years, so what’s the difference this time? The first difference is the renewed commitment to the dream that college will make a difference. Past decades have allowed students to attend your institution and leave with a job waiting. Possibly not true this year, what is probably true is:

The father or mother (or both) have lost a job in the past two years and are still unemployed. The commitment of sending their child to your school without a safety net is without precedent in past decades.
The student at your college or university is working longer hours than students have in the past.
The student will likely graduate without a job and will consider extending his/her time at your institution or go directly to graduate school. Scholarships are more important than ever.
The information center of a student’s life is a Facebook account and cell phone, probably an iPhone.
Search leads a student’s quest for resources in completing assignments, evaluating faculty, even choosing a college. Search must be a relevant experience on your campus. Very few colleges and universities are using the Google search appliance successfully. Students will expect to find information in your library systems, course management systems, and student information systems indexed and available through a search.
Mobility is important to the student; students expect to be able to get to faculty course sites, the library, and other specialized applications from any location.
Investments in central support organizations are not important to the student; they are looking for help where they are, when they need it. The closer you can locate your student support services (including technology) to the student and faculty, the better.
Consumerization continues to dominate the marketplace; students now expect to access information from an iPhone, and the App Store has set a new standard for campus IT departments delivering services. The Kindle and Nook eText readers are gaining momentum, and Apple plans on joining the eText fray in the spring.
The CIO must be forward-looking and be prepared for the changes in the campus technology infrastructure and in meeting the mobility requirements of students.
A renewed focus must be delivered by the faculty and staff on the needs of the student, not necessarily to change the curriculum, but to ensure the curriculum remains relevant and accessible.

Wait-and-See Approach to Cloud Adoption

2009-11-25T09:33:00.005-05:00

It is interesting that higher education seems to be taking a wait and see attitude with cloud computing. Earlier posts suggest that the college and university environment would benefit from leading the transition to the next era of computing. Instead it appears higher education has selected a more conservative action: wait and see. The most interesting issue is we are in an era of economic downturn that has caused many states to take drastic actions to curtail costs, and higher education leaders are not taking advantage of proven solutions from industry leaders. I would suggest there are several reasons for this response:

CIOs are uncomfortable with a transition in technology that is controlled by the provider and the consumer, not the local IT organization. It is well documented that a university can offer state-of-the-art email to students at minimal cost to the institution. Universities like Arizona State, Notre Dame, Boise State, University of Maine, and Temple are successful, yet only 35% of universities are taking advantage of this offering. It is clear there are millions of dollars in savings being left unclaimed.
Universities are using security and compliance as the reason for not implementing cloud computing. This is a valid concern which has a number of documented solutions that are being ignored. The real problem is today’s universities are highly decentralized and the adoption of cloud services requires a comprehensive authentication infrastructure. It could be that the first hurdle to migrating to the cloud is the IT leader getting the university's security practices in order, having a disciplined security staff in place, and having best practices in place.
The Chief Academic Officer has not focused on the real savings that are available in using cloud resources. It is time for organizations providing leadership to the Presidents and Provosts to provide education and solutions to allow leaders to make the best choice for the institution. It is clear most CAOs have given total control of technology to the university IT leadership. Should funding issues continue, CAOs will be required to take charge if they want to realize the millions of dollars of savings available today and even more in the near future.

The next 24 months should be interesting to observe. Students are aware of what is available in today’s technology environment. Consumerization of IT is out of the box, and legacy practices will not dominate in the future. Attempts to control technology at universities has not been successful in higher education, and it will become even less so in the era of cloud computing.

Mobility and the Academic Library

2009-11-25T08:52:00.001-05:00

I thought our readers might be interested in this interview with Doyle about the impact of the cloud and mobility on the future of academic library services. Elsevier interviewed Doyle shortly after a presentation; the interview is on page two of Elsevier's current issue of Library Connect. The complete text of the interview is available on the main Library Connect page.