EDUCAUSE | Departments

Higher Education in the Connected Age

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:12:20 +0000

The change started with the network. Moving digital information instantly from one place to another has reshaped delivery systems, business models, and economics and has led to the globalization of almost every industry. However, this "network effect" is about more than the dissemination of information. It is about connections. We are no longer in the information age—we are in the connected age. Everyone and everything is interconnected. Anyone who can access the Web can participate. The connections magnify the reach and value of not just information but also our relationships, creating opportunities for learning, working, and collaborating on an unprecedented scale.

Accessibility: Front and Center

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:13:14 +0000

The author provides suggested actions to make accessibility a priority.

The Policy of BYOD: Considerations for Higher Education

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:06:18 +0000

Before drafting more policy, we might be wise to explore the concept of policy and what purpose policy serves in the context of BYOD.

The Portmont College Story

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:57:58 +0000

The author discusses Portmont College and the unique characteristics that will enable it to take on the higher education challenges of broadening access, lowering costs, and maintaining the highest quality:

We Love E-Books!

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:32:55 +0000

The authors discusses explores the question of Why can't e-books play nicer with libraries?

How Disruptive Is Information Technology Really?

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:29:07 +0000

How disruptive is this technology revolution, and what does this expansion of the world of knowledge portend for higher education? Certainly the boundaries that once separated teacher from student, research from teaching, and basic scholarship from practice are disappearing. This leads to some interesting questions about what lies ahead for those of us who chose to cast our lot with the academy. Who will be the teachers in the future, and who will be the learners? What role will a sense of place play in defining the distinctive character of learning? When will learning be informed by personal experiences, and when will it be more universal in character and conducted in cyberspace?

ds106: Not a Course, Not Like Any MOOC

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 17:24:23 +0000

Looking for something different from the current hysteria of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)? A digital storytelling course started by Jim Groom at the University of Mary Washington (UMW), ds106 was set loose as an open course in January 2011. Yet the UMW catalog does not include such a course. Its actual course designation is CPSC 106 (Computer Science)—a small but telling example of how ds106 plays with and questions the norm.

MOOCs: Get in the Game

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:39:26 +0000

In the EDUCAUSE 2012 session "MOOCs: The Coming Revolution," which I presented with Coursera's co-founder Daphne Koller, I opened my portion by emphasizing that the current IT-driven disruption is not actually about information technology but is, rather, about pedagogy. I'll take this opportunity to state my view again: the focus of this disruption should be on teaching and learning. However, I believe that there is value in having the IT organization take an active role in helping the institution to embrace this change, even going so far as to move onto "point" for change. I believe the move by my institution, the University of Maryland (UMD), into Coursera perfectly illustrates why institutions—and IT leaders and organizations—should get involved with some form of MOOC initiative at this time. I see two primary reasons, along with a third, more fundamental reason beyond those two.

Amassing Student Data and Dissipating Privacy Rights

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:26:49 +0000

Changes to student privacy regulations and government programs such as the Education Data Initiative underscore the need for meaningful oversight for the protection of student data.

Is Linking Thinking? Addressing and Assessing Scholarship in a Digital Era

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:26:28 +0000

Our analog world is being replaced with a digital one that at times replicates the features and functions of its predecessor and at other times completely turns the past on its head. Pixar made award-winning movies without calling into question the notion of what it means to be a Hollywood film. Netflix eviscerated the video-rental store. It is within this uneven and bewildering moment that those of us in higher education need to consider our approach to this new thing called digital scholarship.

Helping to Take the Disruptive out of MOOCs

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:14:23 +0000

The recent attention given to MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) has often included the descriptor "disruptive" (meaning: "to throw into confusion or disorder") partly because this characterization of resistance to change suggests that higher education institutions could not possibly address this phenomenon in an orderly fashion.

Rethinking the Rules

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:19:28 +0000

Although higher education is reputed to be slow to change, the rules surrounding "it can't be done" have been shifting dramatically. Many of today's "rules" would have been unthinkable a few years ago:

Colleges and universities are no longer the only providers of college courses. Think of StraighterLine.
Class size has gone from dozens to hundreds to hundreds of thousands. Think of MOOCs.
Credentials are being offered outside the academy. Think of badges.

The status quo is being reshaped by entrepreneurs, government, and the academy itself. New institutions, such as Southern New Hampshire University, are predicated on principles of disruptive innovation. New business models, with disaggregation as their core element, are emerging. MOOCs (massive open online courses) symbolize a shift in the rules. As Phil Hill writes in this issue of EDUCAUSE Review, even the most traditional institutions are reconsidering what it means to be a college or university in the connected age: "Online education should now be considered part of any institution's strategic planning process, even if the decision is to not offer online education."

The Copyright Conundrum

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:25:40 +0000

Copyright law in the United States has its origins in Great Britain's 18th-century Statute of Anne and is grounded in the U.S. Constitution.¹ Copyright law conceives and promotes "progress," as described in the Constitution, in two distinct but related ways. First, it seeks to increase both the quantity and the quality of creative output. Second, it seeks to broaden public access to creative works. The two "progress" goals exist in substantial tension with one another. The incentives granted to authors allow them to restrict access to and use of their works for a limited time so that they can benefit from their creations and also have the incentive to create additional intellectual products. This delicate equation is complicated by many factors, and public policy seeks to find the balance of copyright scope and duration, limitations and exceptions like fair use, and appropriate remedies in case of infringement.

The Trust Equation

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:21:23 +0000

From 2006 through the summer of 2012, I had the privilege of leading a highly talented and complex IT organization at Harvard Business School (HBS). Through a dedicated focus on communication and sound management, we cultivated a high-functioning, high-quality, innovative team.

Why a Job Is Like a Fish

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:29:49 +0000

How do we serve the multitudes with the kind of education that was once reserved for the elite? How do we bring liberal education to learners whose lives and responsibilities preclude a massive investment of time and treasure? As technologists in higher education, we are key players: technology represents our best hope to remove the barriers of exclusivity, residency, and dollars.

PeerJ: An Open-Access Experiment

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 18:26:23 +0000

June 2012 marked the launch of a new open-access (OA) publisher of scholarly content: PeerJ, which I co-founded with Jason Hoyt, the former Chief Scientist and Vice President for R&D at Mendeley. The intent of PeerJ is to provide a professional, high-quality, innovative scholarly publication venue for the 21st century, and the launch was greeted with considerable interest.¹ But does the world really need another OA publisher?

Re-envisioning a Polytechnic Commitment

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 17:16:30 +0000

The new reality of today's technological society demands that all graduates be prepared with technological competencies, regardless of their major and their career plans. Our response to that imperative is to embed a form of "technology across the curriculum" into the university's academic vision. This is best captured in the language of the strategic plan: "Cal Poly will define all majors as 'polytechnic' having depth of expertise in the professional or academic discipline, and breadth, balance and literacy in technology, the arts and sciences, integrated seamlessly to prepare whole-system-thinker graduates."

Leading with Stories

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 21:50:40 +0000

Higher education technology leadership is rewarding, dynamic, and challenging. During my twenty-five-year career, I have witnessed significant change. I cannot imagine a better period of time to have led technology transformation on a campus. One critical challenge I have addressed throughout my career is supporting my staff to embrace this change and to connect with campus colleagues. In my experience, this is best achieved through storytelling. In that spirit, I share some of my stories here.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 21:35:40 +0000

National Cyber Security Awareness Month, held each October, is the perfect time to raise awareness among students, faculty, staff, and administrators about ways they can be safer and more secure online. No one person, company, or agency is responsible for the security of the Internet; everyone must do his or her part. Cybersecurity is our shared responsibility.

Unbundling and Unmooring: Technology and the Higher Ed Tsunami

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 21:25:50 +0000

The author wonders about the force and the direction of the change "that's being predicted to sweep across higher education. Is it one that answers only the intellectual and occupational demands of Silicon Valley? It's easy to see how Silicon Valley and its technologies will help higher education become more accessible and more affordable and its diplomas more distributed—such is the long-standing promise of the Internet itself." But will this flood of change “unbundle” higher education?

The New Supply Chain and Its Implications for Books in Libraries

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:13:34 +0000

Over the past decade or more, academic libraries have become increasingly sophisticated in managing their workflow, ingesting huge amounts of content with relatively low administrative costs as they struggled with the growth in the quantity of scholarly publications and the tightening vise of budget contractions. A relatively new innovation in this collection building is patron-driven acquisitions, familiarly known as PDA, which has now moved from the experimental stage into a more central part of the practices of many libraries.

Let's Unbundle the Course

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:01:54 +0000

Higher education leaders generally agree that responding to these various pressures requires an increased emphasis on innovation. Many also agree that technology-mediated learning will play a crucial role in that innovation. The dilemma is determining how learning mediated by technology can encourage innovation

Change and Choice

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:49:55 +0000

All institutions will make choices. How can institutions make good choices?

Leading Change by Living It

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:30:36 +0000

Responsibility for an organization's success falls directly on the backs of its leaders. Although traditional organizational structures tend to vest such responsibilities in top-down management hierarchies headed by a CEO, current unprecedented advances in information technology are creating new leadership opportunities for IT departments.

Understanding and Managing the Risks of Analytics

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 19:27:19 +0000

Many higher education leaders are exploring the relatively new waters of "academic analytics" and "learning analytics." These two terms correspond to decisions related to the business of the college or university and to teaching and learning, respectively. Making better, data-informed decisions, improving performance, and becoming less reliant on "gut instinct" regarding critical issues facing the institution or the quality of instruction are all worthy pursuits.