Future of Higher Education - Larry Summers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.