I may as well face the fact that my eyes are bigger than my stomach: I know I'll never get to any of the teaching breakfasts as much as I'd love to, so you may as well cross me off your email list. Living in Cooperstown and having a broken hip and not having to get to my job at CADE till noon, I realize this is not the time in my life for Teaching Breakfasts. But I regret!
________________________________
From: Teaching Breakfast List on behalf of Jim Greenberg
Sent: Tue 2/27/2007 8:24 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: TP Msg. #770 The Challenges and Opportunities of Technology in Higher Education
Tbers,
I have resisted devoting a Teaching Breakfast to technology. Alas, I can
resist no more. Our next Teaching Breakfast will be March 8 at 8 am in
Morris Hall. The topic for discussion will be Technology in Higher
Education: Challenges and Opportunities.
To get you thinking about it (like that's hard to do!!) I respectfully
submit the following posting that looks at staff incentives to encourage
faculty involvement in technologically transforming courses and programs.
Many of the issues discussed are timely for our campus, others are not
relevant. I decided to provide it in total to avoid any misunderstandings.
Copyright © 2006, Stylus Publishing, LLC. Reprinted with permission.
The Challenges and Opportunities of Technology in Higher Education
by Donald E. Hanna and Michael J. Johnson
Executive Summary
Universities and colleges face a growing crisis of relevance in the twenty
first century, and academic departments and disciplines will not be immune
or protected. Department chairs and other academic leaders need to provide
leadership in this new complex, competitive, technologically advanced,
communications-dependent, and consumer-oriented society. In doing so, they
need an informed voice, as well as support and even advocacy for faculty
members, who are the heart and soul of academic innovation. Academic
leaders need to understand the changing contexts in which universities are
operating, including evolving learner expectations, culture, challenges, and
opportunities. New technologies are changing the nature of learning and
teaching, and powerful competitors, who are seeking to meet the educational
needs of adult workers and other nontraditional students, have emerged. The
department chair is at the center of effective leadership, helping faculty
and staff to use technological developments wisely, effectively, and
efficiently. While the department chair will provide leadership in changing
technical and procedural processes (first order changes), the more important
changes will be at a fundamental level that will involve substantial shifts
in philosophy, values, goals, and core processes (second-order changes).
This briefing explores both opportunities and challenges for exercising
leadership in exploring new uses for technology in department settings. It
offers specific ideas for chairs to consider in promoting technological
changes as they develop approaches and strategies for program development,
department administration, faculty development and mentoring, and overall
departmental leadership.
-----
Technology Supporting Administrative Functions and Processes
Most organizations in today's rapidly transforming global environment find
it difficult to obtain the necessary resources to maintain the constant
innovation and change required to survive and thrive. Higher education is in
an even more difficult environment, with shrinking appropriations for public
institutions and rising costs and tuition for private entities. In this
environment, successful and efficient administrative financial planning,
implementation, and decision provide faculty/staff incentives to encourage
faculty involvement in technologically transforming courses and programs;
for example:
* Credit for service/creative activity on promotion and tenure evaluations.
* Travel to conferences to present papers related to technological
innovation.
* Being first on the list to receive technology upgrades: new computers,
programs, and other technologies.
* Nomination for campus wide and/or other regional/national recognition
programs. Provide appropriate and ongoing access to and support for emerging
technologies as an incentive for technologically advanced faculty.
* Faculty members who are interested in technology can be motivated to keep
innovating when they know they will receive new software and hardware
regularly. Establish a reserve fund for purchasing and testing new
technologies and software that could improve faculty/staff and program
effectiveness.
* Technology innovators on the faculty/staff will usually find such
opportunities and are good candidates to receive and test "the next best
thing." Assuming that additional faculty time and compensation resources are
not needed to innovate with technology.
* Converting a traditional course to an online course involves a great deal
of effort. Many "managers" in higher education do not understand what this
process requires: rethinking how to present information, how to measure
student understanding, and even how to collect and correct digital homework
and papers.
* Incorporating new learning strategies and enhancements that take advantage
of the online environment requires additional work. Assuming that the
innovations made recently will remain viable and meet departmental needs
for several more years.
* New technologies and software that provide significant improvements over
previous innovations are developed every day. Just keeping up with software
enhancements to traditional computer programs (operating systems,
Microsoft®Office, and so forth) is daunting. Assuming that the next best
thing is the next thing the department needs to purchase.
* "The next best thing" often isn't. Having someone test the got-to-have
"next best thing" is important when time, energy, and resources are scarce.
* Careful, systematic decision making is essential to prevent wasting
valuable time and money. Table 6. Challenges in Leading Faculty Mentoring
and Development Challenge 1: Providing Faculty Incentives Better/Best
Practice Traps to Avoid Innovate with technology to develop an academic
environment that is adaptive and responsive to changing demands; external
forces; and the diverse needs of students, faculty, administrators, and
other key stakeholders.
* Department Web pages provide an efficient and timely way to distribute
information to potential and current students.* New Internet phenomena, such
as blogs, can provide student interaction and answers to Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) and immediate problems. Improve internal departmental
information systems for successful management of resources and programs,
especially in program planning and innovation.
* Successful leadership now requires having as much information as possible
about the program, students, budgets, expenditures, and everything else. The
higher education world is changing so fast that yesterday's processes will
not provide enough information to effectively manage the department today,
let alone tomorrow. Requirements for more departmental financial,
assessment, and planning information demand more involvement between the
department chair and staff and the university information and planning
services personnel, especially regarding the use of management information
systems, tools, and software.
* Spending time with and learning from system wide financial and data
personnel can provide new ways of accessing information for department
personnel, thus avoiding the development of costly (time, money, and
resources) in-house new data collections. Assuming that the way we have done
things for the past few years or even the past two years will continue to
work effectively.
* Technology and the higher-education environment require constant
innovation in the transition from a print-based, face-toface-based world to
the digital information virtual world (literally all information, print,
music, pictures, video/movies; in other words, everything, even money).
Assuming that the information we have today about our students, our program,
and our competitors meets our needs.
* Department leaders should consistently collect and monitor student
demographic characteristics to avoid missing key indicators that will
seriously impact programs soon. For example, if the student population has
changed from more traditional 18- to 22-year-olds to older students who are
changing professions, the way classes are scheduled and delivered may be out
of step with student needs. Assuming that management of the department will
remain essentially the same.
* Increased competition and increased focus on the cost of higher education
and cost reduction at every level means that department leaders must know
how to collect and use internal university information tools and systems.
Table 7. Opportunities in Supporting Administrative Functions and Processes
Better/Best Practice Traps to Avoid making are essential. At the same time,
administrative departmental functions (providing student information and
forms, advising, and so forth) must be digitized and provided on the Web for
easy access by students, especially for students in hybrid and distance
courses. Technological administrative innovation at the department level is
therefore also critical to the department's success and growth. Tables 7 and
8 chart the opportunities and challenges for supporting administrative
functions and practices.
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