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.