Opinion
- Best Practices in Emergency Communications
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5/9/2008
Risk assessment doesn't cut much weight in the world of public opinion. In the aftermath of highly publicized violent incidents like those at Virginia Tech and Illinois State, higher education has come under increased scrutiny. In particular, students, their parents, and the general public want to know about the emergency notification procedures that campuses have deployed.
- Writing: It Ain’t the Same Anymore
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5/7/2008
E-mail is the ordinal form of this age. But in the collective conscience of higher education, the reference form when talking about writing is still the essay. Should e-mail writing instruction replace the teaching of essay writing?
- Mobile Learning in Higher Education
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4/23/2008
The term "Nomadic" has been used to describe current college students' culture of wireless and mobile connectedness in the sense that they are not "rooted" but incredibility flexible and fluid when it comes to their social connections and their virtual life culture. This refers not only to their uses of social networking tools but also to the reality that they are connected wirelessly in any situation and for any reason. They are essentially nomads when it comes to their life "space."
- ePortfolios: Hot Once Again
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4/16/2008
The question about ePortfolios is no longer "What is it?" Now, it's "How can we do it?" A Web-based ePortfolio provides the answer.
- The Social Web: Academic Zoning Rules
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4/16/2008
Trent Batson urges social Web site developers to offer options for managing use for academic purposes.
- Real ID: Coming to a State Near You?
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4/11/2008
The Department of Homeland Security has issued the regulations that will govern the Real ID Act that sets standards for drivers' licenses across the country. How will it impact you and your campus?
- Can Campus IT Outsource to Web 2.0?
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4/2/2008
Campuses are starting to outsource e-mail services to popular Web 2.0 mail services such as Hotmail, gMail, Yahoo Mail, or others. Will various office functions also be outsourced? How far will outsourcing to the Web go?
- Research Has Chilling Effect on Hard Drive Encryption
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3/14/2008
Since you've encrypted the data on your laptop, it's safe even if your laptop is stolen, right? Wrong. Researchers at Princeton have demonstrated ways to hack your encrypted data using your own DRAMs against you.
- Is Web 2.0 'Designed for Education?'
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3/5/2008
In Web 2.0, the proliferation of Web services that create spaces and sites for learning continues to grow and add value.
- Capturing Learning Moments Digitally
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2/20/2008
Wherever there has been a black board, a white board, or a flip chart, there have been messages left in desperation warning those next in a classroom not to touch what was written or drawn or diagrammed on the particular surface provided. For those coming into the room to teach, it can be both annoying and frustrating. What alternatives are available?
- P2P File Sharing on Campus: The Battle Isn't Over
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2/8/2008
The battle between the recording industry and higher education over student piracy has been raging for years. Are long-term trends emerging, and what do they mean for colleges and universities?
- Planning for the Next Disaster: Pandemic
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1/11/2008
The experts tell us that a pandemic is inevitable. The only question is when it will happen. Is your organization ready? Can you keep essential IT functions running? What can you do to be prepared?
- Things That Go Bump in the Night
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12/14/2007
We've all developed and tested plans (or should have) for natural disasters--hurricanes in the Southeast, earthquakes in California, floods in our river valleys, and wildfires in the West, to name a few. Horrific as these events are, they are local or regional, affecting a few million people at the most. The rest of the country is still able to step in and provide aid. But what happens in the unlikely event of a disaster that impacts the entire country? Are we ready?
- Coming to Terms with a Crash-Proof Laptop
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12/6/2007
I've got a problem. My new laptop doesn't crash or freeze up. I've been using it now for nearly three months, and it just doesn't crash. "How," you might ask, "does this present a problem?" Well, it's a seemingly small thing that has cascading ramifications on my behavior and expectations in ways you might not anticipate. I know that I didn't.
- Security in 2007: No Surprises Here (Well Maybe a Few)
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11/9/2007
Well, the results for 2007 are in. And no surprises here, IT directors cite lack of staff resources, lack of funding, higher education’s culture, and lack of defined security policy as the biggest barriers to improving information security.
- A Plan for Maximum Participation in Campus-Based Text-Messaging Alert Systems
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11/8/2007
How do you get students (and others) to opt in to text-messaging campus alert systems, such as the one used to good effect earlier this semester at the University of Colorado? Once they've opted in, how do you capture their attention and get them to keep your system loaded with their current information?
- Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool
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10/31/2007
Chat software (text or media-based) provides an excellent tool in supporting academic dialog (exchange), critical thinking, and knowledge building. The immediacy of the technology provides students with a direct connection with the instructor as well as other students. While chat software is usually used for "chatting," and, therefore, it has a relaxed and colloquial protocol, with a little thought and planning, it can also be used well to support instruction.
- Using Thin Client Technology To Offset Costs
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10/24/2007
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is deploying thin clients--devices with no hard drives--as kiosks, Web/e-mail stations, and in areas where sensitive data is paramount. Mike Carr and Bob Bair explore the strategy.
- Phishing for Mules
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10/12/2007
We all know, or should know, about phishing, a fraudulent attempt, frequently through legitimate looking email requests, to obtain personal information such as a credit card number, a social security number, or a bank account number and PIN. But to take full advantage of stolen information, the crook needs "mules."
- Testing: No Longer a Contact Sport?
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10/11/2007
Universities are turning to technology to tackle (seemingly) growing problems with academic integrity (formerly known as "cheating"). Anti-plagiarism solutions routinely check student work; centers are devoted to studying and documenting cheating; and one university has gone so far as to build a high-tech, secure site for testing.
- Waste Paper: Communications and the Decline of Print
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10/4/2007
For years universities have been reducing their print output in an effort to reach the elusive paperless ideal. But they aren't there yet.
- Strained Relations: Reconciling Software Incompatibilities
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9/27/2007
After what seems like quite some time without having much to address in way of "incompatibilities," I recently found myself coping with a couple of real problems that were affecting my productivity in an important volunteer role that I play. At the same time, I made a decision to go along with the recommendation of my employer's IT staff that guarantees me some learning curve issues, along with likely incompatibilities.
- Converged Security: Can Ex-Cops, Propeller Heads, and Bean Counters Make Nice?
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9/14/2007
A growing trend in the corporate sector is to more closely integrate or even merge the oversight of information security, physical security, and fiscal security. Is this trend relevant to higher education? What can we learn from corporate experiences?
- The Collegiate Tech Effect
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9/13/2007
What if you could access a really detailed study of students that focused directly on their use of and attitudes toward information technology? What if part of the study was a survey of nearly 28,000 students from more than 100 institutions, and the results were sliced and diced not only by gender but by institutional Carnegie class? Sounds pretty useful and interesting, eh?
- The Fox and the Hedgehog
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9/6/2007
There's a business management principle known as the "hedgehog concept." The whole thing apparently comes from a Greek poet, Archilochus, who wrote: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Okay, so right away I think, "I want to be a fox!" But, no. Apparently, in the business world, the thing to be is a hedgehog.
