HIG, R U n2 CP? : The Technology Is the Easy Part

Terry Calhoun, Commentator
Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
University of Michigan

Terry Calhoun, IT Trends Commentator
Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
University of Michigan

People who work with me know that "The technology is the easy part" is perhaps my favorite saying. And I believe that is true. (When you can afford the technology, that is.) What's tough is changing people's behavior, especially your own, or that of your staff. For-profit businesses talk about "customer service" and "giving the customer what they want," and an awful lot of that is modifying back-end processes. Higher education has been slow to come around, but we're getting there, although maybe doing a better job in student services than in teaching and learning.

Our guest opinion piece this week is by biology professor David Starrett of Southeast Missouri State University. He's also director of that institution's Center for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning and, thus, focused on the instructional technology appropriate for enhancing students' learning. He sees his students taking the technology for granted and is questioning how much we can expect them to change, and how much we have to accept them, and change what we do to meet their expectations.

***

HIG, R U n2 CP? Me either. In case that's Greek to you, it translates into "How's it going, are you into chat-posting?" I pride myself on staying "hip," a tact taken out of necessity with a 10- and 12-year-old in the house. I know that "groovy" and "hip" became "awesome" and "rad" and are now "tight" and "sweet." My 12-year-old e-mailed me at work the other day. I think he sent it out through a vowel filter, there were none left when it got to me. I thought I was on top of how our kids are speaking these days. This of course is important for us in higher education, where our job duty is basically communicating with 18- to 22-year-olds …

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