A Graduate's View of the Course Management System

By Ryan Tansey, Recent Graduate, University of Puget Sound

(Two years ago I asked my son Ryan to review his university’s use of the campus CMS. At the time he issued an “Incomplete” with the comment, “my teachers are finally learning how to Blackboard.” With his recent graduation, I asked him to issue a final mark to his professors. -- Frank Tansey)

Two years ago when I wrote my first viewpoint for SmartClassroom (then eLearning Dialogue), I issued my university an “Incomplete,” with the suggestion that faculty spend more time developing their Blackboard skills. Now as a recent graduate of the University of Puget Sound, I am ready to issue a final grade, with one notable change to the primary criterion for the evaluation. For this viewpoint, evaluation is primarily based on how the campus use of Blackboard added value to my education...

Read Complete Article | Send Comment | Back to top

Two Ohio University Graduates Sue University

Two Ohio University graduates whose Social Security numbers were among 173,000 possibly stolen from school computers have filed a lawsuit...

Read more

Research Center Takes Aim at ID Theft

Utica College in New York will become home to the new Center for Identity Management and Information Protection...

Read more

Microsoft's Office 2007 Hits a Snag

Microsoft Corp. announced Thursday it would delay the release of its Office business software suite...

Read more

BCIT Extends Network with Strategic Wireless

By Linda L. Briggs

When the British Columbia Institute of Technology decided to implement a wireless network, it was building on a sophisticated wired network already in place on and between BCIT’s five major campuses in Vancouver. With some 48,000 students, BCIT is Canada's leading polytechnic institute, offering degrees, diplomas, and certificates in a variety of studies.

On the main Burnaby campus in Vancouver, for example, BCIT already had wired desktops accessing the network at speeds of 100 Mbps, and a substantial investment in fiber optics at speeds of 1G and over. The Burnaby campus alone had some 90 wiring closets in place.

“When we made the decision to implement wireless,” says Ian McLeod, director of computer resources at BCIT, “we were looking for a compatible system to enhance, not replace, our wired infrastructure.”...

Read Complete Article | Send Comment | Back to top

When 'Strategic' Means 'Hard to Sell'

By John Moore

Yup, that Web portal seems like a worthy project – and so d'es the distance learning application, and the customer relationship management (CRM) system. In fact, such initiatives routinely land on many a wish list in higher education, but although they promise to harness information technology as a tool for competitive advantage, they also cost considerable sums of money. So, how can IT directors justify purchases that could help a school compete for students with its peer schools? How d'es one go about building that all-important business case?

Richard Katz has a few ideas on those topics. Katz is VP of Educause, a Boulder, CO-based nonprofit association that promotes IT use in higher education. He joined the organization in 1996 after spending 14 years in management and executive positions at the University of California. According to Katz, the IT investment breaks down into layers, with the remediation of legacy infrastructure lying at the bottom of the stack... (Campus Technology)

Read Complete Article | Send Comment | Back to top

From the Reader Response Forum

"Smart" Classrooms

Posted by: Carine

Hello,

I read with great interest this blurb in your May 24 piece in Campus Technology. We are preparing to build 13 "smart" classrooms and were looking for a solution that would let instructors access the DVD/VCR, but not the rest of the AV equipment. You read our minds! In perusing the Middle Atlantic Web site, however, I wasn't able to come up with a picture of a cabinet put together as described here. Might you know where such a photo exists?

Thanks!

Photos of the cabinet in question can be found here. Model numbers are available as well.

Send Comment | Back to top