Ten IT Commandments

  • 05/05/05

Jack M. Wilson

While many of us know Jack M. Wilson as the 25th president of the University of Massachusetts system, in his prior role of VP for Academic Affairs and founding CEO of UMassOnline, he was at the helm of one of the largest and most successful online distance education programs in the country. A nationally and internationally recognized activist for higher education reform, Wilson has led major technology initiatives in both academia and industry and has served on numerous advisory councils, boards, and task forces. His research and activities have attracted over $23 million in funding, and his professional communications have included prolific scholarly writings and more than 200 invited lectures—many of which draw on his experience at the crossroads of technology and higher education.

10. Consider technology an important part of your plan.

  • There is no longer any way to do good scholarship without technology.
  • There is no longer any way to teach good scholarship without technology.
  • Technology is here to stay!

9. Keep an eye on true program needs.

  • Develop a balance between synchronous and asynchronous distributed learning.
  • Don't design an asynchronous learning environment so that all interactions are defined as between student and instructor..
  • Don’t always keep the instructor at the center.

8. Avoid pilots that linger.

  • Design for a large scale; use pilot projects only as a prelude to scaling up.
  • It is easy to design innovative educational experiences that work for small groups.
  • It is harder to address the needs of the 1,000 students taking Calculus I at a large research university.

7. Be cost conscious.

  • Cost is an important aspect of quality.
  • There is no lasting quality if there has been no attention to cost.
  • There are too many examples of high-quality, expensive solutions.

6. Count on Moore's law: "What is hard today is easy tomorrow."

  • Computer processing and bandwidth have consistently improved.
  • Be confident that processing power and bandwidth will continue to improve.

5. Benchmark your plans.

  • Build upon existing examples.
  • Don't merely "automate" the lecture or classroom experience.
  • Find the best examples, and build upon them.

4. Do systematic redesigns.

  • Avoid incremental add-ons.
  • Simply adding a few computer experiences to everything else costs more, is more work for the faculty, and adds to the students' burden.
  • Remember that true innovations change rather than modify systems.

3. Recognize the intrinsic educational value of technology.

  • Helping students learn better is but one value.

2. Build upon research results.

  • Identify research that informs design.
  • Don't try to reinvent the wheel.

1. Restructure around the learner.

  • Never overemphasize technology.
  • Never underemphasize it.

Featured

  • network of transparent cloud icons, each containing a security symbol like a lock or shield

    Okta, OpenID Foundation Propose New Identity Security Standard

    Okta and the OpenID Foundation have announced the formation of the IPSIE Working Group — with the acronym standing for Interoperability Profiling for Secure Identity in the Enterprise — dedicated to a new identity security standard for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.

  • UIUC Study: AI Agents Can Exploit Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

    In a new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), researchers demonstrated that large language model agents can autonomously exploit real-world cybersecurity vulnerabilities, raising critical concerns about the widespread deployment and security of these advanced AI systems.

  • IBM and Microsoft Partner on Cloud Security

    IBM and Microsoft have announced a "strengthened cybersecurity collaboration" aims at fortifying their joint customers' cloud environments.

  • scene in a cybersecurity operations center, showing an AI and a human competing head-to-head

    91% of CISOs Say AI Will Outperform Security Pros

    A new survey of CISOs by Bugcrowd indicates AI is already beating security pros in some areas and is expected to take on a larger role in the future.