Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

5 simple ways to streamline campus technology

Paige Francis, CIO for Information Technology Services at Fairfield University, shares five tips to prepare for a future of rapid technology growth

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Somewhere along the line, it seems that higher-education technology leaders hit a development gap where the KISS principle was routinely ignored. The “Keep It Simple Stupid” adage states that “systems perform best when they have simple designs rather than complex ones.”

It appears this gap has coincided with significant advancements in technology, leading to near-immediate obsolescence—and resulting in an overabundance of clunky technology and an over-outfitting of space. In a nutshell, more has resulted in less. We oversupplied and over-indulged, and now many institutions are forced to maintain these cumbersome environments … or are they?…Read More

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3 cheap ways to amp up campus A/V

Campus A/V officials are striving to justify needed upgrades to campus auditoriums, stadiums, classrooms, and theaters.

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Campus technologists say that college and university finances have largely recovered from the thin times after the 2008 economic collapse, though the purchasing of A/V equipment remains an expenditure that many campus decision makers are loathe to discuss.

Budgets for A/V equipment aren’t falling, campus officials say, but they’re not rising either. It’s that budgetary stagnation that leaves many in higher education at a loss for how to approach A/V upgrades that modernize school facilities and make the college or university more appealing to prospective students.…Read More

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Key campus technology challenges ‘no longer about IT’

2013 Campus Computing Project survey reveals shifting higher-education technology needs, priorities

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The technology itself is “the easy part” of campus IT leaders’ jobs, Green said.

The top challenges facing campus technology leaders today “are no longer about IT,” Casey Green, founding director of The Campus Computing Project, told attendees of the 2013 EDUCAUSE conference in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 17.

Instead, the top challenges for campus technology leaders include supporting faculty and students, and communicating technology’s effectiveness to presidents and provosts.

The technology itself is “the easy part” of campus IT leaders’ jobs, Green said. He added: “Technology is almost linear by comparison” to all of the other demands that campus IT leaders face, such as managing people, policies, priorities, and egos.…Read More

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Best practices in higher-education technology use

Here are some of the best practices in campus technology use featured in our November/December 2012 edition.

An Arkansas college has achieved success by learning its students’ technology needs … A new eLearning venture invites students to contribute course content themselves … Tufts University has become a leader in social media outreach by focusing on one word—“Vibe”: These are among the best practices in higher-ed tech use featured in the Nov./Dec. 2012 edition of eCampus News.

The digital version of our Nov./Dec. edition is now available. You can browse the full publication here, or click on the headlines below to read any of these highlights:

Boise State seeks to redefine ‘well-educated’…Read More

NWACC uses technology to serve its ‘customers’ better

Recognizing that “customer” satisfaction is a key factor in recruiting and retaining students, NWACC has made it easy for stakeholders to access resources through mobile devices—and this attention to service has paid off.

Northwest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) is a public two-year college located in Bentonville, Ark. NWACC opened its doors to 1,200 students in August 1990 and now has more than 7,000 students, making it one of the largest and fastest growing two-year college in Arkansas. It serves another 7,000 students throughout the region with non-credit courses.

Recognizing that “customer” satisfaction is a key factor in recruiting and retaining students, NWACC has made it easy for stakeholders to access computer systems and resources through mobile devices, and this attention to service has paid off: In a recent survey, a majority of students said they were happy with the school’s technology services.

NWACC also has used technology to reduce costs and improve decision making, and it is a state leader in campus technology use. For these reasons and more, we’ve chosen NWACC as our “eCampus of the Month” for November/December.…Read More

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The key to campus network security: Better risk management

“Identify the threats most likely to impact your company, and spend your limited funds defending against those,” one expert says.

Campus networks host tens of thousands of devices each day, and while those devices have access to network resources, campus IT administrators must be vigilant as they strike a balance between openness and vigilance.

Finding that balance can prove difficult if IT administrators attempt to address every single threat, no matter how relevant that threat might be to the campus. Many experts suggest focusing on a university’s mission, and adjusting security measures so they support this mission.

Campus IT security staff should determine exactly that, said Dave Cullinane, retired chief information security officer at eBay and co-founder of the Cloud Security Alliance, during an EDUCAUSE webinar to celebrate October’s Cyber Security Awareness Month.…Read More

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Best practices in campus technology use: October 2012

Here are some of the best practices in campus technology use featured in the October 2012 issue of eCampus News.

An open textbook project at Rice University saves students $1 million in textbook costs … a new business school program tackles the unemployment problem among recent college graduates … a “crowdfunding” website connects enterprising students with professionals who can help them launch their business: These are among the best practices in campus technology use featured in the October 2012 edition of eCampus News.

Our October issue is now available on our website. You can browse the full publication here, or click on any of the headlines below to read these highlights.

Open textbook project saves students $1M…Read More

Technologists: Colleges must adjust to the multi-screen world

Almost 8 in 10 people view another screen while watching TV.

Prospective college students might not browse a school’s website exclusively on their smart phones, but that’s often where the browsing starts, making the site’s mobile friendliness paramount in higher education’s tug-of-war for new students.

Responsive web design (RWD) has proven a hot topic in educational technology circles over the past few years, and a study conducted by Google, “The New Multi-screen World: Understanding Cross-Platform Consumer Behavior,” offers good news for colleges that have invested in RWD, which makes a school’s site readable on an enormous desktop screen or a shrunken smart-phone display.

Nine in 10 respondents to Google’s survey-based research said they moved from one screen to another to accomplish a goal—from smart phones to PCs, for example, or tablet computers to PCs.…Read More

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New developments in campus technology: September 2012

Here are some of the latest ed-tech tools featured in the Sept. 2012 edition of eCampus News.

A new way to measure the color brightness of projectors, and a cutting-edge app that can help save lives during campus emergencies, are among the latest developments in campus technology described in the September 2012 edition of eCampus News.

Our September edition is now available in digital format on our website. You can browse the full publication here, or click on any of the headlines below to read these highlights:

New developments in AV technology come into focus…Read More