So how 'bout them universities?
By and large, this blog focuses on K-12 educational issues, mostly because I live, eat, and breath K-12 educational technology. While I may talk about broader issues in technology (social media, for example, or Google's latest and greatest), it's usually in the context of how they might impact students and teachers. My major areas of interest are:
- Enhancing communication and collaboration among students, teachers, and staff using social media and cloud tools
- 1:1 and personal computing technologies relevant to students
- FOSS in schools
- Educational tools like RTI software or interactive response hardware
- Data management in education
- "21st Century Skills" and math/science/tech literacy and competitiveness
I don't often turn my attention to post-secondary education, even though these themes (among others) are highly relevant at the college/university level as well. I'd like to take the opportunity this summer to widen my focus a bit and look at these areas of interest as they relate to post-secondary ed. Some important ideas at the university IT level are well-addressed elsewhere on ZDNet. Universities, much more than K-12 institutions, are computing enterprises. What was the last high school you were in that had a data center?
I'm more concerned with the aspects of university ed tech that aren't "enterprisey" in nature. What impact does the new virtual monopoly held by Blackboard have on learning management systems, for example? What interesting things are schools doing with social media? How do professors make the "wall of laptops" work for them? What math/science/tech skills do schools expect and not receive from high school graduates? Can universities require a particular computing platform?
You get the idea. I'll be taking a look at these questions, but would like to hear from you as well, either via talkbacks below, Twitter (@mrdatahs), or email (mrdatahs shift-2 gmail dot com). What areas in university IT aren't getting coverage elsewhere (on or off ZDNet)? What questions, thoughts, or concerns do you have that specifically related to post-secondary education? I'm happy to include community colleges and trade schools in this discussion as well. So start Tweeting and I'll be looking forward to your feedback.
I'd like to take the opportunity to do that