Knowledge, Information and Convergent Technologies in a 21st Century University: The Salford Perspec

1
Knowledge, Information and Convergent
Technologies in a 21st Century University The
Salford Perspective

• Dr Adrian Graves, Registrar Secretary

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Whats so important about SIS?

• Data provides information
• which gives us knowledge
• and leads to decisions
• that prompt action

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Context

• Total demand for HE in 2025 will be 263 million
  students,
• with 170 million from China, India and Asian
  countries.1
• By 2011, 1.5 billion people will have internet
  access
• biggest growth occurring in Brazil, Russia,
  India China.2
• For every international student who studies
  outside their own country there are 3 to 5 who
  would consume overseas education if given
  access.3
• In 2003/4 there were 211,000 international
  (non-EU) and 90,000 EU (non-UK) students studying
  in the UK.4
• 1United Nations and IDP Education Australia
  projections, cited by Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti,
  2007
• 2Jupiter Research, cited by Dr. Tracey
  Wilen-Daugenti, 2007
• 3Report by ThinkEquity Partners, cited by Dr.
  Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, 2007
• 4Source www.hero.ac.uk/inside_he/facts_and_figure
  s

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Context contd.

• Globalisation continuing advances in and
  availability of technology, increasing
  affluence have shrunk the world for many,
  providing people with access to far more
  information opportunities, and to much more
  choice than ever before
• Increasing demand for value for money and return
  on investment by students and sponsors
• Students are digital natives, staff are
  digital immigrants1 IT purchasing decisions
  increasingly driven by consumer demand
• Digital natives have different learning needs
  (e.g. edutainment / sound-bite approach to
  learning)
• All against backdrop of regulatory obligations
  ongoing security concerns
• 1Terminology from Mark Prensky

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Key IT trends issues for 21st century

• Evergreen students (permanently hooked up to
  networks/technologies)
• Staff training (to allow digital immigrants to
  deliver to digital natives)
• Smart buildings (walls are active part of the
  classroom, supporting video, whiteboards, LCD
  rooms support wired and wireless network access
  HVAC controls in each room)
• Enrolment and retention (the role of technology
  in enhancing the student experience)
• Mobility (students mobile, connected busy with
  study, jobs extra curricular activities)
• Library transformation (digitisation of stock,
  RFID stock control, community spaces)
• Web 2.0 and interactive teaching
• Data management
• Source Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, CISCO, 2007

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Back stage requirements

• Robust and reliable data storage, retrieval and
  analysis system for
• Production of accurate and transparent
  information to facilitate compliance with
  statutory obligations
• (e.g. HESA HEFCE returns QAA audits legal
  obligations re. HR, finances ED
• Freedom of Information Act etc.)
• Research and development of policies and
  strategies
• (relating to marketing recruitment,
  admissions/enrolment, estate requirements, demand
  for and quality of provision of teaching
  learning, student retention, success/graduation,
  CPD, research and initiative funding etc.)

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Business needs

• SIS providing business intelligence for
• decision making
• communication
• data quality integration with all aspects of
  enterprise
• regulatory compliance
• programme / records maintenance
• timetabling
• assessment, certification, graduation
• ROI VFM for all customers

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Useful back stage systems

• Institutional Intelligence package from SunGard
  
• Information portal/intranet that prompts relevant
  manager when an academic department goes 5 above
  or below applications for admission compared to
  the same time the previous year
• CRM systems
• Total Information Management Tool

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Points of engagement with Student Information
System(back stage meets front of house)
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Front of house

• Every encounter with a student is an
  institutional moment of truth1
• 1 Jim Black, Innovation in Student Services, Ed
  Darlene J. Burnett Diana Oblinger, 2002

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Enhancing the student journey

• Students, more than ever before, are now
  consumers they have changed from passive members
  of an audience to active members of a community,
  largely because of the webs collaborative and
  egalitarian nature1
• Almost 100 of students visit a web community
  daily2
• Web requires us to present a single, seamless
  face to the customer at every point of
  interaction
• 1 Diana Oblinger, 2002
• 2 Gartner, 2007

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How can technology enhance the student experience?

• Personalized enquiry services
• Portals
• Customized support information
• Real world learning experience
• Virtual teaching through courseware, podcasts,
  edutainment
• Free, permanent e-mail addresses (limited)
  intranet access to alumni

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Personalized enquiry services

• Interactive admissions systems allow potential
  students to
• build on-line portfolios
• view portfolios of current students from similar
  backgrounds (searchable by ethnicity, gender,
  hometown, programme of study etc.)
• get feedback on progress towards eligibility for
  admission
• discuss suitability of various programmes of
  study
• participate in virtual parties attended by
  staff current students
• Example University of Californias Gateways
  project, cited in Innovation in Student
  Services, Burnett Oblinger, 2002

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21st Century learning 3Rs 7Cs

• 7Cs
• Critical Thinking Doing
• Creativity
• Collaboration
• Cross-cultural understanding
• Communication
• Computing
• Career Learning self-reliance
• Source Bernie Trilling, Oracle

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Portals

• Students often need to log-in repeatedly to
  access network, timetable information, VLE etc.
  Single log-in portals allow students to access
  information without such frustration, but can go
  one step further and facilitate customization
• University of Texas web portal caters for mass
  customization and a market of one. Students can
  customise
• their interface option (for greater compatibility
  with screen reader software)
• the categories of services they want on their
  navigation bar
• how they should receive official notifications
  (e.g. via email, the home page or text)
• which campus info they would like on their home
  page (e.g. student newspaper, recreation events
  notices etc)
• how to manage their quicklinks (mobile bookmark
  facility) etc.
• http/utdirect.utexas.edu/utdirect/help/index.html
  

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Student support information from CRM to LRM

• Welfare, careers, learning financial support
  information available for customisation on basis
  of student need
• Personalized text messaging and email services to
  flag-up support services available to students
  (triggered when student fails to attend, misses a
  submission deadline, fails an exam etc.)
• Peer-to-peer discussion fora available online
  (almost 100 of students visit a web community
  daily1)
• 1 Source Gartner 2007

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Experiential learning through edutainment

• Blogs of relevant professionals
• Buying and selling stocks in a live trading room
  environment
• Video links to real time events across globe at
  which students can ask questions / join debate
• Honing entrepreneurial skills by developing a
  business collaboratively in virtual reality
• Using simulations to aid understanding and
  develop skills (e.g. archaeological dig site).
• Source Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, CISCO, 2007

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Virtual teaching

• Open access courseware
• Podcasts
• Webcasts
• Avatar-based virtual classrooms (in which
  students staff can meet regardless of
  physical location)
• Wikis for students to pool knowledge
• Ability to schedule virtual or physical tutoring
  sessions with academics.
• Source Dr. Wilen-Daugenti, CISCO

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Home and away lifelong connectivity

• Extended wireless network access, to cover
  neighbourhoods that border the campus
• Provide PDAs during placements to allow students
  to access the University network VLE, and to
  prepare submit coursework online
• Provide free, permanent email addresses and
  intranet access for alumni to sustain and enhance
  relationships.

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Conclusion what next?

• Focus on student-centred strategies, policies
  practices
• Be aware of current consumer trends for
  indications of technologies we may need to adopt
• Assess the campus environment to see what might
  be enhanced or simplified with technology
• Promote a culture of change, exploration and
  experimentation
• Reward successful deployments that have netted
  beneficial results
• Plan and budget, not just for technologies, but
  for training
• Sustain mutually beneficial partnerships with
  SunGard Higher Education and colleagues from
  other HE providers regionally, nationally and
  internationally
• Never forget that alongside all the technology,
  there must also be a person and a place where
  students can turn for support.