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Can Campus IT Outsource to Web 2.0?

4/2/2008

Campuses are starting to outsource e-mail services to popular Web 2.0 mail services such as Hotmail, gMail, Yahoo Mail, or others. Will various office functions also be outsourced? How far will outsourcing to the Web go?

Research Has Chilling Effect on Hard Drive Encryption

3/14/2008

Since you've encrypted the data on your laptop, it's safe even if your laptop is stolen, right? Wrong. Researchers at Princeton have demonstrated ways to hack your encrypted data using your own DRAMs against you.

Is Web 2.0 'Designed for Education?'

3/5/2008

In Web 2.0, the proliferation of Web services that create spaces and sites for learning continues to grow and add value.

Capturing Learning Moments Digitally

2/20/2008

Wherever there has been a black board, a white board, or a flip chart, there have been messages left in desperation warning those next in a classroom not to touch what was written or drawn or diagrammed on the particular surface provided. For those coming into the room to teach, it can be both annoying and frustrating. What alternatives are available?

P2P File Sharing on Campus: The Battle Isn't Over

2/8/2008

The battle between the recording industry and higher education over student piracy has been raging for years. Are long-term trends emerging, and what do they mean for colleges and universities?

Planning for the Next Disaster: Pandemic

1/11/2008

The experts tell us that a pandemic is inevitable. The only question is when it will happen. Is your organization ready? Can you keep essential IT functions running? What can you do to be prepared?

Things That Go Bump in the Night

12/14/2007

We've all developed and tested plans (or should have) for natural disasters--hurricanes in the Southeast, earthquakes in California, floods in our river valleys, and wildfires in the West, to name a few. Horrific as these events are, they are local or regional, affecting a few million people at the most. The rest of the country is still able to step in and provide aid. But what happens in the unlikely event of a disaster that impacts the entire country? Are we ready?

Coming to Terms with a Crash-Proof Laptop

12/6/2007

I've got a problem. My new laptop doesn't crash or freeze up. I've been using it now for nearly three months, and it just doesn't crash. "How," you might ask, "does this present a problem?" Well, it's a seemingly small thing that has cascading ramifications on my behavior and expectations in ways you might not anticipate. I know that I didn't.

Security in 2007: No Surprises Here (Well Maybe a Few)

11/9/2007

Well, the results for 2007 are in. And no surprises here, IT directors cite lack of staff resources, lack of funding, higher education’s culture, and lack of defined security policy as the biggest barriers to improving information security.

A Plan for Maximum Participation in Campus-Based Text-Messaging Alert Systems

11/8/2007

How do you get students (and others) to opt in to text-messaging campus alert systems, such as the one used to good effect earlier this semester at the University of Colorado? Once they've opted in, how do you capture their attention and get them to keep your system loaded with their current information?

Tips for Using Chat as an Instructional Tool

10/31/2007

Chat software (text or media-based) provides an excellent tool in supporting academic dialog (exchange), critical thinking, and knowledge building. The immediacy of the technology provides students with a direct connection with the instructor as well as other students. While chat software is usually used for "chatting," and, therefore, it has a relaxed and colloquial protocol, with a little thought and planning, it can also be used well to support instruction.

Using Thin Client Technology To Offset Costs

10/24/2007

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is deploying thin clients--devices with no hard drives--as kiosks, Web/e-mail stations, and in areas where sensitive data is paramount. Mike Carr and Bob Bair explore the strategy.

Phishing for Mules

10/12/2007

We all know, or should know, about phishing, a fraudulent attempt, frequently through legitimate looking email requests, to obtain personal information such as a credit card number, a social security number, or a bank account number and PIN. But to take full advantage of stolen information, the crook needs "mules."

Testing: No Longer a Contact Sport?

10/11/2007

Universities are turning to technology to tackle (seemingly) growing problems with academic integrity (formerly known as "cheating"). Anti-plagiarism solutions routinely check student work; centers are devoted to studying and documenting cheating; and one university has gone so far as to build a high-tech, secure site for testing.

Waste Paper: Communications and the Decline of Print

10/4/2007

For years universities have been reducing their print output in an effort to reach the elusive paperless ideal. But they aren't there yet.

Strained Relations: Reconciling Software Incompatibilities

9/27/2007

After what seems like quite some time without having much to address in way of "incompatibilities," I recently found myself coping with a couple of real problems that were affecting my productivity in an important volunteer role that I play. At the same time, I made a decision to go along with the recommendation of my employer's IT staff that guarantees me some learning curve issues, along with likely incompatibilities.

Converged Security: Can Ex-Cops, Propeller Heads, and Bean Counters Make Nice?

9/14/2007

A growing trend in the corporate sector is to more closely integrate or even merge the oversight of information security, physical security, and fiscal security. Is this trend relevant to higher education? What can we learn from corporate experiences?

The Collegiate Tech Effect

9/13/2007

What if you could access a really detailed study of students that focused directly on their use of and attitudes toward information technology? What if part of the study was a survey of nearly 28,000 students from more than 100 institutions, and the results were sliced and diced not only by gender but by institutional Carnegie class? Sounds pretty useful and interesting, eh?

The Fox and the Hedgehog

9/6/2007

There's a business management principle known as the "hedgehog concept." The whole thing apparently comes from a Greek poet, Archilochus, who wrote: "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Okay, so right away I think, "I want to be a fox!" But, no. Apparently, in the business world, the thing to be is a hedgehog.

One More Year, and 'The Technology is [Still] the Easy Part!'

8/30/2007

One of the more challenging parts of working within a higher education institution, especially (but not only) in the information technology arena, is coping with what the students "bring with them" to campus.

Hacksaw Cuts Road Warriors

8/10/2007

How much danger can USB flash drives represent to data security? In some cases, considerable.

The Calm Before the Calm?

8/9/2007

August is a time of calm for most in the education community. But our students are out there interfacing with the world and getting ready to bring back all sorts of things with them to our campuses when they arrive in the fall. Are we ready?

Back in the Petrie Dish, but for How Long?

7/26/2007

Think back a few days. Do you perhaps remember awakening in the middle of the night, totally creeped-out, as though there were something ominous slouching through the darkness....

Admissions of Guilt

7/19/2007

One of the discussions I have been in for the last week or two has been about the growing use within academia of MySpace information for what verges on "official" purposes.

The Pilgrimage to a New Collaborative Learning Environment

7/17/2007

While CLEs are tools they are also much more than tools; they are tools that are developed, maintained, and financed by an evolving community of investors, educators, and software developers.