Tag: Technology

Stephen Ragalevsky from Apple was the first speaker at the next session I attended. Stephen showed off Podcast Producer, one of the new features of Mac OS X 10.5 Server. Since I will most likely be upgrading to 10.5 Server sometime in early summer, I found this session to be particularly valuable.

Three new “bleeding edge” services in the new version of Mac OS X Server is iCal Server, a wiki server, and Podcast Producer. I would have liked to have heard more about the wiki server, but that will have to wait.

Capture. Encode. Deliver. That’s the simple way to describe what Podcast Producer does. Well, sort of. Podcast Producer really is mostly about the Encode part. But every Mac running 10.5 client has a capture utility. It’s called Podcast Capture, and it’s in the utilities folder. I just found it on my MacBook right now, and launched it. Unfortunately, it requires an account on a server running Podcast Producer in order to work. It would have been nice if Apple had enabled some features for those who don’t have a server account, but would like to try out Podcast Capture. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to wait. (Although near the end of the presentation, Stephen mentioned that Apple does make a demo server available upon request…contact your sales rep.)

One of the features of Podcast Producer that seems valuable is its tight integration with iTunes U. It is also highly configurable, so one can fully customize the encoding process according to one’s needs. Podcast Producer also provides a web-based interface to enable non-Mac computers to upload podcasts. So working with Podcast Producer is not quite as easy for those using Windows, but the web interface comes close.

Most podcasts today in higher education are captured in a classroom, typically a lecture hall. But Stephen believes that increasingly podcasts will be produced outside of the classroom. Professors will produce podcasts in their office to supplement what they do in the classroom. More and more students will be producing podcasts as part of their creative work for classes.

While Stephen was waiting for the demo podcasts to encode, Jay Rozganyi of Fairfield University shared some of his experiences using Podcast Producer in an academic setting. He used Apple Remote Desktop to demonstrate it on a remote machine, but the network was very slow (probably because so many people were sharing the wi-fi network at the convention center). Jay said that students really like the podcasts, and in particular, audio podcasts, which are smaller and can be used on a wider variety of devices. He also said that faculty love how easy it is to upload podcasts to iTunes using Podcast Producer.

Jay added that from a deployment standpoint, configuring Podcast Producer is not nearly as “user friendly” as is using the program. There is a learning curve that must be mastered by the server administrator. But once the workflows are clearly defined, one can create templates for the workflows that will save a lot of headaches. He offered to share the templates he made for anyone interested.

The audience had a lot of questions at the conclusion of the formal presentation. The session was well attended, and I was encouraged to see how many schools are embracing podcasting. I’ve been podcasting for a few years now, as has one of my colleagues at West Chester, Chris Penny. But podcasting has yet to “take off” at WCU. Podcast Producer, combined with iTunes U, might be just what’s needed to get the broader faculty into podcasting.

The first afternoon session I attended focused on developing the skills needed to be an effective IT manager in higher education. Dwight Fischer, the CIO of Plymouth State University, shared some of his experience in managing IT at his institution.

Meeting management skills are vital. Managers must convene and attend a wide variety of meetings, and it’s important to know how to get the most from them. Watch the clock, stick to an agenda and keep things moving. Work to ensure balanced participation by all participants. Provide appropriate documentation both before and after the meeting. Make sure decisions made at meetings are followed through in action.

Effective communication is also critical. Write clearly and succinctly, translating complex jargon to plain talk. Speak and present with a focus on communicating the most important information. Be an active listener, and respond to others to make sure they feel their ideas are valued.

Managing IT means managing people. So you need to assign priorities, delegate tasks, manage conflict, and build teams. IT managers are a lot like coaches, trying to bring out the best in their staff members.

Performance evaluations should be regular and ongoing, and should not be dreaded, but seen as opportunities. Focus not just on what is done, but how it’s done. Talk to your staff about not only what they are doing now, but what they could be doing in the future. See performance evaluations as opportunities for growth.

Know the styles and needs of those whom you report to. Try to deliver them solutions, not problems. Your leaders have enough problems to deal with, and you will go farther if you are perceived as a solution provider rather than a problem creator.

Project management is a big part of an IT manager’s role. Managing change can be hard, but project management skills can help you get things done. Higher education has been slower to adopt project management techniques than has other industries, but it’s becoming increasing important.

Operations management is, in some ways, the opposite of project management. While project management is about managing change, operations management is about managing stability…keeping things reliable, available and working continuously.

Fiscal management is also a big part of the IT manager’s job. Money is power. You need to know where your money is coming from, where it’s going, and how much is moving. Learn the fundamentals of your finance system, and how to keep the business office happy.

How are decisions made in your institution? The IT manager must understand the culture of the decision making environment at their institution. What layers of decision making are involved? Are decisions made by consensus? What committees and other units are involved?

Managing is hard work. It can also be stressful. You need to be able to manage conflict. You need to deal with people who leave, and people whom you need to ask to leave.

Take advantage of the Educause Institutes, including the management institute, leadership institute, and learning technology institute. Getting accepted to the competitive Frye Institute can be very valuable. Attend and participate in technology conferences, like NERCOMP.

Whew! This presenter tried to cover a lot of ground in a short time. While he offered some good ideas, I think he might have considered taking his own advice, and focus more on what is most important. He had some of the most “text heavy” slides I’ve seen so far at this conference. Most of the time, the slides were not left up long enough to be of much support. After the presentation, one person requested that a slide be returned to; he did go back, but still didn’t leave it up for very long. Still, it was obvious that the presenter has a passion for this topic.

During the Q & A, Dwight mentioned the value of “management by walking around.” While e-mail is important, many people spend way too much time with e-mail correspondence. A good manager gets out and about, mingling with staff, faculty and students. Dwight tries to regularly “walk the campus” at least every week, if not two or three times a week.

An excellent book that Dwight recommends is “Leading Geeks,” by Paul Glen. Dwight also maintains a blog about managing IT at http://dcfischer.blogs.plymouth.edu/.

After the general session, the NERCOMP exhibit hall opened. It was larger than I expected, filling up most of a large ballroom. All of the big names were there, including Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, and Blackboard. There were also quite a few more specialized vendors, including a couple of clicker companies. I had a nice chat with the folks at the iClicker booth. I’ve had a good experience using the iClickers in my large lecture class, and I was impressed with the new version of the software they are currently testing. They also have a “web clicker” version planned for release this fall, which would enable students to participate in click sessions over any internet-connected device. Since many students bring laptops to class, and many have web-enabled cell phones or iPods, the day may soon come where hardware clicker solutions will largely be replaced by a web-based service.

At lunch, tables were set up for informal “birds of a feather” chats. I sat at the “open source” table, as I’m particularly interested in Drupal, WordPress and Moodle. It was nice to hear from others who used open source software at their universities. I got the impresssion that open source solutions seem to be most popular at schools that value innovation and flexibility.

This morning’s general session began with some announcements from the NERCOMP (Northeast Regional Computer Program) leadership. NERCOMP is an affiliate organization of Educause, and has been for the past ten years. While Educause and NERCOMP are two separate organizations, NERCOMP serves as the regional organization for Educause in the Northeast. This year’s NERCOMP regional meeting of Educause is the best attended so far, with nearly 600 attendees from 18 states. There are also 152 vendors participating in the conference.

The general session program was a panel discussion about how college presidents view technology. Three college presidents were on the panel: Cheryl Norton, president of Southern Connecticut State University, S. Georgia Nugent, president of Kenyon College, and Susan Scrimshaw, president of Simmons College. The moderator was Joanne M. Kossuth, CIO and Associate Vice President for Development of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

Kossuth mentioned that one of the biggest challenges she sees in higher education technology is getting faculty to learn and adopt technology. Norton concurred, saying that it is a challenge to get faculty to keep up with the students in their use of technology. She said another big issue is the tendency for students to want to be connected 24/7 with cell phones and texting, and the problems this poses for some faculty. She mentioned one example of a faculty member who confiscated a student’s cell phone.

To the common complaint of faculty that students’ always “go to google first” when doing research, Scrimshaw said, “get over it…even faculty go to google first!” (Good point.) At Simmons, they have combined IT with library services, and have generally found this has helped keep IT policy more aligned with the academic mission of the college.

Norton expressed a concern with students’ understanding of intellectual property and plagiarism. Students need to understand what constitutes fair use and academic honesty. She also briefly mentioned the need to manage the cost of IT.

Should academic computing be separate from administrative computing? In most cases, probably not. Scrimshaw said that in most cases, the division is the result of personalities and traditions, rather than a particular advantage in keeping administrative computing distinct from academic computing.

IT leaders need to focus on effective communication with administration. Norton argued that too often IT leaders use overly technical language, when they really need to be communicating in plain, direct words. It’s important that an institution’s leadership have a clear understanding of the benefit of IT investments.

It was interesting to hear from this group of college presidents about how they view technology. In particular, I enjoyed their candor in talking about their own personal journey in academic leadership. All of them shared some insights into their personal strategies for dealing with the stress of their position…regular exercise, eating right, keeping job and family in balance. Nugent said the best advice she can give someone who aspires to leadership is to be honest: be honest with yourself, be honest with others, and be honest about what you can do. Norton and Kossuth concurred, saying that a leader should always take the high road. The confidence and trust people have in you are a president’s most important assets.

I’m in Providence, Rhode Island today, attending NERCOMP, the Educause Northeast regional conference. Many of the attendees are blogging the sessions, and in fact, the organizers are encouraging it. So I’ll join the crowd, and blog a bit during each session. (Other blogs from participants at the conference can be found at http://blogs.nercomp.org/blogs/nac2008/.

The first session I’m attending is entitled “An Outsourced Open Source LMS and a Pot of Gold?” The presenter was Clark Shah-Nelson, the Coordinator of Online Learning at SUNY College of Technology at Delhi. Clark talked about his experience in converting his campus from a proprietary LMS (Learning Management System) to the open source LMS Moodle.

In considering the total cost of operating an LMS implementation, open source solutions can save a lot of money. In his comparative analysis of proprietary LMS solutions, like WebCT and Blackboard, versus the open source LMS Moodle, Clark found he could save hundreds of thousands of dollars over a three-year time frame. The most significant cost savings was found with a hosted Moodle implementation through MoodleRooms.

Some of the downsides of the hosted solution include a bit slower response time and some inconvenience in getting support. But upsides include the fact that the system administrator is only focused on Moodle, and campus network outages didn’t affect the availability of the hosted LMS. Perhaps more significantly, Moodle has a large user community that encourages openness and sharing. Unlike proprietary LMS offerings, Moodle is built by the community of users, so it is always evolving, and is quick to adopt new innovations.

In the early stages of the process of converting from WebCT to Moodle, the institution first established a Hostmonster account to set up multiple installations of Moodle for testing and development. During the past year, they have had WebCT and Moodle running concurrently, and this fall, they plan to pull the plug on WebCT. Importing courses from WebCT was simplified with the plug-in on http://www.moodle.org.

Faculty members found Moodle to be much easier to use, more flexible, and offers considerably more features. Clark has developed an iPod-based training program to help faculty get up to speed on Moodle. Students seemed to prefer Moodle as well. They found it easier to navigate, appreciate the social networking aspects, and found it easier to follow the discussion threads. They also liked the dog avatar Clark uses to help give the Moodle site a human touch.

Having used Moodle myself, I agree that it has much to offer. While I think it’s not quite as easy to make the transition from a proprietary LMS as Clark implied, and probably not quite as cheap, Moodle is certainly is worth considering.

More information about Clark’s experience can be found at https://snydelwd.delhi.edu:8443/display/CIS/Moodle+and+Banner. Also, SUNY Delhi is sponsoring an Open Source Conference and Moodle Moot this June 19 & 20.