This research shares insights into the results of a three-year process of re-engineering general education at Brigham Young University--Hawaii (BYU--Hawaii), a private university, and the impact this change has conveyed to our students, curriculum, and faculty. The authors first describe the background of traditional general education, then…

Today's learners routinely use technology outside of school to communicate, collaborate, and gather information about the world around them. Classroom learning experiences are relevant when they include communication technologies such as social networking, blogging, and video conferencing, and information technologies such as databases, browsers,…

Those in the higher education community live in interesting times. For decades, higher education has occupied a relatively stable, trusted position in society, as a place to invest the most precious resources: (1) youth; (2) minds; (3) future; and (4) values. Today, the purpose and value of higher education is under question and under…

How can CIOs and IT leaders prepare themselves for the challenge and opportunity of a more central role in strategic decision-making? First, they must make sure they understand the needs and expectations of other campus leaders. For example, they need to closely align with the vision of their presidents, and they need to ally with chief financial…

Purpose: The paper aims to report on the 30th IATUL Annual Conference held in Leuven, Belgium, 1-4 June, 2009. Design/methodology/approach: The paper summarises the major themes of the conference as well as giving some specific details of developments at the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India, which supplement the author's…

Adult learners often face barriers to participation in traditional classroom instruction. As technology access grows and adults naturally incorporate technology into their daily lives, adult education programs are finding innovative ways to blend technology with instruction through quality online learning opportunities. This article highlights the…

Like fine wines, Web 2.0 technologies get better with age. Gone are the days of the pointless chat room; this is the era of social networking juggernauts such as Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster. Services offered by these firms are helpful in facilitating connections among users in every industry and of every age. In higher education, however, a…

In their efforts to better understand, plan for, and make decisions about information technology on campus, higher education leaders need data. They need benchmarking and longitudinal data. They need data about IT budgets, expenditures, and investments. They need data about IT staffing. And they need data about IT programs, planning, policy, and…

Discusses yearly information technology costs for academic libraries. Topics include transformation and modernization activities that affect prices and budgeting; a cost model for information technologies; life cycle costs, including initial costs and recurring costs; cost benchmarks; and examples of pressures concerning cost accountability. (LRW)

Budget pressures compel everyone in higher education to demonstrate value in IT investments, using both quantitative and qualitative information. Like many institutions, however, both Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found themselves forced to rely more on anecdotes than on management information to guide decisions. In…

This paper advocates a strategy of "full informational capture" to ensure that digital objects rich enough to be useful over time are created in the most cost-effective manner. Digital benchmarking is a systematic procedure to forecast a likely outcome. The benchmarking approach can be applied across the full continuum of the…

Discusses outsourcing in the information industry. Highlights include information technology; special libraries; outsourcing in Australia; public librarians; benchmarking and quality control; online searching; and outsourcing as a threat to information professionals. (LRW)

In 1999, Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…

Information technologies (IT) continue to grow in importance for independent colleges and universities. Increasingly, students assume a digital world, from online application and registration, to course materials, to communicating with classmates and professors. To stay competitive for students as well as to enhance instructional and…

Benchmarking information technology services has become a vital activity for colleges and universities. The COSTS Project (http://www.costsproject.org/) is an ongoing quantitative effort to benchmark the costs of providing IT services in higher education; the project helps institutions understand their IT budgets and staffing relative to peer…