Many organizations have significantly decreased their investment in performance improvement initiatives because they believe they are too risky. In fact, organizations should invest in performance improvements to build cash reserves and gain market share. Recent scientific breakthroughs have led to the development of methodologies and technologies…

For colleges and universities today, the question is no longer whether to develop a campus app or not. Instead, the debate has shifted to the best--and most cost-efficient--way to make campus applications accessible to the myriad devices and operating systems out there. Schools have a few options: They can develop multiple native app versions;…

Paying for employee turnover costs, data storage, and multiple layers of benefits can be difficult for fiscally constrained institutions, especially as budget cuts and finance-limiting legislation abound in school districts across the country. Many traditional paper-based systems have been replaced with automated, software-based services, helping…

The members of the working group on National Educational Technology Policy continue to base their formulations around entrenched conceptions of education, retaining the language of teachers, students, curriculum standards, specified objectives and the like. Several of those participating in the panel examining the policy report in an earlier issue…

This paper presents a practitioner's view on student system implementations in the Australian university sector. A student information system is a core system of any university and integral to its operations and services to students. These systems are constantly on the list of major projects and at any point in time, a university is either…

In this era of political rancor when everything is a zero-sum game, it is refreshing to think that two parties could actually come together to create a win-win situation. That is exactly what is happening, though, as a number of universities take on the role of application service provider (ASP) for smaller schools. It is not all confetti and…

Most UK universities can trace their current management information systems back to significant investments made in the 1990s, largely fuelled by concerns about the millenium bug and a change from character interfaces to graphical user interfaces following the introduction of the personal computer. It was during this period that institutions also…

Uninterrupted, high-bandwidth network connectivity is crucial for higher education. Colleges and universities increasingly adopt gigabit wireless solutions because of their fiber-equivalent performance, quick implementation, and significant return on investment. For just those reasons, Rush University Medical Center switched from free space optics…

Discusses the use of HPT (human performance technology) to get results that add value. Topics include ISD (instructional systems design) and desired results, other than achieving agreed-on learning objectives; cost effectiveness; systemic approaches; and results that can be seen in the performance of individuals. (LRW)

Discusses needs assessment and evaluation as strategic processes within the human performance technology framework and explains how practitioners can coordinate these two steps to save time and money in performance improvement interventions. Describes a performance improvement framework and how needs assessment and evaluation relate to the…

This paper presents the activities of the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) for 2009. The past year was one of accomplishment for USAC. USAC implemented a host of advances in operations, infrastructure, and outreach in an effort to continue to improve collection and disbursement of the Universal Service Fund (USF) support and to…

Performance technologists like quick, cheap analysis that is rigorous and comprehensive. This article presents the organization scan model which makes successful compromises between the technologist's obligation to be rigorous and comprehensive and the sponsor's obligation to save money and time. Includes "Societal Bottom Line: Measurable…

Describes a cost-benefit analysis study that resulted in unfavorable financial outcomes and discusses how this result became a learning opportunity for human-performance development/performance-improvement professionals in the organization. Considers failure in organizations and learning from failure. (Author/LRW)

Describes a framework to support an object-oriented approach to performance analysis and instructional design that includes collaboration, automation, visual modeling, and reusable Web-based repositories of analysis knowledge. Relates the need for a new framework to the increasing concern with the cost effectiveness of student and employee…

Presents two case studies that show how IBM addressed performance support solutions and electronic learning. The first developed a performance support and expert coaching solution; the second applied performance support to reducing implementation time and total cost of ownership of enterprise resource planning systems. (Author/LRW)