Putting a CIO and a lawyer together in the same room may give one the start of a pretty decent joke, but it could also save an institution millions of dollars in legal fees. While the IT chief understands the systems that fall under the purview of compliance, the attorney is the go-to pessimist for identifying the "gotcha" elements when it comes…

The term "open education" has been in use at least since the 1920s, when it emerged as an educational experiment in the Soviet Union. But since the spread of the internet in the late 20th century, open education has come to be inextricably associated with information technology. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Open Educational Resources…

As influenza activity throughout the United States continues its gradual rise, H1N1 in particular has been the risk-management topic of the season for most colleges and universities. Among the questions being asked: Can one continue operations in the event of a campus closure? What if a faculty member is too sick to teach? What if students refuse…

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…

Despite the hype, IP convergence does not happen overnight. Navigating the IP convergence market is not easy. Some network equipment makers are taking traditional voice over IP (VoIP) product lines and rebranding them as unified communications offerings. But beware: While closely related, VoIP and UC are not the same. Generally speaking, VoIP…

Are colleges and universities doing enough to take advantage of Web 2.0 and social networking tools in their recruitment and retention efforts? "Not even close," says Sam Richard, a 23-year-old junior in the College of Public Programs at Arizona State University in Phoenix. Richard is one of six students in ASU's Student Ambassadors for…

Wikis and blogs may be today's Web 2.0 darlings, but forward-looking institutions are going after the next big thing: collaboration in real time. As mainstream technology has advanced and the cost of web conferencing has dropped, a growing number of institutions are finding creative ways to achieve synchronous collaboration. What's more, the…