Top 2011 Trends for IT in Higher Ed
We at Monitis recently introduced a handy Android app that you can download for monitoring servers and networks. Perhaps you saw the news?
Well, because one of our most important customer bases is academia, I was recently reading about top IT trends that higher-ed IT pros are predicting for 2011, and lo and behold there was something about Android devices and tablet technologies (the iPad) and how important they are for the new generation of students who rely on mobile devices in the classroom (no more notebooks…I mean the old-fashioned kind you write in with a pen!).
Rasmussen Has Big IT Development Plans for 2011
In the article, Hap Aziz, director for the school of technology and design at Rasmussen College in Wisconsin, said he plans this year to integrate more tablet technologies into his school’s classrooms in 2011. Aside from the iPad, Aziz sees the new slew of Android tablets as potential tools for students and educators.
“These Android devices are still somewhat pricey,” said Aziz, in the article, “but definitely show the democratization of technology (beyond just Apple products) and prove how portable and accessible innovation is becoming for college students.”
And on the Cloud front, the school will implement virtual labs and other Web-based classroom support tools. For example, it is looking to digitize its library, and give students remote access to the data. Aziz acknowledged that many universities revere traditional libraries, but he noted that non-traditional students need state-of-the-art resources that go beyond the “traditional four walls and a roof.”
The IT initiatives will help the school save money, and also give students a “consistent view of the curriculum matter and materials across the board,” said Aziz, and provide for simpler classroom management. “This consistency would be [impossible] to achieve in the traditional classroom environment, where students are geographically dispersed and working on different pieces of equipment with multiple software versions.”
Boy, campus life sure is different than when I went to school. I’m glad today’s generation is getting the full benefit of remote access to technology, and at the same time, enjoy the comfort and security of affordable server, network, cloud platform and other types of monitoring.
