EDUCAUSE is an organization dedicated to supporting Information Technology (IT) professionals in higher education. EDUCAUSE recently held their annual conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO. Attendees were able to discuss a variety of academic support topics with colleagues, attend technical sessions and discuss future products with vendors. Below are a few of the highlights of the conference related to academic technology at Ole Miss.
Highlights
Accessibility – We saw the premier of the video, “IT Accessibility: What Campus Leaders Have to Say” and engaged with the CIOs from the video on their personal experience and continued efforts. We listened to how Penn State University established a campus-wide software license to automate the checking of websites for accessibility. Further, we learned about the current status of Google Apps for Education and their accessibility initiatives. As examples of the technical discussions, university accessibility coordinators are recommending that Microsoft Outlook be used to interface with Gmail and Google Calendar. Also, Amara was a free cloud service recommended for captioning existing online videos.
Blackboard and Open Educational Resources – Blackboard provides open education resources via COURSEsites. Users may access a series of courses focused on the effective use of technology in teaching and learning. Blackboard’s COURSEsites offers a stand-alone course for instructors and content developers that explores what accessibility and universal design mean and how they can be applied to online learning. If interested, sign up for this free course.
LMS Trends – Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Instructure, Moodle Rooms and Sakai were all present on the vendor floor this year. The big buzz was Canvas, Instructure’s learning management system. Most discussions circled around Blackboard Learn vs. Instructure Canvas. During LMS sessions, IT professionals cited reasons why universities are migrating to Canvas (e.g., ease of use, customer support quality) while others are staying with Blackboard (e.g., frequent Canvas interface changes, Instructure is a young company). The University of Maryland is the latest university that is going live with Canvas so there will be more to report on their efforts in the spring.
Lecture Capture – Echo360 was the most widely discussed lecture capture solution among universities attending EDUCAUSE. Session leaders mentioned the high costs involved with making classrooms into lecture capture environments. A low cost alternative from Swivl got a lot of attention. We plan to evaluate Swivl’s solution in the near future.
Mobility Through the Looking Glass – This session covered a faculty cohort program at Purdue University. Faculty applying for the program received an iPad for use in the classroom. They provided program statistics. Additionally, one faculty member discussed the innovating ways of using her iPad in her classroom. Rather than writing a research paper, students used their iPads to create a video documentary of their research. Related, Purdue received funding and implemented an iPad rental program for students.
Funniest Conference Quote – During a presentation of how iPads were provided to Enterprise MBA students at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the presenter was asked how this initiative was funded. The presenter replied, “At Wharton, we may not be first at everything, but we are first in tuition.”
Further Information
EDUCAUSE 2013 will be held in Annehiem, CA. Dr. Kathryn Gates is on the 2013 conference planning committee. Please let us know if you would like to suggest a session topic to highlight academic technology initiatives.