posted by Nancy Dick
So BCC’s Center for Information Technology Excellence (CITE) and Microsoft co-hosted an IT Education Conference. Keynote speaker Martin Bean of Microsoft had some interesting things to say:
- employer acceptance of distance education is increasing rapidly
- community colleges are far ahead of liberal arts universities in delivering instruction in ways that work for non-traditional students (who need to time-shift or are place-bound due to work or family)
- students demand relevance and a better sense of progression
- universities have been pretty out of touch with distance ed but are starting to pay attention due to growth in popularity
McKinsey did an analysis of higher ed (note to self, see if UW libraries has access). “To meet the challenges of the 21st century, higher education must change from a system based primarily on reputation to one based on performance.”
The rest of the conference was all stuff I’d seen before, much from MCDM but some from my own teaching experience. Microsoft’s attempt to position itself at the center of the academic experience did not resonate. They demo’d MS Live as a colloboration center, but the interface looks so Word-2003 that it completely lacks the ease of use, functionality, and pleasing graphics of many widget-equipped social media sites. I can’t envision digital-native college students embracing it.
The flip camera did come up as an inexpensive technology tool for instructors using Camtasia (screen recording software) to create online teaching content.
