More than ever, faculty and students are working jointly on documents sharing screens in class, swapping course materials and taking their collective pulse through polls. Nevertheless, many faculty members complain that technical support for group projects is lagging on campus, leaving them searching for solutions elsewhere. While some faculty…

There is a civil war simmering in classrooms nationwide. Arrayed on one side are students who would sooner cut off an arm than sacrifice their mobile devices. On the other stand faculty members who expect to be the focal point of their classes and will not abide distractions. Caught in the crossfire are instructional technology professionals.…

Ten years ago, integrating videoconferencing into a college course required considerable effort on the part of the instructor and IT support staff. Today, video- and web-conferencing tools are more sophisticated. Distance education has morphed from audio- and videocassettes featuring talking heads to a more interactive experience with greater…

When school district leaders talk about the potential benefits of "bring your own device" (BYOD) programs, they often mention budget savings and promoting personalized mobile learning. They note that BYOD can expand the boundaries of learning beyond the classroom, however, not many of these leaders mention enhanced student collaboration…

As faculty members add online and multimedia elements to their courses, colleges and universities across the country are realizing that there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that disabled students (and employees) have equal access to course material and university websites. Unfortunately, far too few schools consider the task a top priority.…

With their budgets under increasing pressure, many campus IT directors are considering open source projects for the first time. On the face of it, the savings can be significant. Commercial emergency-planning software can cost upward of six figures, for example, whereas the open source Kuali Ready might run as little as $15,000 per year when…

Internet protocol (IP) network-based cameras and digital video management software are maturing, and many issues that have surrounded them, including bandwidth, data storage, ease of use, and integration are starting to become clearer as the technology continues to evolve. Prices are going down and the number of features is going up. Many school…

In many ways, specialized computer labs are the black holes of IT organizations. Budgets, equipment, employees--even space itself--are sucked in. Given a choice, many IT shops would engage warp drive and escape their gravitational pull forever. While Captain Kirk might have looked to Scotty for a fix to the problem, colleges and universities are…

Each year in judging the Campus Technology Innovators awards, the authors have the privilege of reading through hundreds of fascinating examples of technology innovation on campus. Nominated projects cover the gamut of technology areas, from assessment and advising to wireless and web 2.0. This article presents 11 innovator award winners of this…

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…

Many university officials recognize the need to upgrade their older analog video surveillance systems. In a 2010 survey by "Campus Safety" magazine, half of university respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the quality and coverage of their current video surveillance systems. Among the limitations of analog closed-circuit television…

Implementing a complex business intelligence (BI) system at a small school or one with limited resources can seem daunting. For small to midsize schools and community colleges, a strategic BI initiative may still be an elusive goal. This article discusses how schools with limited resources are making the dream a reality.

With the widespread digitization of art, photography, and music, plus the introduction of streaming video, many colleges and universities are realizing that they must develop or purchase systems to preserve their school's digitized objects; that they must create searchable databases so that researchers can find and share copies of digital files;…