Information TechnologyPromises, Prospects, and Reality

John Bruno

Vice Provost

Information and Educational Technology

University of California, Davis

Information and Educational Technology at UC Davis

• Office of the Vice Provost– Campuswide Information Technology Policy

and Planning– Operations

• Information Resources

• Communications Resources

• Mediaworks (new)

• Repro Graphics

Campuswide Information TechnologyPolicy and Planning

• Information Technology Policy Board

• Academic Computing Coordinating Council

• Administrative Computing Coordinating Council

• Technology Infrastructure Forum

• Network Operations Advisory Committee

Outline

• Historical view of information technology

• Impact on students, faculty, and staff– Tidal Wave II– Instruction– Research– Services– New Business Architecture

A Survey of Technology Trends

• A theory of technology development– Introductory/substitution phase– Infrastructure development phase– Social and economic consequences emerge

• Automobile is often cited– Substitute for horse-drawn carriage– Infrastructure phase: construction of roads and

production and distribution of fuel– Growth of suburbs and decline of urban centers

Information (Digital) TechnologyAn Historical Perspective

The Computer Museum (www.tcm.org)Science Museum, London (www.nmsi.ac.uk)

• 1832, Charles Babbage, The Difference Engine (2000 parts)

1904, Electronic Amplification

• John Ambrose Flemming, Thermionic valveDetection and amplification of radio signals

1944, Electronic Computers

• ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer

• EDVAC, Stored program computer (John von Neuman)

1947, Solid State Technology

• December 23, 1947 at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Shockley, Brattain, and Bardeen successfully tested the point-contact transistor

1955, TRADIC

• In 1955, AT&T Bell Laboratories announced TRADIC, the first fully transistorizedcomputer. It containednearly 800 transistors

1958, Integrated Circuits

• 1958 -- Jack Kilby created the first integrated circuit at Texas Instruments

• 1959 -- Robert Noyce created the firstpractical integrated circuitat Fairchild, allowing theprinting of conductingchannels directly onsilicon

1965, DEC PDP 8

• DEC introduced the firstcommercially successfulminicomputer, the PDP 8

1969, UNIX

• AT&T Bell Laboratories: Ken Thompson and Dennis Richie developed the UNIX operating system on a spare DEC minicomputer

1971, First Microprocessor

• Intel announces the Intel 4004 microprocessor

1970, ARPANET

• UCSB, UCLA, SRI International, University of Utah

• Viewed as resource sharing network

1973, Ethernet

• Robert Metcalf devised the Ethernet at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center

1990, The World Wide Web

The WWW was born when Berners-Lee, a researcher at CERN, the high-energy physics lab in Geneva, developed HTML. The specifications, such as URL and HTTP protocol enabled the WWW application to run over the Internet. It is often called the Killer App of the Internet.

Promises, Prospects, and Reality

• Promises: the information technology revolution will …

• Prospects: free internet access, free internet storage, free email, free long distance calls

• Reality: most of the dot com business models are not sustainable

Short-Term Prospects• Quickening pace of technological developments: deregulation

+ technological innovation + the investment community

• Cheaper and faster computers and networks: speed + memory + bandwidth

• Everyone connected: DSL + cable + wireless

• Integrated network services: video + voice + data

• Accelerated growth of online information, services, and commerce: explosion of information on the Web

Impact of Information Technology on Students, Faculty, and Staff

• Tidal Wave II• Instruction

– virtual university

– content, competition, and controversy

• Research– global communities of scholars

– fosters interdisciplinary research

• Services for students faculty and staff• New Business Architecture

Tidal Wave II

• More students

• More adept with information technology

• High expectations– fueled by new web based business models– faculty and staff workloads

Instruction

• Enhances traditional approach with Web-based online material

• Enhances interactivity and student advising via e-mail, newsgroups, and chat rooms

• Digital libraries provide online repositories, available everywhere and any time

Instruction

• 3D graphics and virtual realities

• Sound Synthesis: Music composition

• The wired classroom: The Anderson School of Management at UCLA

• The wireless classroom

Online Courses

• UCLA Extension advertisement

"All you need is a computer and a modem and we will provide you with software and simple instructions on how to set-up your virtual learning environment. You can choose the time and place to 'attend' class. Whether it is from work or home, you simply collect your coursework, lectures, and submit your assignments electronically--at your convenience! Receive the quality of instruction you expect from UCLA Extension in the comfort of home.

. . .

You will also have the opportunity to visit our online 'student lounge' where fellow online UCLA Extension students from across the nation and around the world meet, share online experiences, and socialize."

Stanford University Online(Advertisement)

• Convenience. Course videos and presentation materials streamed directly to each student's desktop

• Access. Stanford Online Servers

• Navigation. VCR controls

• Video and Graphics. All components in sync

Online Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering Offered by Stanford

University• 30 courses leading to MS in Electrical Engineering

• "We are going to give people in industry the same courses as if they were here on campus," John Hennessy, Dean of School of Engineering, Stanford University (now president!)

• Offer interactive seminars and chat line discussions of relevant topics (the virtual campus experience)

Content• Dennis Tsichritzis, "Universities generate content every

day … Then they throw it away. … Universities operate like renaissance quartets based on live performances."

• Leonard Bernstein's Norton Lectures at Harvard University, "The Unanswered Question"

– presented in 1973 at Harvard

– available in book form and on video tape

• Dante Youla, Lectures in Matrix Theory

– presented in 1968 at Brooklyn Poly

– not available!

Content, Packaging, and Distribution

• Universities are involved in all three– Content: produced by professors and lecturers

– Packaging: courses

– Distribution: presentations to students

• How is this situation changing?– Content: Get best material

– Packaging: Flexible

– Distribution: Locally and Globally via the Web (for now)

Competition

• The education marketplace is big business– Publishers

– Entrepreneurs

– Media companies

• Disruptive Technologies (Clayton Christensen)– how great companies fail

– Sears, Digital Equipment, IBM, etc

– will public universities be next?

Controversy

• David F. Nobel, author of "Digital Diploma Mills: The Automation of Higher Education," says:

"Automation -- the distribution of digitized course material online, without the participation of professors who develop such material -- is often justified as an inevitable part of the new knowledge-based society … the trend toward automation … is a battle between students and professors on one side, and university administrators and companies with 'educational products' to sell on the other."

Impact on Research

• Rapid dissemination of research results via Web– conference papers available prior to meeting– source of information on current research

• Digital Libraries – eliminating need for archival journals – mediated repositories, peer reviewing

• Worldwide communities of scholars

Services for Students, Faculty, and Staff

• Commercial sector rapidly moving products and services online

• Our expectation is that all services be online

• At UC Davis we have developed a student services portal called MyUCDavis

PORTALS• Authentication; sign on with password

• Authorization: what are you permitted to do?

• Personalization: the web pages you see are dynamically created and may present personal information (student portal: grades, financial aid, bursar’s office, etc)

• Customization: the portal can be customized to present only selected information “channels”

MyUCDavis--student services

• MyUCDavis portal provides students with:• personalized and customizable home page

• lists classes that the student is taking

• course scheduling and catalog information

• provides Web-based email

• provides Web-based file storage

• messaging system

• access to financial aid information

• more to come!

MyUCDavis--faculty services

• MyUCDavis portal provides faculty with:• personalized and customizable home page

• lists classes that the faculty member is teaching

• course scheduling and catalog information

• templates to create basic home page for course(s)

• provides Web-based email

• provides Web-based file storage

• messaging system

• more to come!

MyUCDavis--staff services

• MyUCDavis portal provides staff with:• personalized and customizable home page

• provides Web-based email

• provides Web-based file storage

• messaging system

• more to come!

New Business Architecture (NBA)

A new business portal for staff

• Need to re-engineer business processes

• Portal technology can be used to provide consistent and seamless access to services

• No more legacy systems. Promises, promises!

Current Situation

Future View (Promises)

Business Portal

Web browser Web Server Legacy System

Legacy System

Legacy System

Legacy System

Summary

• Pace of technological advances is not likely to slow

• Expectations of constituents are likely to increase

• Traditional approaches will increase faculty and staff workloads

• Increasing competition in education marketplace

Summary

• Investment is essential

• Reengineering of business processes

• Business portal technology (promises, prospects and reality)