July 2004

The full July issue of Edutech in PDF format

Writing That Annual Report
By Thomas Warger
Every academic year opens with hot topics, new plans, fresh optimism and ends quietly, several weeks after the students have gone away, with an annual report. In most years, and under most circumstances, this document will be read once quickly by a dean or president, also busy wrapping up the past year. If leadership is changing, the year was not a good one, or the budget was seriously overrun, the scrutiny is bound to be a bit sharper. Sometimes the CIO writes the annual report solo; other times IT department heads are tasked with writing their own sections. But whatever the conditions surrounding its composition, the annual report is undeniably a chore.

Newsbriefs
HP AWARDS $10 MILLION IN TECHNOLOGY GRANTS FIRST-EVER MILLENNIUM TECHNOLOGY PRIZE GOES TO TIM BERNERS-LEE EDUCAUSE COMMENT SENT TO FCC ON INTERNET SERVICES

Why Information Technology Still Matters In Higher Education
By By John Meerts
Recently, an article appeared in the Harvard Business Review with the provocative title: “IT Doesn’t Matter.” Nicolas Carr, the author, argues that technology has become infrastructure, much like electricity. An organization or institution cannot live without it. But unlike the early days of the information technology explosion, it is difficult to obtain strategic advantages from investments in information technology because everybody has already incorporated strategic uses of IT into their business processes. Carr’s article created quite a firestorm; Jack McCredie, one of the leaders in higher education information technology, who wrote an article in response in EDUCAUSE Review, detailed some of the responses to Carr’s article and also concluded that IT matters a great deal “simply to be in the game and compete.”

Quotes of the Month
Education technology pet peeves

Edutech responds
Preventing audio-visual problems in large performance spaces, tips for smoothing out the delivery of new computers, dealing with vendors.