In This Issue Current Issue Archives

April, 2008

The Edutech Report - April, 2008 - Full Issue PDF
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The Full Cycle of Helpdesk Management
By Thomas Warger
Most discussions about helpdesk management concentrate on methods and tools for problem tracking, institutional versus outsourced staffing, and scope of service provided. But while these topics represent the core of helpdesk issues, there are more considerations—particularly “downstream” from the problem resolution activity—that round out the full cycle of helpdesk management.

Quotes of the Month
control of intellectual capital; learning and technology

Newsbriefs
Daniel Atkins to Receive Paul Evan Peters Award; Call for Papers for Online Learning

Pathways to Innovation: Instructional Technology
By Thomas Warger
Faculty, according to an old truism, are most readily convinced by other faculty in matters of pedagogy. But how do technological innovations in instruction arise? How do they spread? What role should IT support organizations play in the transformation of instruction? Will faculty lead or follow innovations in the future?

CIO Leadership Series: Choosing Where to Make a Difference
By Thomas Warger
The position of chief information officer is for generalists. The job description all but asks for a miracle worker, or at least someone with a daunting range of skills and experience. The work includes a difficult mixture of standard managerial tasks, a great deal of specialized knowledge, and the mandate to lead the institution into the uncharted terrain that is the future of information technology. If the library is part of the portfolio, the job scope is even wider.

Pathways to Innovation: Administrative Technology
By Thomas Warger
The first automations of administrative work often matched innovative staff in financial offices or student records with programmers able to work in almost one-to-one relationships. In this way, early developments in administrative technology tended to follow established workflows and to incorporate the wishes of technically inclined staff. Computer user groups shared code, but nearly everyone presumed that every institution and office would have its own characteristic software.

Edutech Responds
Managing Faculty and Student Web Pages; Responsibility for Classroom Equipment; Working With ERP Data; Printing Charges