Dive Brief:
- Research and education networks (REN) can yield significant developments for campus academic operations, but the costs of purchasing and integrating the technology are problematic for some schools, especially smaller private institutions with limited IT budgets.
- Campus IT executives should create relationships with vendors to build a knowledge base of best practices, new technologies and genuine advice about systems that are best for their campuses.
- The continuing evolution of the Internet, and demands for innovative academic service delivery will require CIOs and IT officials to work closely with academic officials to develop the best ed tech campus product for a campus community.
Dive Insight:
Understanding the changing culture of education technology is going to be an emerging priority, and could position CIOs to be in line for presidencies of campuses seeking to build an institutional brand around tech innovation in teaching and learning.
Technology will soon be at the core of student retention, learning materials, faculty appeal and academic rigor, and it will become an increasing emphasis from the federal government to guide families towards certain campuses and learning environments. Schools that research and build towards becoming more digital friendly and access oriented will be best positioned in an uncertain industrial future of higher education.
