Many people view the Internet as a “disruptive technology.” For many people, that carries a negative connotation. Let’s take a brief look at one current example of this phenomenon. The issue of privacy for students who live in on-campus residence halls is a familiar issue to most campus administrators. It’s a topic that nearly all… Continue reading National Awareness of a Local Issue
Virtual Tours
A few weeks ago, Xingpu Yuan and Mary Madden of the Pew Internet & American Life Project released a memo with the results of a recent survey they conducted about “Virtual Tours.” Although they don’t seem to give a strict definition of “virtual tour,” their data indicate that over half of American Internet users have… Continue reading Virtual Tours
ResNet Outsourcing
I’ve recently been thinking about the state of ResNet outsourcing. There is very little data about this topic and it doesn’t seem to come up very often in the ResNet community but it’s out there. Allow me to take you on a brief tour of the available data and my thoughts. A few recent items… Continue reading ResNet Outsourcing
NASPA Technology Knowledge Community
Earlier this week, NASPA approved a new Technology Knowledge Community. Within NASPA, Knowledge Communities are self-organized groups dedicated to particular topics or areas of knowledge. Knowledge Communities gain access to NASPA resources such as webspace, listservs, and limited funding for educational programs and resources. Apparently there was previously a Technology Knowledge Community but it folded… Continue reading NASPA Technology Knowledge Community
EDUCAUSE Core Data Service FY2005 Summary Released
EDUCAUSE’s Core Data Service is the premiere source of data for and about information technology in higher education. Their very-cool web interface that allows you to generate custom reports is only available to those who submit data for each institution but each year they release an Summary Report chock full of details and tables. The… Continue reading EDUCAUSE Core Data Service FY2005 Summary Released
Speech codes
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) recently released a report entitled “Spotlight on Speech Codes 2006: The State of Free Speech on our Nation’s Campuses.” The data that underlie this report come from a FIRE survey of “over 330 schools” with findings that “an overwhelming majority…explicitly prohibit speech that, outside the borders of… Continue reading Speech codes
Successful podcasts for Student Affairs?
If we podcast, do they listen? Brock Read of the Chronicle recently touched on this topic when he mentioned a recent Business Week article and a Chronicle article both detailing some research and statistics about podcasts and how people listen to them (much of the data in the Business Week article comes from a recent… Continue reading Successful podcasts for Student Affairs?
A Tenuous Connection With Digital Rights Management
One topic of interest among a small group of academics and students is the emerging technology known as “Digital Rights Management” or DRM. As explained by Sean Captain in his New York Times article “So Much Music, So Few Choices,” DRM is “technology that protects copyrighted works by preventing unlimited duplication.” It’s a bit more… Continue reading A Tenuous Connection With Digital Rights Management
Inspired by Rejection? Or Merely an Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Like several hundred other ACPA and NASPA members, I submitted a program proposal for the upcoming Joint Meeting. Like many other programs, the main topic of my proposed program was Facebook. My program specifically centered on two points: Introduction and discussion of relevant historical and contemporary computer-mediated communications (CMC) research. This is important not only… Continue reading Inspired by Rejection? Or Merely an Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Divisions and Gaps
Jakob Nielsen‘s latest “Alertbox” article is entitled “Digital Divide: The Three Stages.” In this (very brief) article, Nielsen posits three types or stages of divides that “alienate huge population groups who miss out on the Internet’s potential:” Economic Divide Usability Divide Empowerment Divide Nielsen argues that the Economic Divide is largely a non-issue in modern… Continue reading Divisions and Gaps