EDUCAUSE | Help Desk

EDUCAUSE Now Premier Episode Launched

cluckett — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:42:13 -0500

EDUCAUSE Now is a new monthly audio podcast that covers news, resources, people, and events related to IT in higher education. The premier episode, launched last week, focuses on topics such as future learning, peer-to-peer file sharing and big broad band, the help desk in higher education IT, and more. Listen now or subscribe to the EDUCAUSE Now RSS feed.

EDUCAUSE Now - Show #1 - Premiere Episode

gbayne — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:46:49 -0500

Welcome to the premiere episode of EDUCAUSE Now!

EDUCAUSE Now is a monthly podcast, focusing on the intelligent use of information technology in higher education. Each episode features a variety of stories, interviews, and views that relate to IT in higher education. EDUCAUSE Now will also inform you about upcoming events, report on past events, and feature the movers and shakers in policy, teaching and learning, security, and a whole host of other important topics for our members. Let us know what you would like to hear at podcast@educause.edu.

This episode of EDUCAUSE Now features:

The EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) Study entitled, "Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education"
We talk about some of the surprising findings with ECAR Fellow and author of the study, Mark Sheehan.
ELI in Conversation: Future Learning
A conversation between George Siemens, director of the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba, and Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. This conversation was recorded at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2008 Annual Meeting. George Siemens is the author of "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age", and - Michael Wesch has produced two important videos on Web 2.0, "Information R/evolution" and "The Machine is Us/ing Us." You can listen to the full length podcast of this conversation.
A Commentary from EDUCAUSE President Diana Oblinger.
Diana introduces herself as the new president of EDUCAUSE and provides some background information on her career path. She also speaks about her vision for the future of EDUCAUSE.
The EDUCAUSE Policy Office: Update
We check in with EDUCAUSE Vice President Mark Luker regarding current hot topics -- federal broadband policy, net neutrality, and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. You can read the EDUCAUSE report, "A Blueprint for Big Broadband", and visit the talking points for P2P filesharing issues.
Music for EDUCAUSE Now:
- "Groove IT" by Denis Kitchen
- "Lorge" by El Ten Eleven
- "Guitar Suite I, Movement I" by Dan Tharp

ECAR Publishes Study on the IT Help Desk in Higher Education

cluckett — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:04:51 -0600

EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) has published the new study, Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education. This study explores the information technology (IT) help desk as a complex enterprise operating within a dynamic environment that includes the goals and culture of the central IT organization, the resources and services of the help desk, service level agreements between help desks and their clients, practices for evaluating and improving help desk services, and the perceived success of the help desk organization. Findings are related to the principles and practices of IT service management literature. This study is based on a literature review to identify issues and establish the research questions, consultation with selected higher education chief information officers, a quantitative survey of IT administrators at 454 colleges and universities in the EDUCAUSE database, qualitative interviews with 36 executives at 24 institutions, and four case studies about help desk and service management practices at a total of five higher education institutions.

The study is available to ECAR subscribers and through purchase, but the key findings and roadmap are publicly available. Visit ECAR on the Web.

E2006 Podcast: Self-Help Clinics

Carie417 — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:17:21 -0600

In this 35 minute recording from the 2006 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Session, we’ll hear from Kimberly Brookes and Susan Lees in a session entitled, “Self-Help Clinics: A Pragmatic Approach to Student Support.” Brookes and Lees explain how Simmons College is teaching students to take charge of their own technology in guided self-help clinics on campus.

E2005 Podcast: Stretch Your Staff with a Departmental Liaison Program

podcaster — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 18:23:34 -0600

This 41 minute recording provides coverage of the 2005 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Session entitled Stretch Your Staff with a Departmental Liaison Program.

E2005 Podcast: Transformation of Help Desk Services at Rutgers University

podcaster — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:14:00 -0600

This 43 minute recording provides coverage of the 2005 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Session entitled From the Pit to the Pinnacle: Transformation of Help Desk Services at Rutgers University.