Podcasts and Strategic Planning, Institutional

In this 35 minute podcast, we feature a speech by Greg Jackson, Vice President and CIO for the University of Chicago. This speech was recorded at the EDUCAUSE 2007 Conference in Seattle, Washington and is entitled, "Things I’ve Screwed Up—and How!".

The abstract:

Recognitions, awards, best practices, best of breed: so engaging, so uplifting, so motivating, so prominently covered. Failures, frustrations, firings, misdirection: so off-putting, so depressing, so demoralizing, so rarely covered. The literature on quality improvement and economist Paul Ormerod’s Why Most Things Fail contend that progress and quality improvement require that we not only seek success but also avoid failure, and therefore that we understand both. In this session, Jackson will offer a different perspective by reflecting on some mishaps and why they occurred.
WINNER: 2007 EDUCAUSE Leadership Award. Award sponsored by SunGard Higher Education, An EDUCAUSE Platinum Partner.

This 41-minute podcast recorded during the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference features Ian Dolphin, Head of e-Strategy, University of Hull, Sarah Porter, Head of Development, JISC - Joint Information Systems Committee, and Malcolm Read, JISC Executive Secretary, JISC - Joint Information Systems Committee speaking on "The e-Framework for Education and Research."

The session abstract:

The e-Framework for Education and Research is an initiative created by public funding bodies in Europe and Australasia. It coordinates information relating how educational institutions across the globe are using technology to support their strategic priorities and how this can be supported by a service-oriented approach to technologies based on open standards. The session will give an overview of the e-Framework and raise some points for discussion.

This 42-minute podcast recorded during the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference features Debra H. Allison, Deputy Chief Information Officer, Miami University, Karen L. Goldstein, Vice President for Business & Finance, Davidson College, Bruce Maas, Chief Information Officer, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Mark S. Walbert, Associate Vice President, Academic Information Technology, Illinois State University in a session titled "IT Strategic Planning: Many Paths, One Destination."

The session abstract:

IT leaders from four universities will discuss IT strategic planning process successes and challenges. This session will explore how to succeed when an institution-wide strategic plan doesn't exist, how to involve the community, and lessons learned, as well as what's still missing from our plans.

This 41 minute recording provides coverage of the 2005 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference Session entitled Portal Growing Pains: Aligning to Your Institutional Goals.

In my second interview with Lori Gee and Terry Hajduk,  we discussed participant questions related to their ELI '05 Fall Focus Session presentation, The Importance of Informal Spaces for Learning, Collaboration, and Socialization. While our first conversation focused on issues of institutional culture, this interview addresses the design process for informal learning spaces. Participants asked Gee and Hajduk to address:

• How widely Gee and Hajduk's views on informal space design are shared across the architect / designer community
• The extent to which architects and designers may be approaching the design process based on "boilerplates from the past"
• The weaknesses of applying business space design models to learning environments, and
• Their starting points for designing a library today, based on contemporary views of informal spaces.

If you would like to view their original presentation in addition to listening to the attached MP3 file, you can access it via the focus session proceedings.

Lori Gee, Learning Environments Strategist for Herman Miller, Inc., and Terry Hajduk, Principal at ARX Design, conducted the general session presentation The Importance of Informal Spaces for Learning, Collaboration, and Socialization at ELI's 2005 Fall Focus Session in Sept. Recently, they joined me to discuss two sets of participant questions stemming from their presentation.

In the first interview, which is attached as an MP3 file, Gee and Hajduk discuss some of the cultural issues related to the design of informal learning spaces. In particular, focus session participants were interested in getting their views on:

• Integrating a student-centered design philosophy into research-centric institutional environments
• Guidelines for piloting informal space design approaches;
• Strategies for getting student input into the design process, and
• Whether assessment findings establish the effectiveness of informal space design approaches in enhancing learning.

As you listen to the interview, you may find it useful to review Gee and Hajduk's original presentation, whi

The attached MP3 file contains the audio from the general session presentation conducted by Lori Gee and Terry Hajduk at the ELI ’05 Fall Focus Session – Design of Informal Learning Spaces. In their presentation, Gee and Hajduk highlighted the following principles as central to the design of effective informal learning spaces:

• The entire campus is a learning environment that provides opportunities for further learning;
• Informal spaces for learning, collaboration, and socialization are critical components of both scheduled and unscheduled campus spaces; and
• Space drives behaviors and behaviors need to change for our society to realize its learning goals.

Gee and Hajduk explored these principles across a range of institutional examples. To view those examples while listening to the file, you can download a PDF file of their presentation from the focus session proceedings.

 The attached MP3 file contains the audio from the general session presentation conducted by Nancy Chism at the ELI ’05 Fall Focus Session. In her presentation, Chism sought to set the context for the design of informal learning spaces in terms of their relation to the institution’s academic mission. She discussed:

• Establishing a shared understanding of what might fall under the heading of "informal learning spaces"
• Thinking about what constitutes the "instituitonal mission" and its various dimensions
• Identifying how institutional mission and space intersect
• Examining different spaces and determining what they say about learning (built pedagogy), and
• Identifying informal learning space issues about which we need a greater understanding.

If you would like to view her PowerPoint slides while listening to the presentation, you can access them through the focus session proceedings. A PDF file with the text from her remarks is also available as part of the proceedings.

 

Nancy Chism, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, served as the opening speaker for the ELI 2005 Fall Focus Session on informal learning space design. Her presentation focused on how an institution could be design its informal spaces to support its academic mission.

Following the session, I interviewed Dr. Chism regarding questions focus session participants submitted about her presentation. In the attached MP3 file, we discuss assessment issues related to informal learning space design and strategies for engaging students in the design process.

In the last 3-4 minutes of the interview, I highlight a few related Web pages. To save a few minutes, you can access those URLs here:

• The EDUCAUSE Learning Space Design Constituent Group homepage (http://www.educause.edu/Community/ConstituentandDiscussionGroups/5983)
• The ELI Learning Space Design topic page (http://www.educause.edu/LearningSpace/5521)
• The ELI 2005 Fall Focus Session Proceedings (http://www.educause.edu/Proceedings/8993)