Critical Analysis of “Top 10 IT issues”
I decided to do my critical analysis on “Top 10 IT issues”. My primary reason for choosing this report is because I do come from an academic background and I have had some brief dealings with the IT group. I had got a sense from my dealings with them that they were always under pressure and there was always a lack of appropriate personnel. From reading this report I can see why. The report helped me to understand the constraints that they are under while trying to evolve their intitutional IT program to meet the ever-evolving changes of technology.
While I don’t think this particular report would solely help my professional success, I do think it something to keep in mind when developing applications for either schools or post-secondary institutions. If I was a company who was developing courseware for post-secondary institutions, I would keep these issues in mind and ensure that I create a platform or program that can easily be incorporated into the instution without taxing IT’s already dwindling resources. Furthermore, these types of reports can tell me what kind of resources and support would need to be provided to institutions.
While this report speaks about the pressures IT groups face in a general way, I think it is important for companies to know the unique IT issues each institution faces. Depending on its size and available funding, IT groups in different institutions may face different issues.
The report also made me think about the IT issues faced by elementary and secondary institutions. I believe that the report was addressing the concerns in post-secondary institutions, but I am sure that many of the issues raised can affect elementary and secondary schools even more. The public school system faces numerous funding issues and they do not have the luxury of having extensive IT groups that post-secondary institutions have.
Juliana.
Posted in: Week 02: The Edtech Marketplace
jarvise 10:28 am on September 13, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Juliana,
Your posting prompted me to take a look at the report. Your comment about IT issues faced by k-12 schools hit home with me. When delivering a professional development session recently, the top barrier identified by teachers for implementation of more web 2.0 teaching and learning strategies was reliability of the internet connection and security issues. Apparently the issues surrounding students loading apps on their computers and mobile devices to get through the network security are paramount. The connection speed is then being crippled by excessive downloading. Its unfortunate, because while we want to encourage students to use their own devices, we will not be able to do so effectively if there is not a solution found for these problems. In the article, security was described as a problem that was “big, and getting bigger” so apparently this is a universal issue. If someone could come up with a cost-effective solution to this problem (other than “don’t use your own devices”) it would be helping a lot of people.
Emily
Juliana 1:41 pm on September 13, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
It is true that k-12 schools lack of IT support is a huge issue. I remember that when I was doing my practicum, I had created all my lessons in powerpoint, utilizing videos and images. The problem was that the classroom I was using wasn’t set up for a projector. I had to set up everything from scratch for all of my classes.
Now with the advent of our mobile phones and apps, the technological landscape is completely different and the public schools just don’t have the support that they need to keep up. It usually falls on the shoulders of the Tech teachers who are already taxed to the limit, which is not really fair.
Juliana.
bcourey 5:40 pm on September 13, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Reassuring to hear that our teachers are not the only ones finding these barriers that cause so much frustration. The article does not provide solutions to the issues, but at least can help institutions consider each of them before they make decisions that can impact our schools negatively.
Everton Walker 8:30 pm on September 13, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Juliana,
Well said! The issues are broad-based and cover every level of the education spectrum. I think that these issues are here to stay based on the resource distribution pattern and the rapid advancement of educational technologies. The public schools will continue to take a battering from this wave especially in underdeveloped countries. Should we accept these issues or it is pointless trying to resolve some of them?
Everton