ITS Newsletter

According to a recent study by the Institute for the Future, 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t even been invented yet. It is clear to me that the liberal arts focus on teaching students how to learn is more important than ever, and that technology skills and overall information literacy are essential parts of that. In this issue of the ITS Update, we will focus on the ways that ITS is helping Carleton’s students to be successful.

Technology is always changing. We all know that, but it’s good to be reminded of that in depth now and then. 20 years ago, the move from CD-ROM to DVD was a big deal and now DVDs are passé. What are the top issues in 2018?

I recently returned from EDUCAUSE, the national conference for higher ed IT.  The conference had a terrific app, which allowed me to search by topic or speaker and to add my own appointments with vendors and former colleagues.  Another reminder of how technology, applied well, can enrich our lives. It’s not about the technology, it’s about what it can do for us.

This has been a busy summer for ITS, as I’m sure it has been for all of us. We’ve been supporting construction efforts, upgrading labs and working on projects such as CUBE.  We took time to reflect on 2016-17, compiling the key accomplishments into an Annual Report and changing some processes, such as how we test changes to classroom technology. We also brought in a WiFi consultant, adjusted our Helpdesk queue and are offering weekend hours to get the school year off to a good start. It’s been busy, but productive! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone back on campus. Welcome back! 

This has been a busy year at Carleton and in ITS.  We started the year with a new email system, the College celebrated its 150^th anniversary, and the country elected a new President. And during the Spring, ITS has been working with departments on the rollout of Dropbox, the College has been humming with three significant construction projects, and the country experienced the first 100 days of its “tweet-inclined” President.  In the midst of all that, you may have missed some of the enhancements ITS made this year.

We all know the saying “April showers bring May flowers.” I have heard that metaphor used many times as a way of recognizing that something unpleasant can lead to something wonderful. Let’s talk for a minute about how that phrase applies to technology at Carleton these days.

In our November issue I started by saying: “We live in a world where some things rarely change and some things, like my profession, change very quickly. The constant is that we are people who are engaging in the service of something bigger than ourselves.” At the time I was setting up a comparison of how much technology has changed during Carleton’s 150 years of existence. But we’ve seen a different lens on change during the past two months. With such big issues at stake, why do I think technology should demand some of your attention?

One of the realities with technology is that it is additive. The Microsoft Office suite and email didn’t go away when people started tweeting.  There are an expanding number of things to learn and to maintain. In fact, technology often creates entirely new ways of interacting.

When my family went on vacation to San Francisco this summer, I thought I would be setting aside my focus on technology for a week.  But wouldn’t you know that technology is everywhere!  I suspect that many of you had similar experiences with technology this summer. Whether it was the move to Gmail or an obsession with Pokemon GO, my guess is that you explored something new, perhaps in a way that made technology a conduit but not the focus of your interaction.

We are beginning the migration from Zimbra to Google and the move of files from Collab to Dropbox and Google Drive. We are now in a world where communications also happen on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and websites.  This is an opportunity to reflect and reinvent.