New Opportunities
for Tomorrow’s Colleges
in a world of e-businesses
A Presentation by David G. Brown,
Dean, International Center for
Computer Enhanced Learning
Wake Forest University
@ IBM’s Briefing for
Higher Education
Executive, Palisades, N.Y.
July 26, 1999
New Day!
Our Heyday!
New Day: Times of Rapid Change
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Universal Access to the Network
From Access to Filtering a Flood of Info
Geographic barriers gone
Asynchronous Interaction
Multimedia Learners
Information Filtering Agents
New Day
Big Changes for Higher Education
Democratization of
Access (Ubiquity)
Democratization of
Usage (Course Shells)
New Day!
Our Heyday!
Why Heyday?
Heyday Because--Universities Survive Change
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67 of the 74 oldest organizations!
Distribute authority
Tolerate Kooks
House young people with fresh ideas
House bright people with diverse views
Employ knowledge fountains
What does our own training and experience
teach us about doing e-business in a world
newly enriched by information?
Economist-Princeton
UNC CH
Provost and President--Drake, Miami of Ohio,
Transylvania, UNCA,
Wake Forest
Dean ICCEL
Wake Forest
1998-
1958-67
1967-1998
YOUR TASK: Make Your Own Chart, Then List 3 Ideas about EBusiness in Universities that emerge from your training/experience!
The economist in me says that doing business
in an info-rich society will be different
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Better informed buyers (web browsing)
Better informed sellers (metadata)
More data-based decisions
Faster cycle times
Less geographic loyalty
More interactive transactions
More customization
More specialization (& outsourcing)
THE WAKE FOREST PLAN
F96: IBM 365XD, 16RAM, 100Mhz, 810MB, CD-ROM, 14.4 modem
F97: IBM 380D, 32 RAM, 130Mhz, 1.35GB, CD-ROM, 33.6 modem
F98: IBM 380XD, 64 RAM, 233 Mhz, 4.1GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
F99: IBM 390, 128RAM, 333 Mhz, 6 GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
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Thinkpads for all
New Every 2 Years
Own @ Graduation
Standard Template
IGN for Faculty
Keep Old Computers
• 75% CEI Users
• +15% Tuition
• 4 Year Phase In
1999 Software Load
Netscape 4.5, Dreamweaver 2,
SPSS 9, Maple V 5.1
Windows 98, MS Office Prof 97
Computers Enhance My
Teaching and/or Learning Via-Presentations
Better--20%
More Opportunities to
Practice & Analyze--35%
More Access to Source
Materials via Internet--43%
More Communication with Faculty Colleagues, Classmates,
and Between Faculty and Students--87%
Computers allow people---• to belong to more communities
• to be more actively engaged in each
community
• with more people
• over more miles
• for more months and years
• TO BE MORE COLLABORATIVE
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 1999
With Ubiquity--The Culture Changes
• Mentality shifts-- like from public phone to personal phone.
• Teaching Assumptions shift-- like from readings are on
reserve to everyone owns a copy of his/her own.
• Timelines shift-- like from “our class meets MWF” to “we
see each other all the time and MWF we meet together”
• Students’ sense of access shifts-- like from “I can get
that book in the library” to “I have that book in my library.”
• Relationships shift-- like from a family living in many
different states to all family members living in the same town
Examples from My Own Class
•1247 e-mails
•Cybershow
•One Minute Paper
•Computer Tip Talk
•Joint Editing
Beliefs of 91/93 Vignette Authors
Pedagogy and Philosophy
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From Interactive Learning
Forthcoming June, 1999
From Anker Publishing
David G. Brown, Editor
Interactive Learning
Learn by Doing
Collaborative Learning
Integration of Theory and Practice
Communication
Visualization
Different Strokes for Different Folks
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 1999
The educator in me says that doing business
in an info-rich society will be different
• More Communication
• More Community Loyalty
• More Collaboration
• More Customization
• More Interactivity
New Opportunities
for Tomorrow’s Colleges
in a world of e-businesses
The New Business Environment
• Many Tightknit Communities. Customer
Affinity and Bargaining Groups
• Interactivity Expected. Between customer
and vendor and among vendors’ customers
• Information Filters Everywhere.
Challenge is gaining and maintaining customer
attention
• Worldwide Specialization. Geography less
relevant.
What Business Am I In?
Primary: Linking trusting clients with the
best educational resources and motivating
them to use them. Consolidator!
Secondary: Creating educational resources
for other “consolidators” to buy
Tertiary: Selling auxiliary services such as
meals, overnights, t-shirts, mailing lists
Your Task: Are these your businesses? If not, what are?
Therefore, I should--• Focus on my comparative advantages
• Strengthen ties with my natural constituencies
• Partner with organizations that can provide
outsourcers who understand my infrastructure
• Build a reliable infrastructure
• Enable my “team” to be interactive 7x24
Your Task: You get to sit out this one!
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Specific Actions to be Taken-Empower employees with
- equipment,
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training, and support (democratize)
Partner with “IBM”
Adopt “infrastructure” usable by my clients
Use fast-loading webpages that fit all screens
KISS (both producer and client)
Collect and use Metadata
Test how easily search engines find you
Trade referrals with other sites
YOUR TASK: Extend this List!
More Specific Actions-•
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Create & Join Community Networks
Act on the 80/20 and 20/80 assumption
Customize service to natural constituency
Nurture My Clusters of Learners
Offer e-mail forwarding for life
Use headliners to attract loyalty to site
Build monitored LISTSERVS-- especially
before enrollment and after graduation
• Presume that all information will be shared
Basic Themes
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Heyday
Communication
Customization
Collaboration
Community
Interactivity
Know What Business You’re in
David G. Brown
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, N.C. 27109
336-758-4878
email: brown@wfu.edu
http//:www.wfu.edu/~brown
fax: 336-758-4875
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