Technology Master Plan
Campus Survey Written Response Summaries - Question # 5
“In the next five years, how do you see technology
changing the way you live, work, and learn?”
Ubiquity, Integration and Dramatic Change
100 students, faculty or staff believe that in the next five years technology will become ubiquitous,
interconnect most facets of life or will have a dramatic effect on the world as we know it. Many
respondents believe technology will streamline work, help in organizing the home, move books online,
make it easier to attend live events, and change the way teaching and learning happen. The speed of
change was also mentioned as a possible stress point.
Most mentioned words: Life – Lives - Work – Change - Everything – Integrated
Notable quote (student): “Technology is a part of my everyday life now, but in the future it
will be more so. I barely ever take handwritten notes anymore.
Improve or Change Life & Learning. Increase Efficiency
74 students, faculty or staff feel that technology will improve efficiency and make it easier for people to
live, work, and learn. Online learning (possibly less doing and more watching), e-books, and faster and
technology were mentioned as well as increases in online communication. Technology will be more
integrated into the classroom, will affect the way teachers relay information to students and will allow
learning to happen anywhere. There is a fear among some that social skills will be (or have already
started to be) lost. Technology will help save faculty and staff a lot of time so they can do their jobs
quicker and more effectively than before. Paper processes will be streamlined improving efficiency and
reducing waste.
Most mentioned words: Easier – Work – Change – Life – Communication – Learning – Efficient
Notable quote (staff member): “Technology will continue to accelerate the way we live our
lives-making all aspects of life more organized and accessib le for those on board and
frustrating for those who aren't.”
Notable quote (staff member): “Butler does so many things inefficiently and I see technology
possibly playing a HUGE role in streamlining processes, doing away with SO MUCH
PAPER, and saving a LOT of time and energy for faculty and staff to do their jobs much
better and quicker.”
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E-books, E-resources and Paperless
64 people mentioned using less paper, or increased use of e-books and other “digital resources”. Use of
iPad, web books, Kindles, and electronic portfolios were mentioned as ways to decrease paper use.
Many people criticized the continued use of paper for things like payroll and other interdepartmental
processes. Students said that professors should require them to print out fewer lectures, articles, and
other items for classes. Some people would like to see more computer based learning overall.
Most mentioned words: Online – Paper – Paperless – Information – Electronic - Textbooks
Notable quote (student): “While I am not usually a fan of e-books, I think a unified campus
solution for textbooks in digital form would be a boon to students both in terms of cost
and in terms of portability and flexibility. E -Book readers should be heavily subsidized
by the school, but still allow students to choose to use their own if they wish.
Collaborate, Connect & Communicate Anywhere & Everywhere
53 students, faculty and staff mention mobile communication, being able to connect with others from
anywhere and technology’s ability to make it easier to connect with others. Several faculty and staff
mentioned working at home or an increased ability to work on the road as ideas for making their lives
and work both more efficient and less stressful. Some people mentioned “redoing” Blackboard, BUmail
and My.butler so that they are “less cumbersome to use”, easier to navigate or “to have one place to
go”. People would also like to see improved support for a wide variety of technologies (Mac specifically
mentioned).
Most mentioned words: People - Communication – Students – Learning – Connected - Video
Notable quote (faculty member): “Technology will increase the connections between students
and faculty. Those connections will only be as good as the faculty and the staff make
them. It will not be enough to simply make new technological advances available but
faculty need a fundamental reorientation to pedagogy. We need workshops that
combine pedagogy and technology as well as area specific examples of what technology
can do in a variety of classroom settings.”
More Mobile, More Wireless
49 students, faculty or staff think that mobile devices and wireless Internet will be used even more in
the future. They will be able to work, surf the web, watch podcasts and communicate with others from
anywhere. There is also a belief that due to mobile computing, desktops might not be utilized or
required in the future except for specialized purposes. Others want to see more mobile internet
programming (or apps) for handheld devices like cell phones, e-books, iPads, etc. People would like to
have wireless EVERYWHERE on campus. Many respondents put a strong emphasis on mobile
technology being the future of the campus.
Most mentioned words: Students – Portable – Phones – Mobile – Wireless – Devices – Internet
Notable quote (faculty member): “Much more mobile; hopefully we can catch up with what
the students want and how they learn. We need to let go of the misconception that most
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learning occurs in the classroom and we should realize that "seat time" and learning
probably are not related at all. Also support faculty in allowing us to work in places
other than on Butler's campus...continue providing us with technologies that enable us
to do our jobs well regardless of wh ere we happen to be doing them.”
Very Little or No Change
11 people believe that technology will have very little or no effect on the way they live, work or learn in
the next five years.
Notable Quote (faculty member): “I believe it won't dramatically change the way I approach
teaching and learning. I believe that good teaching requires one to know how to reach
students where they are at and if that includes learning to use new technology to reach
them, I'm willing. It just isn't something that I'm motivated by or interested in
personally--unless I see it tied to a purpose beyond, "wow, that was cool."
Concerned or Skeptical
Seven people are worried that there already is or soon will be too little face-to-face interaction between
students and professors, which would take away from the learning experience and weaken
communication skills. One person described students as being “…too dependent on it (technology) and
are rude and disrespectful to the faculty and each other”. Depression due to overuse of technology was
mentioned twice.
Notable Quote (student): “I see us moving more and more steadily away from actually
talking to one another face to face because of social networking. I see a rise in student
depression due to the isolative nature of Internet technology. I see students in the
sciences benefitting greatly from learning how to use new tools before going on to
graduate school. I see Butler consuming more unnecessary energy to keep more
computers up when they don't need to be (after hours, for example). I see our culture
becoming more and more sedentary.”
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Technology Master Plan
Campus Survey Written Responses -- Question # 6
“What can Butler do to best support you in your use of technology?”
Training & Development
102 students, faculty and staff mention wanting more workshops, classes, seminars, or online training
opportunities. These opportunities should be well publicized and available on a variety of schedules.
Mention is made that more specific technology training is needed to address the needs of different
departments including: Panopto, Photoshop, website construction, web exploration, Chalk & Wire,
business applications for MBAs, and Office/productivity applications. People don’t just need to learn
new technology, but also how to incorporate it into teaching, learning & work so they might become
more efficient. A re-occurring criticism is that some training sessions offered in the past move too
quickly or are not offered at convenient times. Personalized or one-on-one training, “cheat” sheets, and
simple computer repair training session were also proposed.
Most mentioned words: Training – Use – New – Help – Classes – Support – Software – Learn – Provide
Notable quote (faculty): “I think we need to bring it (training) to individuals, to
departments and we need to contextualize learning so that it makes sense to peop le in
the language they speak. Also we need to start with purpose and meaning and then
move to technology and not the other way around. Finally, we assume falsely that
students are way ahead of us in technology- so I think it is dangerous for us to proceed
on that assumption.”
Newer, Faster, Better!
91 students, faculty and staff mention in one form or another “implementing new technologies faster”,
“keeping up to date” or “replacing old technology sooner”. Both hardware and software in labs,
classrooms and general Butler computers are mentioned. More mediated classrooms, additional Mac
labs and updating to Snow Leopard, Windows 7, or the latest version of Office were requested by some.
Students request more affordable access to the latest software they need for classes for use on their
personal computers (comparisons to IU and their discount program were made). Eight people
mentioned that the “hang up in logon on campus PCs” is frustrating and many students, especially those
with a time crunch to get to class, are frustrated when trying to use them.
Most mentioned words: Software – Computers – Technologies – Wireless – Classrooms
Notable quote (staff): “I think that one thing is we need to go back to the 3 to 4 year cycle
of replacing, or at least upgrading faculty/staff computers. We also need to have easy,
affordable access to the latest software upgrades. More and more people are also doing
work at home and we need to be able to have software to use there too. I understand
that some faculty will be able to obtain notepad type compu ters and if some are, then
anyone that demonstrates a need should be able to obtain one. It seems sometimes that
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some departments or colleges are treated preferentially when it comes to new
technology.”
Access to Technology Resources on and off Campus
76 students, faculty and staff mention wanting Wi-Fi everywhere, access to subsidized software
(specifically for Adobe products & other high end software), improved access to digital media
equipment, or mobile devices and software for faculty & staff working from home or on the road.
Improving wireless was mentioned more than any other resource. Requests were also made for
mediating all classrooms and keeping all technologies (including lab equipment, musical instruments,
mixers, etc.) up-to-date.
Most mentioned words: Software – Wireless – Computers – Lab – Space – Classrooms - Internet
Notable quote: (student) “Butler should work to stay on top of the latest technological
advancements. It won't do the students any good to graduate having mastered one
technological program when that program is already becoming obsolete.”
Support
Overall, students, staff and faculty would like support for specific things such as printers, smart phones,
Macs, websites, etc. For general IT support, people want knowledgeable individuals who are willing to
help, that will respond to requests in a timely manner, that provide current information and updates,
and are there to support new hardware and software. Speed of problem resolution, printers that don’t
work and the speed of lab computers were all mentions as things that could use improvement. Based
on comments it appears many people consider “training” the same as or similar to “support”.
Bottom line: “Make sure everything works”.
Notable quote (student): “Be there when technology breaks on me and help me understand
why it happened, how to fix it, and how to prevent it from happening again, if possible.”
Communication
Some students, faculty and staff want improved communication with regard to technology. Everything
from what new resources and instructional methods are available to how to capitalize on these new
technologies, get training or get help. Sending out a monthly email with tips, newsletters, webinars, etc.
were all mentioned as ways to communicate. Also requested was improving communication with the
Help Desk and when requesting technology or equipment for classrooms. Some people don’t believe
online guidance is as helpful as face-to-face or good phone help. “Keep us up-to-date on new
technologies” is mentioned repeatedly.
Notable quote (faculty): “A more efficient means of communication. For example, requests
are made by professors far in advance, to teach in classrooms with adequate technology.
However, when the semester starts, it is often the case that the professor does not get
ANY of the technological mediated rooms that were initially requested. There seems to
be a communication problem in assigning technology -mediated classrooms.”
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Notable quote (student): “I would like to see more information put online where it is
convenient to access, especially information that changes regularly.”
Notable quote (faculty): “Distribute a short newsletter periodically that highlights new
technologies available on campus or old technologies that are underutilized.”
Utilize & Simplify
Students, staff and faculty noted students that may not be familiar with the technologies that are
available and thus cannot utilize them. In particular, greater utilization of Panopto, TMA, online forms,
my.butler, calendaring, student IDs (card access) and electronic payroll were mentioned because of their
potential to make teaching, learning and work more effective.
Notable quote (staff): “Allow for online submission of forms to the business and purchasing
offices, rather than hard copy. It would save a ton of paper and filing space and
keeping electronic files is standard now. Why not just use electronic signatures? ”
Notable quote (staff): “Create and implement an electronic payroll system… Besides
recording accuracy in hours (thus saving money over time and allowing us to address
unprofessional behaviors when a person shows up late and leave early) we also would
save loads of paper each year. For my staffs alone I have to use 2,880 pieces of paper
for payroll each year… Furthermore this would save payroll office employees from
having to input payroll information on payroll vouchers each week thus eliminating the
margin for error in terms of accidentally sending employers vouchers listing wrong pay
rates which happens usually once each pay period.
Various Other Sample Quotes
(faculty): “It might also be helpful to have more demonstrations of how technology smart boards, discussion boards, etc. can be best used in the classroom. A greater
emphasis on teaching with technology would be nice.”
(staff): “…make the use of technology (especially as a form of communication) required
for staff and faculty members. It should be mandated that those working at the
University be required to receive some form of training on the new technology util ized
at the University. Yes, it is constantly changing, but we are University and faculty/staff
cannot stay in the dark ages!”
(student): “Require teachers to allow electronic drop box with papers rather than
printing them out. Teach them, if they are conf used, how to use Blackboard and other
means of communicating with the class. Allow students to type notes in class on their
laptops but at the same time require them to agree to not use the internet during class,
which disturbs them and others.”
(student): “…it would be nice if all of the professors used blackboard in consistent ways.”
(student): “Make Butler's technology compatible with Macs. My internet won't stay
connected and it's not just mine. The whole mac community struggles to stay connected
because the technology isn't compatible.”
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(staff): “Go electronic with some of the student employment forms - the university's
internal forms that have nothing to do with government such as the infamous "rehire",
"confidentiality statement", and "work authorization" forms. We have to complete this
paper work at the beginning of each school year and every summer for all employees
even those who have already been working for us. “
(student): “Begin to offer full support to smart phones. Invest in higher band-with, and
much faster internet. Continue wireless expansion, upgrade existing wireless
technology to support the faster internet band -widths. Life is becoming more fast
paced, and faster internet is key.”
(student): “I really think Blackboard, BUmail, and my.butler need to be more
compatible. For example, when one of my professors posts something on Blackboard, I'd
like an advisory to be sent to my email. I think it would speed things up so much!”
(student): “Stop requiring so much! This e-portfolio and such is unnecessary. We are the
technology generation. If we don't know how to organize and backup files we should not
be at this level of education. Making sites such as Blackboard more versatile would be
helpful- I have had to use blogger and gmail for sharing files in discussions and it would
be cool if blackboard could handle everything from excel to access to adobe to imovie to
word to... with a discussion/text comments capability. But don't waste money on it if it
is too expensive, since google is completely compatible with all most anything we would
ever use.”
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