From the Vice Chancellor
Since
late 2003 a small group of us has been attempting to work through the
implications in the medium to long term of our commitments to the use of
online technologies in teaching and learning and to e-business strategies in
service and in administration. As we have discussed our considerable
progress in these areas in the last decade and the international literature
about innovations and developments in moving online we have come to realise
that we face some major strategic decisions.
One critical decision is
about capital development. As the Blueprint 2005 program moves to its
conclusion we must begin to plan for 2005-2015. This time, however, we must
confront more directly the balance between investment in IT infrastructure
and in capital stock. In particular there are major implications for our
capital planning of our commitments to student centred approaches and to
flexible delivery.
We must also confront the question of how to get most value from the use of IT in teaching and learning. Too often, IT has been simply added to existing teaching practices without consideration of how best to use the new developments to lighten academic workload and improve learning outcomes for students. UniSA needs to consider what steps should be taken to ensure both qualitative improvement and labour-saving outcomes. We cannot be satisfied with changes that are simply 'as good as' existing approaches. Our experience in the last few years in our administrative systems shows that we gain most from applying IT developments when our processes are re-engineered to gain the full benefits such developments can offer.
Finally we must face the challenge of using online approaches in teaching and learning to improve course quality and contain costs. We cannot afford to reinvent the wheel every time a course is taught, particularly as we typically deliver a course in a range of contexts and with numerous staff.
A paper is being drafted to allow us to have a discussion about the implications of developing an online strategy which brings together the institution's educational and administrative future needs, the existing online systems available within the university, international standards for online products available in the marketplace, and staff work practices, in such a way that an ongoing online development process can be described. The strategy must be a roadmap for the online environment for the entire university, not just a listing of separate digital services, and it must include the implications for resource allocation and capital development.