James L. Morrison (morrison@unc.edu)
Wed, 21 Apr 1999 13:46:44 -0400
From: "James L. Morrison" <morrison@unc.edu> Subject: 7-1 Issue of On the Horizon Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 13:46:44 -0400
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Below is a description of the January-February issue of On the Horizon,
which is available at http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/online/html/7/1
You may be in an organization with an institutional online subscription,
which you can see at http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/subscribe.asp If you
are not, ask your librarian to request a 60 day trial subscription, which
will allow everyone in your organization to have access to OTH On-Line
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We constantly seek articles describing signals of change on the horizon
that can affect educational organizations. Please consider writing for us.
See our call for manuscripts at http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/write.asp
Please forward this announcement to colleagues who could benefit from On
the Horizon.
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ON THE HORIZON The Strategic Planning Resource for Education Professionals
November/December 1998
IN THIS ISSUE:
The Technology Revolution: The George Washington University Forecast of
Emerging Technologies
Michael Kull and William E. Halal
According to Kull and Halal, revolutionary innovation—driven primarily by
advances in information technology (IT)—is currently underway in all
scientific and technological fields. Recognizing that fact is one thing;
being prepared for the impact that IT developments will have on education
is quite another. The authors explain how the George Washington University
Forecast of Emerging Technologies, a unique program that issued its first
report in 1990, uses the expertise of technology specialists to identify
emerging technologies that will impact GWU over the next three decades.
For any educational administrator feeling overwhelmed by the Technology
Revolution, this article provides essential information on how to cope
with changes that will do nothing less, Kull and Halal contend, than
"transform modern civilization."
The Role of Technology in Education Today and Tomorrow: An Interview with
Kenneth Green, Part II
James L. Morrison
Kenneth Casey Green and James L. Morrison continue their conversation
about the use of information technology tools in education (for the first
installment of this interview, see the September/October 1998 OTH). Green
readily admits that "infusing technology into the educational
experience—in K-12 and in higher education—is not like a surgical or
pharmaceutical intervention. To date there is no . . . definitive
technology that consistently and reliably improves academic achievement
and learning outcomes." He convincingly argues, however, that it would be
"foolish" to reduce investments in IT-based learning, which provides
individualized instruction, asynchronous learning, enhanced content, and
information-rich resources. Green is the founder/director of the Campus
Computing Project, the largest continuing study of the role of information
technology in American higher education.
Will Universities Be Relics? What Happens When an Irresistible Force Meets
an Immovable Object?
John W. Hibbs
Peter Drucker predicts that, in 30 years, the traditional university will
be nothing more than a relic. Should we listen or laugh? Hibbs examines
Drucker's prophesy in the light of other unbelievable events, including
the rapid transformation of the Soviet Union "from an invincible Evil
Empire into just another meek door-knocker at International Monetary Fund
headquarters." Given the mobility and cost concerns of today's students,
as well as the growing tendency of employers to evaluate job-seekers'
competencies rather than their institutional affiliations, Hibbs agrees
that the brick-and-mortar university is doomed to extinction.
The Data Warehouse Revolution on the Web
John H. Milam, Jr.
Some call it the "holy grail" for educational planners, and they are not
talking about a loyal administrative assistant. Instead, the new
technological object of reverence is the data warehouse: an online
repository of useful management information that, with the advent of data
streaming on the Web, has become both accessible and affordable. Milam
evaluates the products that enable data streaming; he also applauds
innovative data warehouse projects at the University of Minnesota and
George Mason University.
Implications of the Attack on Tenure
Laurence R. Marcus
Marcus examines every side of the debate about tenure in higher education,
citing the reasons supporters give for maintaining—and opponents give for
abolishing—this once-sacred practice that recently has grown so
controversial. He suggests that, in order to find a resolution to this
debate, educational administrators may begin to emulate elected public
officials who regulate the terms and conditions of their staff's
employment. "When Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell negotiated a city workers'
contract that previously had restricted the administration's ability to
monitor staff performance and improve productivity," Marcus writes, "he
was hailed as 'the mayor who knew how to reinvent the American city."'
Will university administrators follow suit, renegotiate faculty contracts,
and use as leverage the big stick of abolishing tenure? Marcus weighs the
odds.
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