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Liberal Arts Education and Information Technology

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Liberal Arts Education and Information Technology VIEWPOINT Liberal Arts Education and Information Technology: Time for Another Renewal Liberal arts colleges must accommodate the powerful changes that are taking place in the way people communicate and learn by Todd D. Kelley hree significant societal trends and that institutional planning and deci- Five principal reasons why the future will most certainly have a broad sion making must reflect the realities of success of liberal arts colleges is tied to Timpact on information services rapidly changing information technol- their effective use of information tech- and higher education for some time to ogy. Boards of trustees and senior man- nology are: come: agement must not delay in examining • Liberal arts colleges have an obliga- • the increasing use of information how these changes in society will impact tion to prepare their students for life- technology (IT) for worldwide com- their institutions, both negatively and long learning and for the leadership munications and information cre- positively, and in embracing the idea roles they will assume when they ation, storage, and retrieval; that IT is integral to fulfilling their liberal graduate. • the continuing rapid change in the arts missions in the future. • Liberal arts colleges must demon- development, maturity, and uses of (2) To plan and support technological strate the use of the most significant information technology itself; and change effectively, their colleges must approaches to problem solving and • the growing need in society for have sufficient high-quality information communications to have emerged skilled workers who can understand services staff and must take a flexible and since the invention of the printing and take advantage of the new meth- creative approach to recruiting and press and movable type. ods of communication and informa- retaining such staff. The growing societal • Information technology can help lib- tion management. need for skilled workers who can under- eral arts colleges meet their unique These trends have more serious implica- stand and take advantage of the new mission to help students connect tions for liberal arts education than other methods of communication and informa- ideas and disciplines broadly, think segments of higher education, but because tion management has put pressure on all critically, act responsibly, and com- of their unique mission, liberal arts colleges organizations to attract and retain skilled municate effectively. are more likely to ignore these trends and information services employees as well as • Twenty-first-century workers must be thus run a greater risk of becoming irrele- to help all employees understand the vital well prepared and confident in man- vant, obsolete, and financially unstable. role of information. aging technology and its role in all Thus I believe that it is the responsibility of (3) Information technology must segments of the economy. chief information officers at liberal arts col- become an integral part of the academic • Prospective students and their parents leges to work with their leadership to programs and the life of liberal arts col- need to understand the importance of understand three fundamental tenets leges to ensure information-literate information technology and expect it related to information technology: communities. Graduates must be able to to be integrated into the curriculum. (1) The futures of their colleges are assume appropriate roles in the informa- For these reasons, the role of informa- tied directly to the strategic use of IT tion society. tion technology at liberal arts colleges 42 EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY • Number 4 2000 must undergo a dramatic transformation thermore, using information technology grate technology appropriately into if the colleges are to remain a vital asset can help faculty, staff, and students orga- teaching and learning. This effort has to the nation and the world. While IT nize their thoughts and even improve made some noticeable differences must become integrated into virtually their thinking. already. Providing a combination of every part of institutional operations, it The more progressive liberal arts col- technology and support for integrating must also become a critical component leges include computer hardware and technology into the teaching and learn- of the educational mission. software in their regular operating budget ing process is an essential component of What are the challenges to achieving so that faculty, students, and staff have success. transformational change in this area? access to current IT without having to The interpersonal and face-to-face work at procuring these items themselves. nature of the teaching and learning enter- The Challenge of Cultivating My institution, St. Mary’s College of prise is a basic value of liberal arts col- New Perspectives Maryland, has implemented a three-year leges. Unfortunately, using information A number of challenges exist in applying replacement program for hardware and technology in teaching and learning is information technology to the educa- has purchased blanket licenses for most often viewed as undermining this basic tional mission. Two in particular must be software applications. Knowing that the tenet, perhaps a key reason that faculty at addressed for IT to become part of the college has committed significant liberal arts colleges have not universally overall fabric of the institution: (1) infor- embraced IT as essential to the educa- mation technology must be viewed as an tional process. At present we do not have essential component of the teaching and accurate data to gauge how the faculties learning process, and (2) networking at liberal arts colleges perceive informa- (both institutional and technical) must A well-designed network tion technology and how they use it. At become an integral part of the institu- and server system that my institution we are beginning a sys- tional infrastructure and culture. tematic process of collecting data about is connected to the Internet the use of technology in order to better IT IS MORE THAN AN OPTIONAL is much more than understand the implications. TOOL infrastructure. A major barrier to the integration of NETWORKING IS KEY information technology in the teaching Technological advances, especially the and learning process is that many faculty rapid growth of the Internet, have con- members of liberal arts colleges still view tributed to a growing digital communi- IT as a tool to use or reject in their teach- resources to IT provides a stable technol- cations environment throughout our ing. In many disciplines, with the ogy environment and allows faculty and entire society. Barriers of time and place notable exception of sciences such as staff to feel confident about using infor- are breaking down due to the use of dig- biology, chemistry, and physics, infor- mation technology in their work. ital technology for communications of mation technology is not viewed as But the key to the successful use of IT all types. Connectivity, whether through being essential to teaching, learning, goes beyond software and hardware. wires, wireless, or satellite, is rapidly research, or expression within the disci- Scholarly success is based upon the per- becoming the most critical infrastructure pline. Hardware, software, and the data spective and the knowledge base of the component of all types of enterprises, network are often viewed as a part of the person using it. How can faculty be including government, business, and campus infrastructure—they are there if helped to understand that the computer education. you need them, but there is no impera- can be used for teaching, learning, and How the campus network is con- tive to use them. But a well-designed communicating in a variety of ways that structed, accessed, understood, and used network and server system that is con- rival or even surpass more traditional is especially key to the success of liberal nected to the Internet is much more than methods? arts colleges. In this context a network is infrastructure. It can store, retrieve, and One method for increasing under- much more than infrastructure because classify vital information and function as standing at my institution was the cre- at each moment it must reflect a diverse a synchronous or asynchronous commu- ation of instructional technologist posi- and ever-expanding range of technology nications mechanism for transmitting tions within each academic division. The choices, information access methods, text, visual, and audio information. Fur- role of these positions is to help inte- user needs and knowledge, and the Number 4 2000 • EDUCAUSE QUARTERLY 43 perspective of the liberal arts approach be modified, and information services ber of federal contract businesses sur- to knowledge and learning. The technol- leaders such as librarians and IT staff can rounding the city. ogy per se does not matter at all if peo- help lead the way. The individuals Traditional methods of attracting and ple don’t understand the importance of charged with providing their college retaining information services staff at the network for the future good of soci- communities with all the infrastructure nonprofit institutions are insufficient in ety and its use in furthering the mission support, information resources, and ser- the current context. Job security, health and approach of a liberal arts education. vices necessary for teaching, learning, insurance, and liberal vacation benefits The communities of interest within and communication can join forces in a
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