As a university CIO I constantly wrestle with the consumerization of information technology. I wrestle with the benefits and the dangers; I wrestle with increased expectations and increased possibilities. It’s hard to imagine a time where the potential for truly paradigm-shifting change was greater. I agree completely with Peter Sondergaard of Gartner who recently said that the impact of consumerization is the single most important trend that will impact IT in the coming decade.
One of the most exciting aspects of consumerization is the convergence of technologies. I recall just a few years ago thinking that combining a cell phone and a camera was a ridiculous idea. After all, who would ever use their phone to take pictures? Well, clearly my ability to read the tea-leaves was very, very wrong. Many of us are just now starting to grasp the power of convergence and I for one don’t want to miss out on the next wave of innovation.
Which brings me to the iPhone. The world’s most hyped device is just starting its season of scrutiny and so far seems to be faring well. Someday I’d like to invite the readers of this blog to explore the impact of ubiquitous deployment of iPhones on a college campus. However, I think we first need to explore what impact they’re having right now in more focused ways.
Is the iPhone just the latest in a long line of consumer devices that will be quickly replaced by the next “shiny toy?” Is the iPhone a truly revolutionary device that will change everything? Is it somewhere in between? Maybe the most important question we’ll have to face involves what indicators we should be using to correctly predict its impact?
At my institution, Abilene Christian University, we’re committed to exploring these kinds of questions and sorting out the answers. We want to look for ways the iPhone can enhance learning, grow community and facilitate administrative tasks. We have several formal and informal research initiatives under way and plan to use this space and others like it to discuss our findings, sharing them with our colleagues at other institutions. I hope that others will join in the discussion with us.
Our students are arriving with these devices at this very moment. They’re weaving them into the fabric of their lives. So the question is, do we embrace these devices and the risk that goes along with them or do we resist the temptation of hype and remain solid and predictable? What do you think is the right strategy and why? We’d love to hear from you…
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Kevin,
Regarding your first question (i.e. indicators of the iPhone’s impact), I think we first need to ask “What impact do we care about?” What exactly do we mean when we say “Is the iPhone a truly revolutionary device that will change everything?” My hunch is that the iPhone will revolutionize what it does best, communication. Content delivery is a little bit trickier. Of course, it would be great for podcasting and distance education purposes. Even then, there are legitimate questions as to whether one-way communication (as seen in podcasts) is a educational model ACU wants to embrace. It seems to me that podcasting as the principle medium for education for a given class is taking us back to the 18th-19th century regarding pedagogical theory. Its a throwback to the old “Sage on the Stage” model where students are passive recipients of information instead of active learners, partnering with their professors in the midst of lecture. But enough on the iPhone as a content-device.
As stated earlier, where I see the iPhone having its greatest impact is in the realm of communication. I believe Steve Jobs himself referred to e-mail as the “killer app” for the iPhone. Many people have pointed out that the device really does nothing new, in terms of what other smartphones can already do, it just does them better. Making a phone call from my Blackberry sucked, but its a breeze from my iPhone. And, of course, the iPhone does email just as, if not more, intuitively than the Blackberry.
With all that in mind, we get to your second question - that is, should ACU embrace these devices or not. In my estimation it all boils down to a good ‘ol Business 101 question: when one is in the business of educating students, what is the value proposition at hand here? Why, when an accounting major graduates, will she be a better accountant because she had an iPhone? Why, when a biochem grad starts her Ph.D. work, will she be a better researcher because she had an iPhone? When our business is educating students, their success is our bottom line.
Maybe, instead of trying to weave the iPhone into education itself, the device can function as a place for cognitive offloading of communication. Instead of wasting time trying to get a classmate’s phone number from facebook first, then google, then, if worst comes to worst, the Hello Book, the iPhone can function as a gateway to that information immediately. The student is then free to use his time doing what he came here to do: study.
If the school is committed to leveraging the what I see as the key value proposition in the iPhone, the destruction of barriers to communication, then I think there is a lot of potential for streamlining education. Students can spend their time learning instead of dealing with various sorts of administrative overhead.
I am interested in seeing where this goes and look forward to being surprised at some of the new and novel approaches to what this device can do in the university setting. Good Luck!
Chas Meyer
I think that focusing on the iPhone is short sighted. Other smartphone devices have the same or more capabilities and not all carrier networks are equal. I agree with what Chas has written and feel that content is king. Provide the data in an easy to get to place and give students access. Don’t be one dimensional and always remember the “big picture” which in this case is enabling students to accomplish more than they think they can.
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