Preparing for the Revolution: Information Technology and the Future of the Research University (2002)

One example is the increased ability to disseminate misinformation over the Internet. At the same time, the success of Snopes.com, a web site that debunks urban legends, illustrates how the Internet can aid in establishing the accuracy or inaccuracy of information. In the academic world, information technology tools have been developed to facilitate and thwart plagiarism (Foster, 2002).

This is not to imply that institutions and their faculty do not currently value learning. Still, at research universities the relative importance put on research and publishing in tenure decisions is significant, and anecdotal evidence indicates that the emphasis on research may be growing (Wilson, 2001). Nevertheless, the potential for change is illustrated by the emergence of courses in which students from several institutions in different parts of the world learn collaboratively (Cogburn, Levinson, Atkins, and Wielbut, 2001).

University researchers in a range of fields have been, and continue to be, “lead users” of new technology (Benner, 2001); the Internet, for example, first emerged as a research application of information technology. Similarly, computer networks are used to enhance libraries’ intellectual resources, simulate physical phenomena, and link researchers worldwide in virtual laboratories, or “collaboratories”—advanced, distributed infrastructures that use multimedia networks to relax the constraints on distance, time, and even reality (Kiernan, 1999; National Research Council, 1993 and 2001; National Science Board, 2000). In addition, university management and administrative processes have become heavily dependent on information technology.

There are many uncertainties about whether and how online students learn differently from face-to-face students (Koch, 1998).

Students’ greater responsibility and control may be a mixed blessing. For example, under certain conditions online learning may lead to a greater emphasis on the product—the diploma—as opposed to the education process (Lerych, 2001).

At the time this report went to press, an illustrative chart could be found on the IBM web site (www.storage.ibm.com/hdd/technolo/grochows/g02.htm).

Fiber-optic market consultant KMI Research predicts that carriers will bury over 344 million kilometers (or 214 million miles) of fiber-optic cable over the 2002-2006 period. Dividing this by the number of hours in five years (43,800) yields a rate of nearly 5,000 miles per hour. See KMI Research, 2002.

See Teleography, Inc., 2001. The study indicates that trans-Pacific bandwidth capability increased from 14 gigabits to 244 gigabits per second by the end of 2000, with trans-Atlantic capability at about 550 gigabits per second, and U.S.-Latin American bandwidth capability at about 290 gigabits per second. Bear in mind, however, that this is all backbone cable, and not what anyone could dial into.

The July 2001 survey by the Internet Software Consortium located over 125 million unique computer “hosts” on the Internet. According to Matrix Net Systems, if the same rate of growth of recent years is sustained, the Internet will cross the 1-billion-host mark in 2005 (Internet Software Consortium, 2001; Matrix Net Systems, 2000).

Newman (2000) provides an overview of the challenges that are facing the universities and forcing change, including advances in information technology.

For example, the IMS Global Learning Consortium is developing and promoting open specifications for facilitating online distributed-learning activities such as locating and using educational content, tracking learner progress, reporting learner performance, and exchanging student records between administrative systems (www.imsproject.org). The Advanced Distributed Learning initiative is a university-industry-government effort launched by the Department of Defense in 1997 to develop e-learning standardization (www.adlnet.org).

The discussion at the January 22-23, 2001 Workshop on the Impacts of Information Technology on the Future of the Research University (www.researchchannel.com) includes perspectives from several experts.

Another cohort of learners pushing for change is employed adults.

In this area, information technology can help institutions and faculty move in a direction that they are already exploring. (King, 1993; Grasha, 1994)

At some institutions, the distinction between adult learners and on-campus students is becoming increasingly blurred as more full-time students blend face-to-face and on-line coursework in order to balance work, family, and academic obligations.

See Pethokoukis (2002) who cites proprietary reports from International Data Corp. and Bear Stearns.

See www.blackboard.com and www.webCT.com.

Unext is an education company that provides online business education and other e-learning products in collaboration with several universities (including Stanford and Columbia). Courses include targeted training programs and professional development, as well as business education. Unext

operates an accredited online university, Cardean University, that offers business-related courses and an MBA degree.

An example of such a portal is Stanford’s Highwire Press (highwire.stanford.edu).

Michael McRobbie (2001), Indiana University’s Chief Information Officer, notes that he operates with a $100 million annual budget and is implementing a $200 million five-year strategic plan for IT.

The University of Phoenix (www.phoenix.edu) is a private, for-profit entity that provides high-quality education to working adult students. Through innovative avenues such as distance-education technologies, the University is accessible to working adults regardless of their geographical location. It has 107 campuses in the United States and Canada.

Jones International University (www.jonesinternational.edu) is a completely online university that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as certificate programs. Started in 1995, it was accredited in 1999 by the Higher Learning Commission, a member of the North Central Association.

But the half-life of students’ basic technology is diminishing as technological change accelerates. For twenty years or more the entering college freshman bought and used a typewriter. In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was a personal computer. In the mid-1990s e-mail usage grew. The late 1990s saw the advent of the World Wide Web and Napster. Currently, instant messaging is the “hot” technology.

Other groups are examining policy issues related to the future of research universities. For example, in 2000 the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities proposed a “Millenium Partnership Initiative”—a renewed “partnership of federal and state government, colleges and universities, and the private sector to build the technology infrastructure needed to educate and train the twenty-first century workforce.”