I have talked to many K-12 educators, as well as college professors. Some are adventurous technophiles, and others are resistant, reluctant or not technology capable of embracing new technology as moves into common use. I think we need to encourage faculty to embrace technology as it arrives, and provide them the tools and support to make them successful, even if a fad is short … [Read more...] about Why Faculty Should Employ Technology Du Jour
Strategic Planning
Public Institution Planning and Budgets
Public Institution Planning and Budgets Planning for the future can seem like a waste of time when just keeping the lights on is a struggle. Budget cuts are hitting many public institutions, including schools, colleges and universities. The gut reaction is to put the future on hold and deal with the present. That approach has some major drawbacks. First, if you don’t have … [Read more...] about Public Institution Planning and Budgets
The Internet’s Uncertain Future
Anyone who claims they can accurately predict the Internet’s future is at minimum wrong, definitively delusional and perhaps borderline psychotic. The Internet is influenced by many things, and any attempt to extrapolate outcomes from current trends in destined to failure. If that is true, then how does an organization plan for its future? The answer is scenario planning. The … [Read more...] about The Internet’s Uncertain Future
Science, Uncertainty and Being Right
The October 2010 Scientific American reports on an exclusive poll about trust in science. For the most part, people trust scientists, but not at the highest level, especially when it comes to things that non-scientists have personal experience with. At the low end of the trust rung were food safety, vitamins and supplements, genetically modified crops, pesticides, … [Read more...] about Science, Uncertainty and Being Right
Augmenting Strategic Planning for Dummies
Overall, I like Erica Olsen’s Strategic Planning for Dummies, but I am not a fan of the scenario planning overview, which comes rather late in the book. Here are some thoughts for readers that they should consider when using Olsen’s text. Strategic Planning for Dummies covers scenario planning in a very cursory way on pages 291-294. It provides a high-level overview, which … [Read more...] about Augmenting Strategic Planning for Dummies