creative commons flickr photo by Squid! http://www.flickr.com/photos/asimpledarksquid/57375262/
creative commons flickr photo by Squid! http://www.flickr.com/photos/asimpledarksquid/57375262/
Balancing Acts: Making IT Work for Everyone
Susan M. Zvacek (University of Kansas) and Alan Levine (The New Media Consortium)EDUCAUSE Southwest Regional Conference 2009
Our day-to-day work presents us with problems that are complex and expensive to solve, and even the easy solutions have their unintended consequences. Some of us face outward to the user community and to our customers, and some of us remain behind the scenes working beside peers and colleagues, but we all wear many hats. Fortunately IT professionals are well suited to balance multiple perspectives because we know systems. We work in relationships of all types and know that every cause has an effect. We balance loads, supply & demand, capacity, and budgets. We do this so successfully and so constantly that we hardly notice. We strive to balance the need to be quick with the need for quality and the need for thrift. In this opening session, we review the tragedy and the comedy of IT's quest for balance and the many characters that carry our story's plot.
What follows are three "acts" of a play that illustrate perhaps what people who work in opposite positions within an organization might have at some bar at a conference in some theoretical location. These are all based loosely on actual situations we have heard ourselves or from other colleagues. They are obvious stereotypes and not meant to paint people into corners; we are looking to them as conversation starters for you to think about the places in our work in which we could create more rather than less balance.
Audio recording of session available at http://cogdogblog.com/wp-content/audio/swrc09-balancing-act.mp3
Act 1: Us and the "IT Guys"
Faculty: Wow, this conference has been overwhelming. I have pages and pages of notes and URLs for new tools I want my college to try out... Boy, you sure look stressed.
IT Tech Staff: I've hardly had a chance to listen to sessions. My pager keeps going off with new security violations; three of the servers in the Art department were hacked, and our course management system's rosters are out sync with our enrollment system. The start of the semester is only slightly less crazy than other times.
Faculty: Wow, that's too bad. Wish I could do something (moves on quickly, uncomfortable). Say what do you know about Skype? I'd love to be able to talk live with my students when I'm away at a conference like this.
IT: No way do we encourage people to use that. Too many vulnerabilities. Can't open the ports either due to campus policies for proprietary data formats
Faculty: So, is there an alternative product that you'd suggest? My school isn't in a position -- especially now -- to invest in a real-time audio chat program, but we could really make use of it. I hear lots of positive things about open source tools.
IT: What they don't tell you about open source is that some underpaid overworked grunt is going to have to pry time to plug the holes, administer the spam with those systems. Besides, under our policies, we have to go through every line of code to make sure it wasn't doing anything that would damage network integrity.
Faculty: I heard that same claim at my college-- yet the new main web site is run by some Content Managment System hacked together from open source alternatives by some company our PR people hired at a cost of over $60,000. That seems wasteful.
IT: See? Open source is never free. Nothing is. And faculty have no idea of the efforts it takes to keep the networks secure. Yeah, let anyone install any application, and your precious systems will go up in a puff of hacker smoke. You'd be crying to us then to fix things.
Faculty: But we are about education and it's only been a few years that we convinced the IT staff to support IE -- and we are forced to use IE6 that lacks tabbed browsing, like I can do at home with Firefox. (I do a lot of live demos). Most flash and javascript sites won't even work. I've been doing an end-around with USB thumbdrives set up for my students with Portable Apps.
IT: Firefox is not secure as IE; it is Microsoft and secure. Why would you not go with the most trusted name in software that is the dominant commercial player?
Faculty: I heard that same claim at my college-- yet the new main web site is run by some Content Managment System hacked together from open source alternatives by some company our PR people hired at a cost of over $60,000. That seems wasteful.
IT: See? Open source is never free. Nothing is. And faculty have no idea of the efforts it takes to keep the networks secure. Yeah, let anyone install any application, and your precious systems will go up in a puff of hacker smoke. You'd be crying to us then to fix things.
Faculty: But we are about education and it's only been a few years that we convinced the IT staff to support IE -- and we are forced to use IE6 that lacks tabbed browsing, like I can do at home with Firefox. (I do a lot of live demos). Most flash and javascript sites won't even work. I've been doing an end-around with USB thumbdrives set up for my students with Portable Apps.
IT: Firefox is not secure as IE; it is Microsoft and secure. Why would you not go with the most trusted name in software that is the dominant commercial player?
Faculty: (sighs in despair) So what do your faculty do for students to publish their work? Are you running a blogging service? wikis? Do you support their experimentation?
IT: Experimentation? Let 'em play with Blogger. All our students get 1 Gb of space on their F drive. Give 'em more and they'll just fill it with games and porn. Faculty? I saw one three weeks ago, screaming and yelling at us cause their hard drive crashed. Do they ever back up? nooooo. Do they ever say anything nice when we keep their email mostly clear of spam and phishing efforts? Never. Heck, we'd be happy with a smile and a plate of donuts.
Faculty: Okay, I appreciate that. But we are being encouraged to innovate with technology and meet the needs of our students, and just keep finding more walls. We'd like to be more collaborative like the administration wants, but every time we try to do something the least bit high-tech, we're told no. As just one example, instead of providing faculty a convenient way to upload video so we can stream it to students, or even just audio for podcasts, we have to jump through 5 flaming hoops and get special log-ins, and special permissions, and whatnot. In fact, usually instead of just doing this ourselves, we have to hand over the files for someone else to upload, and we have no clue when they'll be available. So even though I want to provide content, they make it so cumbersome that most of the people in my department have just started workind outside the campus structure or, worse, have given up. We cannot offer what students use outside of school without so many hurdles that they hate us.
Faculty: Okay, I appreciate that. But we are being encouraged to innovate with technology and meet the needs of our students, and just keep finding more walls. We'd like to be more collaborative like the administration wants, but every time we try to do something the least bit high-tech, we're told no. As just one example, instead of providing faculty a convenient way to upload video so we can stream it to students, or even just audio for podcasts, we have to jump through 5 flaming hoops and get special log-ins, and special permissions, and whatnot. In fact, usually instead of just doing this ourselves, we have to hand over the files for someone else to upload, and we have no clue when they'll be available. So even though I want to provide content, they make it so cumbersome that most of the people in my department have just started workind outside the campus structure or, worse, have given up. We cannot offer what students use outside of school without so many hurdles that they hate us.
IT: Well, there are some issues with giving out a lot of accounts with iTunesU, for example; there are a lot of systemic complexities you do not see. We also act as a "gatekeeper" but have a home grown system for faculty to submit content and it gives them feedback to when it is scheduled for transfer. I'd be willing to share it with.... (IT's pager goes off). Oh oh, I have to get my laptop to a secure connection, there's a security breach again in our network, and I have to roll back a bunch of course sites.... gonna be a long night again.
Have you heard conversations like this? Do you see yourself as more akin to one side than the other? How can there be more balance in this situation?
Issues for discussion:
- Neither side typically is aware of the challenges and issues the other side is dealing with, and this can lead to defensive behavior, suspicion, and frustration.
- One suggestion is to purposefully become more aware of the other's perspective -- "interning" with the other camp, for example, or just spending time observing them at work. Let go of the idea that what you do (no matter what it is you do) is simply too difficult for the other person to understand. This will ALWAYS be construed as a defensive maneuver intended to exclude -- are we more interested in creating a secret society (think "tree house with a No Girls/Boys Allowed!" sign) or solving bigger problems that take all of us to overcome?
- Providing more information than the minimum to give context can help, when there are conflicts
- Try to identify the ways in which you're working for the same cause -- looking for similarities in the mission.
- Think of ways to help each other; go out of your way to do this. Remember that someone has to take that first step -- why not you?
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"One of the best suggestions I’ve heard was when a tech director suggested that IT folks be required to follow students around for a day. I would suggest that IT folks be required to sit in a classroom for a day, each month or so, to see not just the challenges of teaching, but the passion of mission. We need to bring them into the mission." David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1648
- "When you submit a request for technical service in writing, include a statement of it’s instructional benefit or goal, and write it clearly, succinctly, yet prominantly. This way, refusing the request is documented as preventing instructional activities — and fulfilling the request makes you partners in a holy cause." David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1648
- Solutions? cite example of Shelley Rodrigo at Mesa Community College- summer interned as faculty with IT department to form a bridge, to understand their work mode and so educate them on faculty needs.
- Penn State University Hot Team process to identify emerging technologies to support http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/category/hot-team/
- Story of a colleague where the college do not support Apple platforms for the media programs "building bridges, at XXX College I spent an 8 hour day helping Samantha (the IT Mac person) install new Macs in the Art dept computer lab - physically carrying them four at a time (on an electric cart) to the classroom & setting them up, taking the boxes away, bringing more computers over. If I hadn't helped her she would not have been able to finish setting up the lab before the semester started. I wasn't paid for my time, but you can bet she assists me when I need her help. She also trusts me with an admin password so I can make minor changes on my own if I need to. I also make instruction sheets for her to share with other Mac faculty whenever a newer version OS requires a change in the way we connect to shared directories, etc."
- What can build understanding? cooperation?
- Someone needs to take the first step toward the middle ground -- we can't all sit in our own camps and whine about how the other folks don't get it
- What is the goal? To bring others (the worthy) into the IT priesthood, or to abolish the priesthood and re-establish a new way of thinking/working?
- How can we help one another, instead of being suspicious of one another or too protective of our turf?
Act 2: My _______ Does Not Get it
Instructional Designer: Hey, I'm glad I ran into you! I just saw a terrific presentation about converting regular classes into these "hybrid" courses, where some of the class is online and some is face-to-face. The students might only attend the in-person class about half the regular amount of time and they do their other work online or in collaborative work groups or whatever.
Dept Chair: Um, did you say that students don't go to class?
ID: Well, it's not like they're just "not going to class," they're working on course projects and interacting on the discussion boards and stuff. The presenters talked a lot about all the stuff they have their students do outside of class.
Dept Chair: I don't know, I think we need to be very careful with something this radical. I don't need to see a headline in the local newspaper saying, "University telling students to not go to class." Do you have any ideas of the phone calls I'd be swamped with? We have to be accountable, we have to provide student counts and room usage reports, plus ensure that we're not going to be dinged for a lack of course rigor at accreditatin time.
ID: I don't think we need to approach it that way, actually. From what I understand of these hybrid courses, they can be just as much work for the students as any other course and it's not like the instructors are getting off easy, either. And come on, what do "Butt Time Units" really tell the community how we are providing student learning?
DC: Okay, maybe we can spin the non-attendance part. Still, I don't know if I like the sound of it. How will everything get covered during class? It seems like all I hear from faculty is that they already don't have enough time to get through all the chapters in the textbook, and now you're saying that they'll have even less lecture time?
ID: Oh, well that is really the beauty of this plan -- it can be a way to help the instructors get away from having to lecture much at all. I mean, we know that a lot of faculty end up lecturing because their students don't do the reading outside of class that they're supposed to, so what else can they do? And there are plenty of research studies being shared right at this conference indicating that the transmission mode of lecture-based content is not delivering the forms of learning we purport to offer. We are supposed to be turning our crtiical thinkers and problem solvers, not stenographers.
DC: Ha! Good luck on getting rid of those lectures! You faculty love the sound of your own voice reading stuff you use year after year. I will get all kinds of filed complaints from the union about increasing workload.
ID: Okay, I know it won't happen overnight, but there are a lot of examples (look at this bibliography!) of places that tried this and had really great results. And you know how we're trying to figure out what to do about the shortage of classrooms? Two classes that go this hybrid route could, basically, time-share one classroom. One class could meet on Tuesdays and the other on Thursdays, or something like that.
DC: Hey, wait a minute! We could double the class enrollment this way -- half the class attends one time and the other half the next. You know, this idea is starting to sound really viable...
ID: Uhhh, well (stammering) that's not really the point of doing this, but if that helps you make a case, I might be okay with that being a small part of justification. I mean, you can't just make the classes bigger.
DC: You know, I think I'll talk to the provost about this when we get back. This could be a big feather in our cap -- I mean the department -- if we can do something innovative like this that saves money, too (pulls out a calculator..)
ID: But, but, but ...
Have you heard conversations like this? Do you see yourself as more akin to one side than the other? How can there be more balance in this situation?
Issues for discussion:
- proposing "radical" ideas like hybrid courses (don't rock the boat!)
- public perceptions vs. instructional effectiveness (i.e., is the important issue the "non-attendance" or the potential for improved learning?)
- practical realities (classroom shortages, larger class sizes, etc.) weighed against improving learning
- "Enlist your students. Help them make (or get out of their way) public service announcement videos expressing the importance of digital networked learning in an increasingly global marketplace." David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1648
-
Colorado high school chemistry class that reversed the notions of "lecture in class" / homework at home- use class time for discussion and projects, follow-up, and create lecture/static content for students to review at home. See The Dog Ate My Vodcast (CBC Radio Spark) and Class time created by vodcasting lectures to watch at home (SmartMobs)
- "Suggest your ______ read “The World is Flat.” I don’t agree with everything that Freedman says in the book, and some of it has been debunked. Yet, this book has probably had a larger influence on our rethinking our place in a rapidly changing world than any other message." David Warlick http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=1648
-
Guarding against over-exuberance for "high tech" when itis not pedagogically sound (consider the No Significant Difference argument)
-
Realizing that everyone's role is changing -- including the students we're working with. How can we help them with the shift?
Act 3: It's All IT, Isn't It?
Instructional Technology Developer (ITD): Whew what a whirlwind day, I can sure use some time to digest all I saw today. Can I buy you anything?
Network Security Director (NSD): Sure, I can use a drink. Make it a double... triple. Yeah, I too had a full on day, I have a stack of new protocol standards to research and some new video codecs to consider. What do you do?
ITD: I'm part of a team that works across the university to develop apps to support research and teaching projects, but mostly I deal with the high end super computing visualization projects. Those guys at RSU today just blew my socks off with their grid rendering architecture for moving complex data in and out of their backbone, I gotta get my hands on that code.
NSD: Humph. Good luck on getting that going; its gonna beg for all kinds of open ports. We had some people clamoring for something like that last year and he had to put the kabosh on it. You cant just play around with fat data pipes draping over your firewalls
ITD: What's the big deal? We have a 5 year NASA grant to develop these apps, and the labs are a year out from even producing the data. There should be plenty of time to toss in some new networking.
NSD: That's the problem with you cowboys. You think its just plug and run. There's a whole hell of a lot of architecture considerations that y'all never talk to us till the night before. Down here in the place that keeps the lights on and the email flowing, you forget what it takes to make tihngs work.
ITD: I guess that make sense, but why do most things with our Network guys always start with no? This is a huge money project, and if it goes well, its bound to tap into more research projects with the European Space Agency. At our place, it comes down to almost warfare in our IT division.
NSD: None of that will matter when you let some snake in the door. You really should get off your perch and spend some time looking at intrusion detection displays. It isnt pretty. It keeps you up, wakes you up at night. And man oh man, did we waste a lot of time defending our port policies last year when we got sued by that student who's ID got swiped through a pipe in some opejn source RSS feed tool.
ITD: And on the other hand, you Network guys put all these scare tactics above what is the mission of the university to innovate. You've got us narrowed down to a 2 port internet, and the data we need to move needs more than sinmple http protocols. This is not the 1990s you know.
NSD: No kidding. But back in the day, I remember when networking was the cutting edge, the new domain. Oh those first protocol stacks were exciting Wow, I can remember being at conferences where people wer so jazzed about DNS, and the masses could stand for blips because it was all so new. but now we are the infrastructure, and no one seems to bother giving us any attention unless something goes wrong. How would you like to have an expected standard of performance of above 100%?
ITD: Hmm, the network guys in my university don't act so senstive. They just have walls of walls. We were the first educational organization to get a crack at that new 3D collaborative workspace app, and it practically took an act of congress, the pope's blessing and then 3 months of emails, meetings, and lobbying to the top to plug it into the network. We just about lost our competitive edge, and it all hinged on one network director who just put blockades at every step. My boss, she ended up having to pull some heavy favors from the CIO to open the door.
NSD: Well, I can't speak for how your shop runs. But once some script kiddie busted in on your 3D play space and griefed it to death, you'd be begging us for help. You gotta take on the risks to their serious end. No room for being lax. The threats are real.
ITD: I do not deny the risk of that, but look at some of the things that were once threats that are now showing value as real assets- like peer to peer or some of the data sharing stuff folks are doing via bittorrent.
NSD: True, but those only approached some level of legitimacy after years of fighting off the threats. It did not happen by leaving the barn door open. And don't think we are just down here plugging the hole we make. There's lots of R&D going in in networking that are going to enable some of the big data movement you want; but you gotta build the highways before you start moving the trucks.
ITD: Fair enough. Do you have a card? You seem more aware than our guys, and I'd like to have you talk to them.
NDS: Sure...
Network Security Director (NSD): Sure, I can use a drink. Make it a double... triple. Yeah, I too had a full on day, I have a stack of new protocol standards to research and some new video codecs to consider. What do you do?
ITD: I'm part of a team that works across the university to develop apps to support research and teaching projects, but mostly I deal with the high end super computing visualization projects. Those guys at RSU today just blew my socks off with their grid rendering architecture for moving complex data in and out of their backbone, I gotta get my hands on that code.
NSD: Humph. Good luck on getting that going; its gonna beg for all kinds of open ports. We had some people clamoring for something like that last year and he had to put the kabosh on it. You cant just play around with fat data pipes draping over your firewalls
ITD: What's the big deal? We have a 5 year NASA grant to develop these apps, and the labs are a year out from even producing the data. There should be plenty of time to toss in some new networking.
NSD: That's the problem with you cowboys. You think its just plug and run. There's a whole hell of a lot of architecture considerations that y'all never talk to us till the night before. Down here in the place that keeps the lights on and the email flowing, you forget what it takes to make tihngs work.
ITD: I guess that make sense, but why do most things with our Network guys always start with no? This is a huge money project, and if it goes well, its bound to tap into more research projects with the European Space Agency. At our place, it comes down to almost warfare in our IT division.
NSD: None of that will matter when you let some snake in the door. You really should get off your perch and spend some time looking at intrusion detection displays. It isnt pretty. It keeps you up, wakes you up at night. And man oh man, did we waste a lot of time defending our port policies last year when we got sued by that student who's ID got swiped through a pipe in some opejn source RSS feed tool.
ITD: And on the other hand, you Network guys put all these scare tactics above what is the mission of the university to innovate. You've got us narrowed down to a 2 port internet, and the data we need to move needs more than sinmple http protocols. This is not the 1990s you know.
NSD: No kidding. But back in the day, I remember when networking was the cutting edge, the new domain. Oh those first protocol stacks were exciting Wow, I can remember being at conferences where people wer so jazzed about DNS, and the masses could stand for blips because it was all so new. but now we are the infrastructure, and no one seems to bother giving us any attention unless something goes wrong. How would you like to have an expected standard of performance of above 100%?
ITD: Hmm, the network guys in my university don't act so senstive. They just have walls of walls. We were the first educational organization to get a crack at that new 3D collaborative workspace app, and it practically took an act of congress, the pope's blessing and then 3 months of emails, meetings, and lobbying to the top to plug it into the network. We just about lost our competitive edge, and it all hinged on one network director who just put blockades at every step. My boss, she ended up having to pull some heavy favors from the CIO to open the door.
NSD: Well, I can't speak for how your shop runs. But once some script kiddie busted in on your 3D play space and griefed it to death, you'd be begging us for help. You gotta take on the risks to their serious end. No room for being lax. The threats are real.
ITD: I do not deny the risk of that, but look at some of the things that were once threats that are now showing value as real assets- like peer to peer or some of the data sharing stuff folks are doing via bittorrent.
NSD: True, but those only approached some level of legitimacy after years of fighting off the threats. It did not happen by leaving the barn door open. And don't think we are just down here plugging the hole we make. There's lots of R&D going in in networking that are going to enable some of the big data movement you want; but you gotta build the highways before you start moving the trucks.
ITD: Fair enough. Do you have a card? You seem more aware than our guys, and I'd like to have you talk to them.
NDS: Sure...
Have you heard conversations like this? Do you see yourself as more akin to one side than the other? How can there be more balance in this situation?
Issues for discussion:
- What does it take for different arms of an IT organization to wsork together?
- What are they ways risks can be managed?
- See IT Project Failures blog http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/
Now what?
We hope you have gotten some perspective on these situations, which are just a sampling of the kinds of "conversations" that go on inside our organizations. We do not have the answers, but as a collective group, participants at this conference ought to be able to share their insights. What we ask you to do is:
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Make an effort during the in between session time and the evening activities at this conference to meet and talk to people who have different roles from yourself. Listen to their constraints and challenges. Talk about the imbalances we know and where they might be brought to a new position. See if you recognize and can constructively respond to "symptoms" of imbalance.
- Sometime during or after the conference, review our "play" and then provide some answers to this online Google Form survey http://bit.ly/whereisbalance We will share the results with you.