Cutting Edge Technology in Higher Education

This paper will address two different technologies which when applied correctly in any place of higher education could result in a better experience for the students as well as an improved efficiency for the administration of a institute of higher education.  The first technology which could provide a radically better experience for students is RFID or radio frequency identification tags, which could replace the plethora of IDs, cards and keys which universities currently unload on incoming first year students.  The second piece of technology has already proven itself useful in numerous areas and we can expect it to be used in teaching and administrating in higher education in the near future.  The use of wikis have become a part of everyday life for many people who turn to Wikipedia on a daily or weekly basis to find out anything from how long it takes an eyelash to grow back to Mark Twain’s real name.  The software which powers Wikipedia is called a wiki and it is an easily edited web document, making it the perfect candidate for a policies and procedures manual.  This ever changing representation of the day to day functions of a department or job title reflects the current position much better than a static three ring binder tucked away in a bookshelf does.

In order to convey the improvements RFID technology will bring to the life of students I have created a short video, which showcases life at Bluffton University after I get my RIFD chip.  See it Below.

The benefits to students will also provide additional efficiency to college administration.  By consolidating keys, ID cards and network logins to one RFID tag the administration time and energy will be cut down enabling the university to better serve students.  The tracking ability of RFID tags will enable the university to track traffic patterns on campus to determine popular areas and plan accordingly for campus utilization and expansion.  RFID technology has already been used to save time by taking attendance in California, though it was cancelled due to privacy concerns (Greenfield, 2006 p. 56).   In order to allay some of these concerns, Bluffton University would provide students the ability to turn on and off certain features which would interfere with privacy as well as anonomizing usage statistics to further protect the privacy of it’s students.  Finally the ease of use and cutting edge technology could draw more students to Bluffton University (pg 56).

Another piece of technology which Bluffton University and higher education institutes could put to good use is a piece of software called a wiki.  A wiki can easily replace the out of date policies and procedures manual of the organization as well as providing a way for departments and positions to track how reports are run and on what schedule certain tasks need completed.  At Bluffton University I have started a wiki for the advancement services department which will be tracking how I do my job so that I can better track who requires what reports at what times.  The wiki will also account for special handling instructions and tracking which had previously been relegated to the back of employee minds and worn sticky notes.  Wikis can be easy to use and many free services exist which are easy to start and roll out for even the most technophobic employee amongst us.  The many benefits of this dynamic format clearly showcase the need for organizations to roll out wikis in day to day business and as a policies and procedures manual for the organization with certain users who have the ability to edit it.

These new technologies can improve the efficiency of the university and save money as well.  These savings and enhanced experiences will allow Bluffton University to remain competitive in the experience it offers students and the price of education.  As Bluffton University has made classroom technology part of the student experience, RFID and wikis are the next step in providing a revolutionary and affordable college experience.