Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/63913
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • dancy, and streamlining all computer operations are essential to keeping any operating system up and run- ning. To this end, London Business School has part- nered with SUN Micro - systems to help modernize and combine the many systems that it had added in the last 20 years—including 20 different servers run- ning everything from Windows NT to Novell to Unix. "During the year 2000 we all learned about the real cost of complexity," says Altendorff. "Everybody across the world had to come to grips with upgrading everything in sight. Any weak- ness caused by complexity really showed up. We've tried to sim- plify and at least rationalize the number of operating systems we support. That in itself reduces cost and risk and drives you toward your goal of 24/7 operation, 99.9 percent of the time." leagues for decades. Now those kinds of relationships are increas- ing and intensifying—not only among faculty, but also among stu- dents—as a result of an expanded capacity to share information. "Our graduate students are asked to use information technology to bridge the gaps between their professional and educational environments," says Marc Humbert of Groupe ESC Grenoble, France. "They must share their work between their jobs and school. Collaborative technologies are used to provide anytime-anywhere access to a set of resources, such as articles and reviews, discussion forums, and shared workspaces and workflow. All these resources are designed to enhance their learning experience." Perhaps most important, the alliances being formed worldwide allow students to experience the idea of team- work with a truly global perspective, stresses Massey. "In the context of my telecommunications course, I included a two- week global exercise in my telecommunications class. We partnered with people in Japan and Europe as well as in Alabama and North Carolina. It gave students the chance to learn about technology, and to meet students from other universities and other backgrounds," she says. "Now, I think we will see more and more of these types of teaching and collaborative opportunities." tion and educational purposes, and Verizon was very inter- ested in working with us." On a person-to-person level, faculty have cultivated global col- they come here in the morning until the time they leave in the evening, they are able to communicate 24 hours a day with one another. MBA students are not 9-to-5 types of people," he says. "This has driven the faculty to think about how they've designed their courses." Faculty also must cope with a 24/7 time frame. When can learning 24 hours a day dramatically alters the educational process, agrees Thomas McQuillan, executive director of MBA and MS programs at Temple University's Fox School of Business in Philadelphia. "We've noticed that students go nowhere without their laptops. From the time A university that is literally open for they truly close shop for the day? Perhaps never, says John DeAngelo, assistant dean for information technology at Fox School of Business. The time when interaction with students was confined to the classroom and occasional office visits is effectively over. "Students are not at all shy about contacting you any time day or night, and you must be clear about what your limitations are," he says. "You have to tell them, 'I answer my e-mail between 7 and 12 every night, but don't expect one after that.' If you don't manage expectations, you'll be swamped." According to Robert Mason, a professor in the Department of Information and Management Sciences at the Florida State University College of Business, the new technologies have resulted in more work for instructors and more time invested in a technology-enhanced course. "I don't know that any instructor would say that technology has made it easier, or requires less preparation," he says. "It requires more time. But in a much more meaningful sense, you're much more accessi- ble to the students, and students expect professors to be more responsive. You're expected to stay connected even at night and on weekends." The New Interactivity Essentially, technology is changing the dynamic of business schools and other higher education institutions. However, pro- viding a tech-ready, value-added campus that is wired for inter- action at all levels means that schools must bear the brunt of higher expenses and an increased pressure to introduce and maintain new systems. As a result, human resources, often already stretched thin, bear the extra load. "We've had the same four network staff in the school since before I arrived four years ago. And yet, those four individuals are now being asked to support activities that four years ago didn't exist," says DeAngelo. As examples, he mentions a new BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2001 27