Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/55943
Factories don't look the same as they did 50 years ago because of technology; many classrooms do, despite it. What do tablets like the iPad mean to Google's product development? The iPad is so much more versatile than any device we've had before. Its browser and screen allow richer Web-based and client-based applications, including video and media content. The iPad shows how powerful the Web is going to be. To take advantage of this, we've created a custom Gmail experience for the iPad based on the combination of a touch interface and the larger screen. We anticipate that Android- based tablets will come out in the near future. Because of the cost savings, many business schools are turning to cloud computing, using online software like Google Apps and storing their data on servers maintained by companies like Google. But many educators have concerns about the security, privacy, and accessibility of cloud computing. How do you respond to their concerns? One of the most critical conversations we have with schools— or any organization considering cloud applications—is about security. I often compare cloud computing to flying. I have friends who still prefer to drive rather than fly. They don't feel safe in an airplane because they can't "turn the wheel" if something happens. But statistically, we all know that flying is much safer than driving. It's a cultural shift to let that control go. But we explain that, because of the scale of our operation, we can write our own operating and filing systems and customize our hardware to our specifications. This allows us to control that environ- ment. This scale doesn't make sense for most organizations. In addition, we've received the SAS 70 Type 2 certifica- tion, which spells out how we manage our data centers. We recently received certification through the Federal Informa- tion Security Management Act, which shows that the federal government trusts us to handle its confidential, but not clas- sified, data. Each year, a third party also audits our security practices to show that what we say we're doing is what we're actually doing. We just released a white paper that outlines our security practices in a little more depth. We can't disclose everything, but to assuage security concerns, we are opening up the cur- tains a little to show people how we do it. How do you advise educators to keep up with the constant barrage of new technologies? Just talk to your students—I never fail to be impressed when I talk to students. They always know something new about technology. They've found a new startup or they're using a new site. Sometimes they're doing something I hadn't thought of with our own tools! Students will point profes- sors in the right direction, because they're doing it for fun and they love it. You've said that higher education institutions have generally been slow in adopting new technologies. Have there been areas of higher education where adoption has been more rapid? Smaller schools often have more luck because their com- munities are more unified, and they have more cohesiveness among their faculty. Other schools are successful because they're willing to go bold and celebrate their adoption of new technology. And, at others, having a champion—just one professor who gets it—is critical. That professor's students go to their other classes and talk about the cool things they're doing in Professor X's class, and it builds from there. What do you think it will take to drive more professors to experiment with technology? Educators must be willing to accept failure. Schools that build a culture where professors are encouraged to try something new and screw it up a few times in order to get it right—they will be the most successful adopters of technolo- gies. Cole Camplese, director of education technology ser- vices at Penn State, is a great example. He put a live Twitter feed at the back of his class just to see what would happen. He experiments, and some of the things he tries work, and some don't. But the only way a professor can figure out what works is by trying five things that don't. That's just part of the process. What challenges do you see ahead for business schools? The challenges I see are not technology-based, but culture-based. Education is one of the lowest adopters of technology of any industry, except maybe healthcare. There are examples of professors who are embracing new technologies and finding new ways to educate. But because of tenure and other factors, most professors aren't the first to want to change the way they do things. So, one of our biggest concerns is the willingness of the educational community to take advantage of what's out there. We can put keyboards into the classrooms, but if we don't rethink what we do to take advantage of that technol- ogy, the technology itself doesn't really help. Factories don't look the same as they did 50 years ago because of technol- ogy; many classrooms do, despite it. BizEd NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2010 23