Post on 18-Dec-2015
Fostering ICT Innovation in an Innovative Way
Simone KnappStephanie Frost
Rachel Heidecker
Overview Introduction Goals Developing the Fund & Process Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare) Project Library Mobile Services Project Observations on the Successes Lessons Learned Conclusion
Introduction U of S Campus Environment
17 colleges & schools; several affiliated colleges ~20,000 students
Distributed/Federated ICT Model Multiple ICT shops
Foster 1. to promote the
growth or development of; further; encourage: to foster new ideas.
Innovation 1. something new or
different introduced. 2. the act of innovating;
introduction of new things or methods.
Introduction
Goals Establish ICT innovation as a strategic priority Provide the capacity to respond to ICT innovation
opportunities in a coordinated manner Leverage existing resources in colleges and
administrative units Reduce the frequency of funding requests for ICT
projects.
BUT…
We needed new money to support innovation!
Developing the Fund & Process Developed a request for innovation funding
Identified the benefits the fund would provide Identified recent innovations that could have
benefited from this fund (e.g. iUsask app) Identified risks of not supporting innovation
Conditional approval received very quickly Required further information about processes and
Terms of Reference needed to be developed
Submitted a proposal
requesting creation of
fund
Terms of Reference approved
Call for proposals:- e-learning
- mobile
Selection committee reviewed proposals
May 2010 October 2010 February – March 2011 March 2011
Developing the Fund & Process
Developing the Fund & Process To help with reporting, created three forms:
Outline Mid-term Status Report Final Report
Released funds in phases First half after receiving project outline Second half after receiving mid-term/final report
Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare)
Stephanie Frost
Catalogue info: Instructor name, course description, prerequisites required, etc.
Textbook (direct link to Bookstore) Library (course-specific and subject-
specific resources) a pretty link (ex.
http://ocw.usask.ca/AR/BIOL/120)
files the instructor has chosen to share
Every course automatically has a web page that includes course-specific data:
Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare)
Many departments working together!1. University Learning Centre
• project initiators
2. ICT Educational and Research Technology Services group • folks in charge of Blackboard
3. Student Enrolment Services Division• data feed for course names & codes
4. Library• publically accessible course-specific material
5. Bookstore• links to textbooks
6. ICT Help Desk• get professors to call them, not me• calls about OCW often related to other Blackboard questions anyway
7. Training Services• documentation consistent with other Course Tools support (e.g. How to use the Gradebook)• professional videos
ICT Innovation Funding helped to “smooth” the collaboration…
Felt the project had the university’s “blessing” when approaching other units about collaborating
Conversation starter Some departments need to bill you, others don’t
ICT Innovation Fund helped cover costs
Convenient for Instructors Blackboard files and OCW files are in the same
location (i.e. in Blackboard)
You can do this too This approach will work for any Course
Management System that allows guest browsing No custom modifications to Blackboard were
necessary Leverage Guest Access functionality Basically, OCW is a fancy link-generator• Looks like:
https://bblearn.usask.ca/?action=guest_login&new_loc=%2Fwebapps%2Fuofs-courseredirect-bb_bb60%3Fcourseid=87864.201109
Results Even instructors without local ICT support are
automatically set up with OCW don't have to learn a new system
Two core institutional systems (Blackboard and Course Catalogue)
brought together in a new way to benefit a wider audience
Library Mobile Services(Mobile Strategy Evolution)
Rachel Heidecker
Previous Mobile Services iUsask (Released for iPhone/iPod in 2009)
Previous Mobile Services Vendor Services
Mobile Catalogue• Feature Phones
(http://sundog.usask.ca/airpac)
• Smart Phones(http://mcat.usask.ca/)
Catalogue Search Results(Call No, Location, Etc)
• SMS & Email Message Delivery
Previous Mobile Services Responsive Web Design
Prototype (2009) Quick
New presentation layer Same content as the existing website
Challenges Too much content Navigation (dead-ends) Top Tasks
BUT!... we have other priorities and limited resources.
What we did right Took advantage of opportunities as they came
Skill development Observed and measured usage of vendor apps (Google Analytics)
Knowledge and evidence for decision-making Prototyping
Industry & usability insights
GREAT!Now we know exactly what to do ...
ICT Innovation Fund ProposalMay 2011
Mobile Strategy Evolution• Start with a selection of mobile-relevant features• Not necessarily the same top tasks as the full
website. • Be ready to expand as we are able to integrate
other services that will provide the best user experience
COLLABORATIONIdentified opportunities to for collaboration with other units on campus:
Room Bookings within colleges and integration with iUsask
Implementation Timeline
Demonstration
Library Mobile Website• http://library.usask.ca/mobile
• Group Study Room Booking• http://www.usask.ca/learningcommons/booking/
Successes & Challenges Funding & Priorities
• Extended term programmer to ensure resources were available
• Flexibility required to balance existing workload Campus Partners
• Central ICT (Mobile Templates, iUsask)• Connections with colleges
• “Seamless” System Integration• Positive user experience• Ready to expand
Observations on the Successes Participants all indicated the fund was valuable
Saw as an opportunity Provided institutional endorsement Provided additional funds Increased priority
Leveraging institutional services Minimized programming required by the unit Easier to ramp up where lacking familiarity
Lessons Learned(AKA Things we could have done better)
Need to be partners and co-sponsors, not just a source of funding
Need to know what the next steps would be if project successful and becomes institution-wide
Making connections in a federated environment isn’t as easy as it seems (e.g. different programming languages, different priorities)
Lessons Learned(AKA Things we could have done better) Project success may depend on type (prototype,
pilot project, advanced project) Groups used internal funds to pay for the work
and then “invoiced” ICT after the work was done by completing the forms
Maximum impact may come at the expense of maximum breadth
Conclusion Ideas and processes that look good on paper
often stumble in the implementations Success was had, but we could have been more
successful Now see our challenges being addressed by
changes to our ICT governance model Will hopefully achieve the goals intended by this
initiative more broadly
Questions?
About the Fund: http://www.usask.ca/avp-ict/portfolio/ict-innovation-fund/index.php Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare): http://ocw.usask.ca/ OCW Training Info:http://www.usask.ca/its/courses/coursetools/ in Instructors: HelpLibrary Mobile Site: http://library.usask.ca/mobile/ Mobile at the U of S:http://mobile.usask.ca/