The document discusses chaos theory in the context of higher education, emphasizing the need for flexibility and adaptation to rapid technological changes. It critiques current practices that may inhibit innovation, referring to outdated systems as 'sacred cows' or 'white elephants.' The author advocates for embracing chaos to transform university IT practices and better support teaching, learning, and research initiatives.

1. Embracing the Chaos
Karen Keiller
Director, Information Services and Systems
University of New Brunswick Saint John

4. Chaos: When the present determines the
future, but the approximate present does
not approximately determine the future.
Chaos Theory

5. "chaos, n.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 25 May 2013 <
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/30539?redirectedFrom=chaos&>.

6. http://markarayner.com/archives/4241

7. KAOS or
CONTROL?

8. Is Control Working?
Only 4 AAU have either a mobile friendly
or responsive website
“I am satisfied with the technical support
I have received at UNB (SJ)”
21 out of 175 exceeded expectations

9. Horizon Report
Trends 2013
(what feels like
chaos?)
(what feels like
chaos?)
(what feels like

10. Time to Adoption
1 year or less
1 year or less
Flipped Classroom
Massively Open Online Courses
Mobile Apps
Tablet Computing

11. 2 to 3 Years
Augmented Reality
Game-Based Learning
The Internet of Things
Learning Analytics

12. 4 - 5 Years
3D Printing
Flexible Displays
Next Generation Batteries
Wearable Technology

13. Why Idioms Instead of
Chaos?

14. Idioms are groups of words with a special
meaning that is quite different from the
meaning of the individual words
Idioms are powerful way of expressing
ideas if you know what they mean
Kind of like IT

15. Sacred Cows
Tail Wagging Dogs
Elephants (in the Room)
White Elephants
Red Herrings

16. Sacred Cows
“a long-held and possibly outdated belief, practice, assumption,
process, product, service, activity, system, or strategy which may
no longer meets needs, but which consumes resources, has become
accepted as a tradition and a “must”, prevents change from
occurring and inhibits the development of new services or products
in response to current needs”.

18. student email?
student computer labs?
network storage?
course management systems?
vendor-based enterprise solutions?

19. Tail Wagging Dogs
David T Jones http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_jones/8235400311/sizes/o/

20. Is Campus IT really
focussed on teaching,
learning and
research?

21. Do you . . .
do you support online surveys used for
T,L&R (e.g. Qualtrics?)
do you have a research data management
program?
are you stuck with course management
systems vs. open learning environments?

22. do you help support collaborative learning?
do you help support flipped classrooms?
Is campus IT responsible for the web site?

23. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcodysimms/246023611/
Elephants (in the
Room)

24. The Classroom
When the Elephant Is the Room by Lawrence Butler
User experience
The Academy’s social responsibility to
FOSS
Pace of technological change
Changes in higher education
Things we (try to) ignore

25. Things we (try to) ignore
We’ve lost the ‘Innovators” and “Early
Adopters”

26. White Elephants

27. a valuable but burdensome possession of
which its owner cannot dispose and whose
cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of
proportion to its usefulness or worth.

29. Red Herrings

30. Privacy
Security
No Support (vis-a-vis using Open Source)
Intellectual Property / Copyright

31. Embracing the Chaos

32. Embrace our future as plumbers?
Lead in transforming the university?
Case Western
Design / Build / Run

33. 2020 IT Aspirations: 25 strategic directions
Shift from “Build and Maintain” to “Integrate and
Exploit”
Scholarship towards 2020
University towards 2020
Griffin University

34. “Complexity is the new
reality”
Horizon Report 2013
orizon Report 2013

35. Karen Keiller
kkeiller@unb.ca
twitter @karenkeiller
bit.ly/AUCTC2013