Contains some personal reflections on how my university has responded to opportunities and challenges presented by emerging technologies, and the fundamental issues to be dealt with

1. Thursday, May 05, 2011 1 This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence JISC Experts: on Emerging TechnologiesMay 2011 Professor Mark Stubbs Head of Learning & Research Technologies (Views expressed are my own, not necessarily those of my employer!) m.stubbs@mmu.ac.uk | http://twitter.com/thestubbs

2. This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence Emerging technologies Challenges Picking winners Jumping on the bandwagon at the right time Market/crowd dynamics: fashion, fads + price sensitivities Getting critical mass across Moore’s chasm Opportunities Better engaged learners? Better prepared learners? Exploit innovations beyond limited edtech market?

3. This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence How we’re responding User perspective talking to users: devices/prefs surveys, follow-up focus groups … Support perspective managing expectations in terms of: provided, arranged, recommended, recognised technologies Structural perspective creative tension between distinct org units: ops + innovation Systems perspective consistent tagging for service-oriented integration of in-house + cloud appropriating mass-market solutions as edtech(iTunes, Live@Edu..) Risk/cost perspective shared services partnerships (VLE, mobile, resource lists..) pursuing funding for open innovation (honouring the JISC “deal”)

4. This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence Dealing with emergence in our LT review Scenarios & focus group work led us to conclude that we needed to be alive to emergence… Learning technologies not isolated :interaction with personal and administrative systems and underlying infrastructure are major determinants of the quality of the overall experience Arranged: we set up & train staff to useRecommended: staff set up & we train to integrate Recognised: watch & learn how staff use them http://lrt.mmu.ac.uk/ltreview

5. This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence Fundamental issues Dealing with complexity Understanding underlying processes Finding network of stakeholders with insight and influence Establishing “creative dialogue” Finding a common language to share diverse perspectives Appreciating significance of “black-boxing” technologies … and doing this with finite resources means choosing! Clear strategic priorities help Boundary scanning / intelligence helps Learning to network and networking to learn Improvisational change