Over the past three years colleges and universities have had to accelerate their technology usage and investments to better Engage students, ensure Accessibility, all while keeping its data secure. Higher education is now pushing the boundaries and embracing digital transformation by adopting artificial intelligence, virtual reality, the latest wireless and bandwidth capabilities, and doubling down on data security as cyber threats continue.
Fierce Education is presenting this half day virtual event “Leveraging Technology To Better Engage Students, Create More Access, and Keep their Information Safe” to showcase how higher education institutions are successfully incorporating and upgrading their technology capabilities to better serve their students and better equip their faculty. Join higher education leaders by registering here for this free event.
Agenda:
Keynote: Technology Takes Center Stage in the Decision-Making Process
All universities and college are striving to be prepared in case another catastrophic event hits such as COVID. Higher education institutions are adapting their operations and business model to fund new programs and strategies in order to compete in a blended education world where students have more options than ever before. Technology investments are more important and colleges and universities are prioritizing where to spend their money to ensure they provide students with best engagement experience and easy and secure access.
Speaker: Dr. Vistasp M. Karbhari, Professor, Department of Civil Engineering; Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Former President, The University of Texas at Arlington
Session 1: Connectivity is What Matters: Providing All Access, All the Time
Despite all the investments made by colleges and universities in upgrading their WiFi and networking access, there is still a gap at many institutions regarding what students and faculty need to access the materials needed as well as connect with one another seamlessly. As part of their digital transformation push, next generation network strategies from Private Wireless Networks with LTE or 5G technology to boost bandwidth speeds is perhaps the most critical technology decision an institution can make. As blended learning continues to be engrained in the curriculum, all universities and colleges need to ensure students and faculty have seamless and secure access wherever they are.
Speaker: Dr. Ivon R. Foster-McGowan, Executive Director for Instructional Technology, Office of Information Technology, The University of Alabama
Session 2: Ensuring Engagement: Reaching and Keeping the Student’s Attention
Colleges and universities have had to re-evaluate their student engagement process in this new blended learning environment. The challenge is to create an authentic curriculum to engage students while preserving academic integrity. Faculty and instructors are having to rethink their courseware design to include different ways to get their message across to students in an online or hybrid learning situation. This may include more weekly engagement mechanisms and less of a focus on bigger exams or incorporating more social media and technology into the lesson plan.
Speaker: Dr. Karen Vignare, VP Digital Transformation for Student Success, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
Session 3: Data Safety is Job 1: Keeping Student/University Data Secure
Higher education has been targeting by cyber hackers in the past few years because many institutions have accelerated technology rollouts without full security protocols. From weak endpoint security measures to vulnerable network access, colleges and universities are struggling with incorporating new technology tools and greater accessibility while keeping all of its data secure. Most university CIOS agree that there is a huge funding gap between what institutions need to combat cyber security threats and what they can afford. There is no quick fix here as the bad threat actors are becoming more efficient and more sophisticated but there are security steps that need to be taken.
Speaker: Melody (Dee) Childs, Special Assistant to the VPIT Clemson for Cyber Infrastructure, Clemson University