The Success Rate of Student Centered Institutional Technology

Raja Jalernpan

Dr. Judith Gebauer

MIS 480 – 001

3 Apr. 2018

The Success Rate of Student Centered Institutional Technology  

Technology plays a huge role in the daily lives of our current generation. As our technology continues to enhance and change, so must our willingness to allow for more advanced technologies to emerge. One area that is seeing a huge influx of technology, is the area of education, specifically secondary education. What was once a theoretical idea of having cutting edge technology in the classroom, has now become the mission and primary initiative for many educational institutions across the nation. As the focus of implementing these initiatives becomes ever-growing, it is important to step back and look at the implementation process from the perspective of the student. Institutional learning is focused primarily on the student success rate, and IT projects taking place throughout the institution, should be no different. In this paper, I will research past IT projects that have been implemented into classrooms, common spaces, and student residential areas, and analyze how these projects have increased the student success rate, both academically and professionally. My research will be conducted using projects from The University of North Carolina Wilmington, including the recent upgrade of classrooms and lecture halls with Touch Technology, inclduing state of the art peripherals, and the upgrade and implementation of the campus network Hawk-Wi-Fi. Alongside examining these past projects for their success rate, I will also evaluate future projects that are planned for the institution. This will include the upcoming opening of the Digital Maker Space and TechNest, two areas designed for brining virtual reality technology into the campus life of the student population, both for educational and recreational purposes. In conclusion, I will use my research to evaluate what types of IT projects should continue being implemented, and what initiatives should be re-evaluated, in order to continually increase the student success rate at UNCW.  

In order to begin evaluating the success rate of instructional technology, we must first look at the role that technology plays in the classroom, specifically in the area of higher education. In 2017, the United States Department of Education and the Office of Educational Technology released their yearly National Education Technology Plan. This plan was designed to outline how the Department of Education would “reimagine the role of technology in higher education”. According to this plan, “With technology, we have an opportunity to make learning more directly relevant by aligning both content and learning approaches with the immediate and long-term needs and interests of learners, and the situations in which they will need to use what they have learned.” This suggests that the role of technology plays a much larger part than that of providing an aid in the classroom. Technology is no longer considered a supplement to higher educational learning but had since shifted to become the main focus of higher education. As students leave the college classroom and enter into the workforce, understanding the workings of technology becomes invaluable, and plays a key role in any career they will choose. Students will ultimately be more successful in their careers, by becoming exposed to this technology early on. Students will almost certainly encounter this technology through their careers. In addition to providing students with exposure, using new and upcoming technology in the classroom fosters an environment where the learning curve is strongly supported and encouraged. Due to this technology being used in an education environment, professors can create lesson plans and mock scenarios, to provide students with the opportunity to make mistakes when the stakes are not as high. This allows students to practice and perfect the technology before being faced with it in a workplace setting.