JISC

Leadership and further investment in a technology infrastructure emerged as the main priorities for universities in a debate ahead of the JISC 10 conference today.

David Baker, chairing, and JISC’s deputy chair, said, “Technology has to help institutions to reengineer themselves for the next ten to fifteen years.  Organisations like JISC need to facilitate this change and increase the level of technological understanding, especially at strategic and senior levels."

The audience of senior figures from education, technology and industry voted electronically on a number of issues which put technology at the heart of education.

Leadership and further investment in a technology infrastructure emerged as the main priorities for universities in a debate ahead of the JISC 10 conference today.The majority embraced technology as evidence of a bold new paradigm according to one key vote, with most also calling for universities to prioritise funding for digital tools ahead of other funding concerns.

Panellist Sarah Porter, head of innovation at JISC, received support from the audience for her proposal that different cloud spaces be developed for different purposes.

There was also consensus from over two thirds of the audience that networked individuals and not institutions will drive innovation in the future, as proposed by Professor Bill Dutton, director of the Oxford Internet Institute.

Business engagement was the key concern for Professor Cliff Hardcastle, vice chancellor of Teesside University, and the key barriers to successful engagement for audience members were limited understanding in universities about what was going on in business, and the absence of a business culture.

From a student experience perspective, Guy Clapperton, author and broadcaster, asked whether technology had reached saturation point in the classroom ahead of debate on how to ensure that students are digitally literate, with the audience voting ‘no’.

For more on the challenges facing education and how technology can help, follow the JISC 10 conference online.

JISC 10 conference