University of Washington
University of Washington implemented a new suite of mobile applications for the iPhone . The free tools offer maps, course catalogs, news, events, athletics schedules and sprots scores, all can be viewed on an iPhone or iPod touch.
They have also developed a new mobile web site, for users who have Blackberries, Windows Mobile devices, Palm Pilots or other Web-enabled cell phones. A format designed to be viewed on a mobile phone. They worked with Blackboard on these strategies.
University had a task force to look at collaborative tools. They found that the University of Washington is not a one size fits all institution.
They also found that since technology changes so fast, they should not become locked-in and dependent on any one specific group of technology, or with any one provider of tools. They should strive to use collaborative tools that are standards-based, browser-agnostic, interoperable, and multi-platforms (including mobile platforms).
They recommended continuing the roll-out of SharePoint and the Confluence Wiki tool.
There were three specifi issues about collaborative tools that have to be addressed:
· Lack of support for using collaborative technologies, a problem that will diminish as available tools evolve and improve.
· Confusion about tool choice, an issue of knowledge sharing that could be solved with better documentation about the available choices (not an operational support issue).
· Lack of interoperability, a condition resulting from tools that are tightly integrated internally but do not interoperate well with other toolsets.
The Academic Technology Advisory Committee focuses on the needs of the faculty, their current workflow, and the kinds of tools that would help them perform the course and instructional tasks that they most needed to perform.
The subcommittee discovered that faculty generally found currently available tools at the UW to be sufficient for their needs; basically, they want online tools that are simple and easy to use. Faculty prioritized support for their instructional uses of technology over adding additional technology tools.