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I have the opportunity to give a workshop ‘how a student works smarter (as in lifehacking)’ to the IT department from my university. That makes me wondering: What do you miss at the university computers/software?
Some examples from my side. What bothers me:
- No RSS in Blackboard. What about that? I have to go to blackboard every day to check for updates on my courses. So I have to go to a website to see if it changed in one way or the other. That kind of actions has been way easier for years and we call it RSS (Real Simple Syndication), I don’t want to go to blackboard for updates, blackboard should come to me!
- ‘No software download policy’ on university computers. I understand that this prevents a lot of viruses on the computers, but there are a couple of programs I use all of the time on my laptop (Google Chrome for instance) that I miss big time on the university computers..
So what bothers you? What do you miss on the computers or what kind of things could be way easier? How do you want to hack (again: as in lifehacking) the computers of the university, what isn’t possible right now! Please share it in the comments!
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Heyy!!
Now I’m feeling really lucky! We do have RSS, which I just love! Unfortunatelly, not many people use it (some pages, I’m the only one following, although the subject has around 60 students or more).
I don’t like when they make us install heavy (mostly useless) programs, that we can only do with university cds, because they are really expensive and so on…
I miss Chrome in our computers too (although at least, they have firefox!
)
I miss fast internet! Is it possible that wireless is way faster in classrooms than in the “laptop’s table”? (even if I’m the only one there)
I can probably think of more things that are wrong… But at least I can notice things getting better
The problem with no RSS on blackboard is awful, however most recent versions cover this. Upgrading is pricy making the change hard..
I agree on the no-software policy because I cannot do my work properly if i do not have the neccesary software and neither can the IT-department!
And i would love to have a RSS-feed on course-changes or even a twitter account!
.-= Joost Plattel´s last blog ..Verrijkte Publicaties, een workshop door SURF Academy =-.
Ana, you really do sound like a lucky person! I didn’t knew the latest version of BB had RSS, but we definitly didn’t upgrade yet.
Good that things are actually getting better. I think it has to do with generation Y who gets the power now in ICT departments
Joost, the no software policy is just awfull. Maybe we need to make a little list to improve the university computers, a list of programs that we approve off
Twitter: collegethrive
April 10, 2010 at 12:21 am
Blackboard is a great program, but it needs a ton of improvements. Like you said, it is a pain not having the option for an RSS feed. I also think Blackboard needs to work on its usability. The program has so much potential, it’s just not quite up to par, in my opinion.
Oddly enough, at BU, they allow downloading and installing of software on computer labs and study lounges for engineers, but not anywhere else.
(Disclaimer: although I’m working for the ICT Department of Groningen University, I’m writing this on MY OWN BEHALF. Just so you know…)
I agree with you completely on your complaint about Blackboard. Its usability would be greatly enhanced if you could integrate RSS feeds from Blackboard with other feeds you follow. I have no idea if RSS is in any way possible in the current version (I believe we actually DO have the latest release), but it couldn’t hurt to investigate, could it?
I’m not directly involved in managing Blackboard, so I can’t help you directly, but I’m perfectly willing to hook you up with someone who does. Contact me if you’re interested.
On not being able to download and install software I actually think that our policy of not allowing your own software installations makes perfect sense.
University computers are used by many students daily. All these students have different sofware preferences and different levels of knowledge. Some students have no idea what they’re downloading and could be introducing viruses, others DO know what they’re doing, but they might change a workstation in a way that someone else might not like.
Over time, all computers would have (unpredictably) different configurations. This poses a huge problem. As all computers might be configured differently, they will respond unpredictably to automated software installations and updates. For example: what would happen if you’re installing a slightly newer version of Firefox, a day before we prepare an update?
The cost of maintenance on all these computers would skyrocket and at any given moment, many computers will be in some way disabled, slow, or completely unusable.
OK. So I don’t think that everyone should be allowed to install software on a shared workstation. This, however does NOT mean that we’re off the hook. We should still do our best to make our student PCs as usable as we can.
Am I right to say that your complaint isn’t really about not being to install software yourself, but about not having enough influence in the choice of software on student computers?
Of course, if you really want to completely control your own computing experience, there is really only one way to achieve that: bring your own laptop to campus. You can hook it up to the wireless network and run and install any software you see fit. I know this is not the cheapest solution. However, it does get you the exact tools you need to work exactly as you want in a way an IT department could not ever do for you.
Cheers
markM
I keep asking for a university-wide membership to someplace like Lynda.com. Offering software is half of the battle. More and more being familiar in a wide variety of software programs is an important part of working in an office environment.
Putting photoshop on all of the computers is great, but that should be matched with an opportunity for everyone to learn how to use it.
Definitely faster internet. It’s so goddamn annoying. Better yet, just faster everything. I’m pretty sure my IT guys are stuck in 2007. At least we have Office 07, but even though our computers are all Vista (and some of them 7) enabled, they insist on keeping XP. Not even a good XP, it’s so slow that you could read War and Peace while waiting for Windows Explorer to open.
.-= Katie´s last blog ..Similarities. =-.
@ Rusty: I think we have the similar kind of situation, as the lab is not really a part of the university, not all the students can come there. And you need a lot of extra software to do all the experiments you want!
@ Mark: Thanks a lot for you well explained comment! I’ve send you an email, hope we can meet soon!
@ Kat: We actually have a photoshop workshop soon, not obligatory, but still awesome!
@ Katie: Slow computers are awfull, especially if you want to look something up quickly. Hate it.
Thanks for the comments you all!