Dive Brief:
- Ed Tech profiles Magazine outlines four strategies for campus IT departments preparing for the emergence of the Internet of Things — a phenomenon of online networking providing real-time data on human behaviors and preferences in connection with common items and environments.
- Addressing campus WiFi performance, improving data security and privacy standards, and training faculty and staff on new technology will be among the most important steps in preparing a campus for new forms of connectivity.
- For all of the changes, experts recommend that campuses have honest conversations with network vendors about expectations and mandate training as a part of implementation.
Dive Insight:
Innovations typically happen quickly, and by their nature, many campuses may struggle with procurement and implementation of new networking capacity due to challenges with personnel numbers and the time required to train and troubleshoot new systems.
Any new initiatives with IT and networking systems should involve feedback and shared review from members of the campus community, who can best communicate the challenges of an existing system, and what expectations would be for any new systems involving technologies which may be foreign to most users.