The University of South Florida

 

Week 5 - Managing Technologies Assignment

Team E

Organization:  The University of South Florida (USF)

USF currently uses various technologies within their organization.  The University of South Florida is a state university that has over 2,500 distance/online learners.  They offer many courses online as well as hybrid courses.  Primarily online classes are formatted for Blackboard as well as ECampus learning.  ITunes University also offers many course lectures for students.  Faculty and staff at USF are trained via HR webcasts, simulations, and/or Powerpoint presentations.  USF has also partnered with many community businesses to offer training and continuing education through their Distance Learning Development Program.  The Distance Learning Development Programs also assists businesses with their Human Resource needs in training as well as assists faculty wit developing their courses for online instruction.

The university’s technology is managed through their Information Technology Department.  The IT team has access to all computers on campus.  They manage all of the technical aspects of the university.  There are approximately 150 IT staff on-hand to handle any technology problems 24/7.  Students have access to help online, via chat, via telephone, or by mobile device (app or texting).

All of USF courses are offered in text only format as well as html format for students with access to high speed internet.  If students do not have access to high speed internet at home, free WIFI is offered on any of the 5 campuses across the Tampa Bay area.  Computer labs located in various multiple locations are also available to all students of USF.  All students are required to register their computers with IT before they have access to USF courses.  Free anti-virus programs are downloaded on all student computers to avoid a virus breach on campus and to remote users.  Students are also required to electronically sign an Acceptable Use Policy Agreement before they are able to register for online classes, use USF computers, or sign into USF WIFI.

 

All courses that are to be offered online must be approved by the Board of Directors as well as the Distance Learning Development Program and Legal Department.  All links to multi-media sources must be secure and free of virus.  They also must be appropriate for student courses and relevant to the class.  Web 2.0 technologies such as webcasts and podcasts are used frequently within the universities online courses.  Webcasts and Tutorials are even available from USF Library Services on various study and research tips and techniques.  I have attached a link to Subject & Course Guides - A Great Place to Start Your Research!  Students that unable to get to campus or have access to the bandwidth for such programs also have access to transcripts of the web/pod casts via Blackboard or by email.

I believe that USF is continuously working to provide its students the most convenient way to continuing their education.  I do believe that more could be offered to provide access to courses via the IUSF mobile App.  With the majority of students that have smart phones within a 4G Network it would be easy to offer more courses and reach students who may not have access to the internet but have a cellphone.

 

Reference

The University of South Florida. (2012). The University of South Florida - University College. Retrieved from http://uc.usf.edu/