According to most theories of technological change, old technologies tend to disappear when newer ones arrive. If done right, IT has the potential to completely transform business and organization by flattering hierarchies, shrinking supply chains and speeding communication. Why, then, do so many companies, organizations and institutions get it wrong?
RUC is tremendously growing and firstly expanding, the current structure is way much better than what was there two years back. However, in my honest view, the little problems bedeviling RUC are technological. There is an urgent need for the establishment of a student portal - an individualized web system that allows one to view applications on a single web page. It provides direct access to ones personalized information. Students’ portal is the gateway to all the RUC students’ details including enrolment, results and examination details.
RUC can only realize work efficiency, student’s convenience and a cut off on staff wage bill/ salaries if and only if it fully embraces technology. The university mission,”…..to be a world class technology driven university……” will be of no use if it cannot digitize its operations and offer its students real time services.
How will we motivate our computer scientists and informatics students to be innovative if we ourselves are not? RUC has got that peaceful academic environment, a cool serene environment, with whistling winds off Kisii highlands that refreshes the mind and provides that extra cooling effect and energy to continue working even if one seems tired. All students dream to be job creators, and if not, get employed at the end of it all. Let’s start the ground breaking ceremony, let’s lay the foundation strong, it starts with us, we need to churn out competitive workforce, computer experts. It’s the little things like IT developments, digitization that will motivate them and get them out of the comfort zone to start working and coding endlessly, things real and imaginary.
Back to my school of thought, a student’s portal which allows students to view their course applications, apply for scholarships, apply to graduate, access blackboard(WebCT)-( blackboard learning system is an online proprietary virtual learning environment system that is licensed to colleges and other institutions and used in many campuses for e-learning. Instructors can add such tools as discussions boards, mail system and live chat along with content including documents and web pages-web courses.), access lecture recordings, view results and other important tools and information will not only be ideal and a milestone in realization of our digital school (ODEL) but also, it will be an investment whose gains will have major academic step ups and seal loopholes (decried favoritism, laxity and complacency) in the offices concerned.
In a brief understanding of our social and academic problems, access to communication is a disease most students suffer sandwiched by limited academic materials and publications. In a bid to address this, JSTOR was born, however what worries me is that a load of shite has been talked about digitization (the e-library (JSTOR)) as being the new Gutenberg but the fact is that Gutenberg led to books being put in shelves, and digitization is taking books off the shelves.
If you start taking books off shelves then you are only going to find what you are looking for, which does not help those who do not know what they are looking for. For effective use, students still need loads of information as pertains to JSTOR.
Though one could easily argue that the accidental discovery of what you dint know you were looking for is still imminently possible in a digitized, hyperlinked environment, the likelihood will be minimal with proper guidance.
It is within our capacity to digitize our collections, digitize our library and our cultural heritage information, but I pose to ask, is the digitization of analog products a goldmine?
Webometric rankings are based on a composite indicator that takes into account both the volume of web contents (number of web pages and files and the visibility and impact of these publications according to the number of external in links (site citations) they received.)How will we improve our rank? Nobody smiles at our decimal performance yearly. The aim of the ranking is not to infrastructuraly or academically mock RUC fraternity but to improve the presence of the academic and research institutions like ours on the web and promote the open access publication of scientific results.
As a university of our choice, we long to see improved service delivery, real-time information dissemination and better academic research. I think this is not a preserve for the future posterity; it is more of a real student basic need than imagine secondary academic want. The internet is the future for this generation, from digital schools, e-shopping to e-payments thus it is my belief that digitization is the new face that RUC should wear, it should not only be a song by the goldmine but a structure good when real than imagined. It is the only prescribed cure to long queue at the finance office, crowding at the departmentals and a new lease of life for academic score cards-the transcripts and the only solution to irregular fee balances. We can automate our student ledgers and issue digital receipts, come on, we are technology driven.
As I conclude, I would like to share similar sentiments with Colin Powell, “my own experience is to use the tools that are out there, use the digital world. But never lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don’t share your view. Listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise.”
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