Fostering ICT Innovation in an Innovative Way

1. Fostering ICT Innovation in an Innovative Way Simone Knapp Stephanie Frost Rachel Heidecker

2. Overview • Introduction • Goals • Developing the Fund & Process • Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare) Project • Library Mobile Services Project • Observations on the Successes • Lessons Learned • Conclusion

3. Introduction • U of S Campus Environment • 17 colleges & schools; several affiliated colleges • ~20,000 students • Distributed/Federated ICT Model • Multiple ICT shops

4. Introduction Innovation • 1. something new or different introduced. • 2. the act of innovating;  introduction of new things or methods. Foster • 1. to promote the growth or development of; further; encourage: to foster new ideas.

5. Goals • Establish ICT innovation as a strategic priority • Provide the capacity to respond to ICT innovation opportunities in a coordinated manner • Leverage existing resources in colleges and administrative units • Reduce the frequency of funding requests for ICT projects. BUT…

6. We needed new money to support innovation!

7. Developing the Fund & Process • Developed a request for innovation funding • Identified the benefits the fund would provide • Identified recent innovations that could have benefited from this fund (e.g. iUsask app) • Identified risks of not supporting innovation • Conditional approval received very quickly • Required further information about processes and Terms of Reference needed to be developed

8. Developing the Fund & Process May 2010 February – March 2011 October 2010 March 2011

9. Developing the Fund & Process • To help with reporting, created three forms: • Outline • Mid-term Status Report • Final Report • Released funds in phases • First half after receiving project outline • Second half after receiving mid-term/final report

10. Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare) Stephanie Frost

11. Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare) Every course automatically has a web page that includes course-specific data: • Catalogue info: Instructor name, course description, prerequisites required, etc. • Textbook (direct link to Bookstore) • Library (course-specific and subject-specific resources) • a pretty link (ex. http://ocw.usask.ca/AR/BIOL/120) • filesthe instructor has chosen to share

12. Many departments working together! • University Learning Centre • project initiators • ICT Educational and Research Technology Services group • folks in charge of Blackboard • Student Enrolment Services Division • data feed for course names & codes • Library • publically accessible course-specific material • Bookstore • links to textbooks • ICT Help Desk • get professors to call them, not me • calls about OCW often related to other Blackboard questions anyway • Training Services • documentation consistent with other Course Tools support (e.g. How to use the Gradebook) • professional videos

13. ICT Innovation Funding helped to “smooth” the collaboration… • Felt the project had the university’s “blessing” when approaching other units about collaborating • Conversation starter • Some departments need to bill you, others don’t • ICT Innovation Fund helped cover costs

19. Convenient for Instructors • Blackboard files and OCW files are in the same location (i.e. in Blackboard)

20. You can do this too • This approach will work for any Course Management System that allows guest browsing • No custom modifications to Blackboard were necessary • Leverage Guest Access functionality • Basically, OCW is a fancy link-generator • Looks like:  https://bblearn.usask.ca/?action=guest_login&new_loc=%2Fwebapps%2Fuofs-courseredirect-bb_bb60%3Fcourseid=87864.201109

21. Results • Even instructors without local ICT support are automatically set up with OCW • don't have to learn a new system • Two core institutional systems (Blackboard and Course Catalogue)  • brought together in a new way to benefit a wider audience

22. Library Mobile Services(Mobile Strategy Evolution) Rachel Heidecker

23. Previous Mobile Services • iUsask (Released for iPhone/iPod in 2009)

24. Previous Mobile Services • Vendor Services • Mobile Catalogue • Feature Phones (http://sundog.usask.ca/airpac) • Smart Phones (http://mcat.usask.ca/) • Catalogue Search Results (Call No, Location, Etc) • SMS & Email Message Delivery

25. Previous Mobile Services • Responsive Web Design • Prototype (2009) • Quick • New presentation layer • Same content as the existing website • Challenges • Too much content • Navigation (dead-ends) • Top Tasks

26. What we did right • Took advantage of opportunities as they came • Skill development • Observed and measured usage of vendor apps (Google Analytics) • Knowledge and evidence for decision-making • Prototyping • Industry & usability insights GREAT! Now we know exactly what to do ... BUT! ... we have other priorities and limited resources.

27. ICT Innovation Fund ProposalMay 2011 • Mobile Strategy Evolution • Start with a selection of mobile-relevant features • Not necessarily the same top tasks as the full website. • Be ready to expand as we are able to integrate other services that will provide the best user experience COLLABORATION Identified opportunities to for collaboration with other units on campus: Room Bookings within colleges and integration with iUsask

28. Implementation Timeline

29. Demonstration • Library Mobile Website • http://library.usask.ca/mobile • Group Study Room Booking • http://www.usask.ca/learningcommons/booking/

30. Successes & Challenges • Funding & Priorities • Extended term programmer to ensure resources were available • Flexibility required to balance existing workload • Campus Partners • Central ICT (Mobile Templates, iUsask) • Connections with colleges • “Seamless” System Integration • Positive user experience • Ready to expand

31. Observations on the Successes • Participants all indicated the fund was valuable • Saw as an opportunity • Provided institutional endorsement • Provided additional funds • Increased priority • Leveraging institutional services • Minimized programming required by the unit • Easier to ramp up where lacking familiarity

32. Lessons Learned(AKA Things we could have done better) • Need to be partners and co-sponsors, not just a source of funding • Need to know what the next steps would be if project successful and becomes institution-wide • Making connections in a federated environment isn’t as easy as it seems (e.g. different programming languages, different priorities)

33. Lessons Learned(AKA Things we could have done better) • Project success may depend on type (prototype, pilot project, advanced project) • Groups used internal funds to pay for the work and then “invoiced” ICT after the work was done by completing the forms • Maximum impact may come at the expense of maximum breadth

34. Conclusion • Ideas and processes that look good on paper often stumble in the implementations • Success was had, but we could have been more successful • Now see our challenges being addressed by changes to our ICT governance model • Will hopefully achieve the goals intended by this initiative more broadly

35. Questions? About the Fund: http://www.usask.ca/avp-ict/portfolio/ict-innovation-fund/index.php Public Class Pages (Open CourseWare): http://ocw.usask.ca/ OCW Training Info: http://www.usask.ca/its/courses/coursetools/ in Instructors: Help Library Mobile Site: http://library.usask.ca/mobile/ Mobile at the U of S: http://mobile.usask.ca/