Even if we (I?) tend to focus on our little corner of the higher ed Web on a daily basis, that world is flat too. That’s why I’ve recently decided to open more this blog to initiatives, news and happenings taking place all around the world and not just in the US and Canada.
Without people, the Web wouldn’t be the great place it has become. As a result, the first step I’d like to take in that truly worldwide direction is a series of interviews with higher ed professionals: “Around the (Higher Ed) World in 4 Questions.”
So, let’s start this journey with the UK and Brian Kelly who is the UK Web Focus at UKOLN, a prolific blogger and a conference organizer.
1) Your position at UKOLN as described on your blog looks like the dream job. Can you tell us a bit more about what you are doing?
Yes, it’s a great job, which I enjoy very much. I’ve been at UKOLN since November 1996 and have been employed as UK Web Focus since I started work here. I was one of the first Webmasters (as the role became known) in the UK, having helped to establish a Web service at the University of Leeds in January 1993 – this may have been the first institutional Web services in the UK, and when we registered it at CERN (the birthplace of the Web) we found that we were one of the first 50 organisations which had registered its service. I have to admit that although I could see the clear benefits that the web could provide to the university, I was concerned that the Web might not be sustainable in light of the popularity back then of Gopher. So I started to promote the benefits of the Web to an initially sceptical audience but eventually, of course, the benefits of the Web became obvious to everyone – and now, I suspect, very few people will have heard of Gopher.
My role at UKOLN is a national adviser on Web standards, technologies and best practices to UKOLN’s communities, which includes the higher and further education sector and the cultural heritage community of museums, libraries and archives.
After a somewhat dull period at the turn of the century, the advent of Web 2.0 has provided renewed interest in the Web and, as you will be aware, much debate on topics such as the sustainability of Web 2.0 services and the benefits they may provide within institutions. I’m very much enjoying the role I have to play in contributing to these discussions. My UK Web Focus blog provides the main channel for discussion on these issues. But in addition to my blog I also give many talks and organise events related to use of Web 2.0, as you can see from my list of presentations. The main annual event I established is the Institutional Web Management Workshop (IWMW) which was launched in 1997 and has been held every year since then.
I also write papers for peer-reviewed journals and conferences with these papers tending to focus on Web accessibility and the role of standards in delivering services. I should add that the papers do not necessarily simply reflect orthodox thinking in these areas: I have published a number of papers which have criticised the simplicities of WAI’s approach to Web accessibility and, together with fellow accessibility researchers and practitioners in the UK and Australia, have developed what we have referred to as a ‘holistic framework for accessibility’.
2) Do you think Web 2.0 technologies have changed the way higher ed institutions in the UK communicate with their target audiences?
We’re now seeing institutions making use of Social Networking services such as Facebook to communicate with both potential students and to facilitate communications within the institution. Edge Hill University was one of the first to describe why it was prepared to use such services, and this is now becoming more widely established, with the Open University (which has a presence on Facebook, YouTube and iTunes) demonstrating its belief in the organisational benefits such services can provide.
3) What is the main reason preventing these technologies from being more used by universities in the UK?
It would be easy to suggest that institutions may be conservative, citing concerns over the legal implications use of such services may entail and the sustainability of the services; arguments which could be used to justify concerns over a loss of control which could result from a use of such services.
However there are also very real and unresolved issues which do need to be treated seriously. It is not yet clear how stable and reliable such services may be in the longer term – especially in light of likely global recession. And it is not clear if the current popularity of such services will be sustainable in the longer term.
4) Can you share a few examples of innovative uses implemented by UK institutions?
I’ve mentioned Edge Hill University, which is being innovative in the ways in which it is making use of a variety of Web 2.0 services in order to appeal to students.
I should also mention the University of Bath, where I’m based. The University was awarded a European prize for its podcasts a couple of years ago. And just a few weeks ago the University Web Services team held a “Get Creative Week”. This aimed to provide team building and staff development within the team – and resulted in the development of a Facebook application which allows students to search for accommodation. This service is built on an existing commercial service, with the Facebook application providing an interface within an environment which many students will be familiar with. It will be interesting to see if this service proves popular with students at the University – and if it does it may demonstrate the value of the Facebook platform for providing an interface to various services for the student community.