As part of my KCB201 assessment this blog discusses the cultural applications of the internet and new media technology.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

A real-world proposal for a ‘real world’ university.

Throughout my time at QUT there has been one major contradiction that has leapt out at me every time I've jumped on the internet. Although we study at a leading university and most of our learning and information resources are accessed over the internet, QUT's online systems are inconsistent, inefficient and difficult to use. This seems entirely at odds with our current focus of study – how individuals use and interact with the internet in ever more sophisticated ways.


A major theme that runs through the KCB201 content is the developing role of internet users as producers of online content. Open source software is one area in which the expertise of many internet users is combined to produce applications (such as websites, programs or even servers) that are cheaper, more functional and more reliable than commercially produced versions. For example, the Mozilla Firefox web browser is a product of open-source software that just passed the 500 million download mark.


One of the benefits of open source software is that the source code can be modified as glitches in the application are discovered. This means that if you are using a program and it does not perform the way you would like it to, you can simply look at the source code and change it to suit your needs.


So one day, after entering my sign-in information for the fifth time in a row, I pondered wistfully... what if the QUT online systems could be redesigned using open source software? What if these systems were a product of user-led collaboration? Here are five reasons why QUT websites would make an ideal open source project:


  1. The current websites are, quite simply, ineffective and limited in their functionality. As a student, I have to access four different webpages to do the following: find out information about my personal enrolment (QUT virtual); communicate via email (QUT webmail); access learning resources (QUT blackboard); and locate university information (QUT homepage – prepare to burrow 17 pages deep). To complicate things further, the information spread across these webpages is often inconsistent and out of date. If open source software was used, QUT students, teachers and staff would be able to modify the websites to suit their needs. Currently, the QUT online systems are a typical example of what opensource.org refers to as a “traditional closed model, in which only a very few programmers can see the source and everybody else must blindly use an opaque block of bits”.

  1. QUT has access to an extremely valuable bank of IT knowledge: its students and teachers. This collective knowledge would be more than capable of designing and adapting online systems that are more user-friendly than the current models. Also, current students would have a vested interest in producing online systems for QUT as they would directly benefit from their enhanced usability. This would avoid any ethical qualms associated with ‘hijacking the hive’, as those who contribute are those who are rewarded.

  1. Many hands make light work. The diversity of courses, faculties, students, teachers, campuses (and so much more) means that the amount of information to be transferred online and on time is way beyond the capacity of the Web Solutions or Information Technology Services (ITS) staff. These divisions are more concerned with functional problems, such ensuring that servers stay online and audiovisual equipment performs correctly. This leaves little scope to assess the practicality of online systems, as the task of ensuring that these systems, however ineffective, keep running is huge in itself.

  1. The websites could be updated and adapted as needed. Although forums and discussion boards do exist on QUT blackboard pages, I doubt these are used to their full potential. Currently, the content of the KCB201 ‘Feedback’ folder on QUT blackboard reads: “folder empty”. While the university conducts Learning Experience (LEX) surveys, these are more focused on course content and teaching standards, and do not consider the performance of websites and online systems. There are no opportunities for feedback about the usability of websites, or for ideas for new features to be floated. In fact the last time the ITS conducted ‘Quality of Service’ surveys was in 2004 and 2002. It is reasonable to say that the needs of students have changed in the last four years. Certain parts of QUT virtual and blackboard are redundant, while in other areas there exists a need for new services. If QUT’s students were able to contribute ideas and information, or request amendments to services, the web systems would be more functional and would be a closer match to what students actually require.

  1. QUT would save enough money to shout the entire staff a holiday to Vanuatu. This may be exaggerating slightly, but the cost of maintaining and designing webpages for an institution with over 40 000 students would be staggering. Instead of paying for commercial education software, such as Blackboard and Virtual systems, QUT would be able to internally develop web applications that exactly suit the needs of its staff, students and teachers. Redundant tools would be cast aside, leaving us all with a streamlined system designed to suit our individual needs.

Of course, my idealistic proposal will probably never make it into the real world. Firstly, because I do not have the background in IT to assess whether this idea is even feasible (although for a similar project, take a look at Stanford University's Open Source Lab project here). In fact I’m certain that there are gaping holes in my argument, but this post is more of a hypothetical question rather than a technically flawless proposal. Second, the security risks and lack of control over open source software mean that it is unlikely to be adopted by QUT anytime soon. But for a university that espouses its focus on creativity and innovation, and on learning for ‘the real world’, I think that the functionality of online services could definitely be improved. The following quote is lifted directly from the QUT Creative Industries webpage, and its lofty aspirations grind against the rigid and stale web services that we are all forced to work around in order to complete our study.


QUT Creative Industries is commited (sic) to staying at the forefront of creative enterprise, practice, learning and research. We challenge tradition, providing new meanings, environments and perspectives, training graduates that are ready not only for today’s demands, but for the creative world that is yet to arrive.”

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