In the next three years..
Over the years, information technology has changed overwhelmingly making the lives of people easier compared to previous years. Information technology has changed the way people handle information and now can access it in an organized and faster way. In addition, information technology has been a very useful tool in providing a faster and organized way of communicating ideas and information for learning particularly in the field of education. IT has provided services ranging from offline to online services that changed the lifestyle of people in a positive way - making it better. Some schools even use information technology strategically to make learning and access to school services easier and effective for the school’s resident’s benefit. Usually, one of the reasons that forces schools to improve IT is for strategic competence over other universities.
Change has always been a must especially when we’re dealing with information technology. I remembered that one of my classmates asked if the current information system of a certain organization is already satisfying and working, is there still a need for a change of strategy? At first, I thought that the answer to that question would be no. At that time, I thought that if your information system is already producing good results for the company then the best move would be to keep it. However, our professor thought otherwise. He said that even though the information system of a company is already working for now.. but what about in the next years to come? It is basically a rule in nature that a certain company will try to surpass or improve strategically to have a huge advantage over their competitors. This concept can also apply to your company’s competitors. From this point of view, if your company will stick to your current strategy and will try not to formulate strategic changes and options then the possibility that your competitors will surpass you in the next years to come will be higher. From that discussion, I understood that a company should not be satisfied with their current strategy. Our environment is so fast changing that new technologies come up almost every day. In this case, change is definitely necessary in order to cope up. And just like any organization, I believe that our university must be also compelled to change as well. Change is always good as long it’s for the better. I believe that a change in the university’s information technology contributes in achieving the vision of the university which is “to become a premier university in the ASEAN region”. As a state university, I can’t really blame the school for having obsolete and overused IT components. Budget and approval for IT improvements play a major role in pursuing improvements in information technology for our university and for now they tend to be insufficient. In addition to this, I also think that the university does not consider investments in information technology as one of their top priorities which really saddens me. But three years from now, I can see that there could be some significant improvements in information technology that can happen in our university.
Significant improvements in Hardware components
In the next three years, I expect that there would be some improvements in the information technology components of the university. According to the definition by Encarta 2008 Dictionary, Information technology means the use of technologies from computing, electronics, and telecommunications to process and distribute information in digital and other forms. Information technology includes two distinct components. These components are the hardware and software components of a computer system. Since information technology covers two components, I will cite the improvements in those two areas that I can see slowly being enacted in the next three years. In terms of hardware components, I can see improvements in the computers being used in the university. There will be improvement not only on the outside appearance of the computer but also in its inner components. I could see that higher RAM components and hard disk capacity will be provided for faster processing. In addition, I can also see that the computer components that will be bought will promote green computing. With the energy shortage that the country is experiencing right now and the abnormal fluctuations of the earth’s temperature, more and more people are already aware of the significance of protecting our environment and conserving energy. Because of this, I believe that the university will consider the environmental effects of the hardware components that will be bought in the future.
ENHANCE THE POWER OF SCHOOL ID SYSTEM USING BARCODES
As I have observed, most universities in Davao already adapted the technology of using the school id system to facilitate and improve their services. It is unfortunate that up until now, the university hasn’t taken the advantage of using our school ids to improve student services. Three years from now, I can see that there is a significant improvement in the school services through the use of embedded bar codes in our school ids.
Through bar codes, student ID cards can act as a "portable database" where we can store digital photographs, signatures, schedule data, emergency contact information and even biometric data in a single code the size of a magnetic stripe - all at virtually no extra cost.
According to the article by Vasishta, S. and Dhanda M.(2010), barcode technology is most accurate and least expensive way to identify and get data into the computer. The extent of achievement in the library after introduction of barcode technology is quite high. The following are the benefits of the barcode technology:
Improved operational efficiency: Manual charging/ discharging of documents is very cumbersome. Operational efficiency has improved a lot after using the barcode technology as barcodes permit faster recording of information.
Accuracy: In the manual system, the writing of accession number and member code may result in charging/discharging a wrong book to a wrong member. But barcode scans accession number and member code at the time of charging/discharging to ensure the accuracy in transactions. It leads to an error free data entry.
With the help of barcode issue/return of documents can be done faster, which helps in saving the time of both the user as well as library staff.
Barcode helps reducing in cost of preparing duplicate borrowers card.
Barcode technology is fast and user-friendly.
Barcode will help in stock verification expeditiously and easily.
Barcode will help in maintaining duplicate borrowers’ card, which were occupying more space on the issue counter.
Issuing of no dues certificate will become easy; it was very cumbersome to verify from a manual system.
It will facilitate preparation of reminders and fine lists for overdue books.
It provides reliable statistics.
It adds to elegance and aesthetics of the front office and its activities.
Free WIFI access within the university
Recently, I have been noticing that more and more students are now using portable computers like laptops and notebooks even those students whose courses are not even computer related. This is now quite evident maybe because of the fact that laptops nowadays are more affordable compared to laptops before. How much more in the future? With the increasing population of students that are using laptops, it is a shame that up to now there is still no free wifi access in the university for the students. I can still notice some students with laptops are sneaking near offices and faculty rooms within the university just to have free wifi access. To make it worse, there are security restrictions which prevent the student from accessing the wifi connection.
The university admin may say that there is no need for a free wifi access because the university already has a virtual laboratory to suffice the internet needs of the students. This may be true for those students who don’t have personal computers. But what about those students who literally use their laptops as personal notebooks that they even use during classes. And let’s all face it, the computers provided by the computer laboratories are not that satisfactory when it comes to data processing and the computer laboratory cannot accommodate all the students because of the scarcity of computers. The least the university can do is provide a free wifi service in which the students who has laptops can access free internet by just staying inside the campus. I believe that this kind of change will be a “substantial change for the good” because I believe that it will really help the students in particular to stay inside the campus than go outside just to access the internet.
Continuous improvement and user acceptance of UniiSys
For the benefit of those who are not aware of what UniiSys is, here are some information about it:
UniiSys stands for University Integrated Information System. It is a collection of online systems made by IC students from the University of Southeastern Philippines Obrero Campus. It generally aims to improve the current systems in the university.
Three years from now, I can see that UniiSys will have a huge impact on the aspect of school services if properly implemented and supported by the students. With the increasing number of students going online and using the internet, I think UniiSys can be very useful and a huge hit. Three years from now, I believe that the internet will still play a significant role in the lifestyle of people world wide. Because of this, online systems are still relevant and have a huge possibility of user acceptance. UniiSys provides a venue for students to create and integrate unique and useful systems for the benefit of the university in general.
The following are my reasons why I think UniiSys is beneficial for the university:
1. It will improve student services from the effort of students
2. It will help showcase student skills to the world through the World Wide Web
3. It will promote system development for the benefit of the university
4. It will help in pioneering the creation of unique and relevant online systems
Reference:
Vasishta, S. and Dhanda M.(January, 2010).Transforming a Traditional Library to Modern Library using Barcode Technology: An Experience of Central Library, PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 44-48
http://www.officezone.com/school-id.htm
Note:
This is a response to MIS 2 Subject Assignment # 9.
Assignment # 9
The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on your school services in the next three years. (1500 words)
Change has always been a must especially when we’re dealing with information technology. I remembered that one of my classmates asked if the current information system of a certain organization is already satisfying and working, is there still a need for a change of strategy? At first, I thought that the answer to that question would be no. At that time, I thought that if your information system is already producing good results for the company then the best move would be to keep it. However, our professor thought otherwise. He said that even though the information system of a company is already working for now.. but what about in the next years to come? It is basically a rule in nature that a certain company will try to surpass or improve strategically to have a huge advantage over their competitors. This concept can also apply to your company’s competitors. From this point of view, if your company will stick to your current strategy and will try not to formulate strategic changes and options then the possibility that your competitors will surpass you in the next years to come will be higher. From that discussion, I understood that a company should not be satisfied with their current strategy. Our environment is so fast changing that new technologies come up almost every day. In this case, change is definitely necessary in order to cope up. And just like any organization, I believe that our university must be also compelled to change as well. Change is always good as long it’s for the better. I believe that a change in the university’s information technology contributes in achieving the vision of the university which is “to become a premier university in the ASEAN region”. As a state university, I can’t really blame the school for having obsolete and overused IT components. Budget and approval for IT improvements play a major role in pursuing improvements in information technology for our university and for now they tend to be insufficient. In addition to this, I also think that the university does not consider investments in information technology as one of their top priorities which really saddens me. But three years from now, I can see that there could be some significant improvements in information technology that can happen in our university.
Significant improvements in Hardware components
In the next three years, I expect that there would be some improvements in the information technology components of the university. According to the definition by Encarta 2008 Dictionary, Information technology means the use of technologies from computing, electronics, and telecommunications to process and distribute information in digital and other forms. Information technology includes two distinct components. These components are the hardware and software components of a computer system. Since information technology covers two components, I will cite the improvements in those two areas that I can see slowly being enacted in the next three years. In terms of hardware components, I can see improvements in the computers being used in the university. There will be improvement not only on the outside appearance of the computer but also in its inner components. I could see that higher RAM components and hard disk capacity will be provided for faster processing. In addition, I can also see that the computer components that will be bought will promote green computing. With the energy shortage that the country is experiencing right now and the abnormal fluctuations of the earth’s temperature, more and more people are already aware of the significance of protecting our environment and conserving energy. Because of this, I believe that the university will consider the environmental effects of the hardware components that will be bought in the future.
ENHANCE THE POWER OF SCHOOL ID SYSTEM USING BARCODES
As I have observed, most universities in Davao already adapted the technology of using the school id system to facilitate and improve their services. It is unfortunate that up until now, the university hasn’t taken the advantage of using our school ids to improve student services. Three years from now, I can see that there is a significant improvement in the school services through the use of embedded bar codes in our school ids.
Through bar codes, student ID cards can act as a "portable database" where we can store digital photographs, signatures, schedule data, emergency contact information and even biometric data in a single code the size of a magnetic stripe - all at virtually no extra cost.
According to the article by Vasishta, S. and Dhanda M.(2010), barcode technology is most accurate and least expensive way to identify and get data into the computer. The extent of achievement in the library after introduction of barcode technology is quite high. The following are the benefits of the barcode technology:
Improved operational efficiency: Manual charging/ discharging of documents is very cumbersome. Operational efficiency has improved a lot after using the barcode technology as barcodes permit faster recording of information.
Accuracy: In the manual system, the writing of accession number and member code may result in charging/discharging a wrong book to a wrong member. But barcode scans accession number and member code at the time of charging/discharging to ensure the accuracy in transactions. It leads to an error free data entry.
With the help of barcode issue/return of documents can be done faster, which helps in saving the time of both the user as well as library staff.
Barcode helps reducing in cost of preparing duplicate borrowers card.
Barcode technology is fast and user-friendly.
Barcode will help in stock verification expeditiously and easily.
Barcode will help in maintaining duplicate borrowers’ card, which were occupying more space on the issue counter.
Issuing of no dues certificate will become easy; it was very cumbersome to verify from a manual system.
It will facilitate preparation of reminders and fine lists for overdue books.
It provides reliable statistics.
It adds to elegance and aesthetics of the front office and its activities.
Free WIFI access within the university
Recently, I have been noticing that more and more students are now using portable computers like laptops and notebooks even those students whose courses are not even computer related. This is now quite evident maybe because of the fact that laptops nowadays are more affordable compared to laptops before. How much more in the future? With the increasing population of students that are using laptops, it is a shame that up to now there is still no free wifi access in the university for the students. I can still notice some students with laptops are sneaking near offices and faculty rooms within the university just to have free wifi access. To make it worse, there are security restrictions which prevent the student from accessing the wifi connection.
The university admin may say that there is no need for a free wifi access because the university already has a virtual laboratory to suffice the internet needs of the students. This may be true for those students who don’t have personal computers. But what about those students who literally use their laptops as personal notebooks that they even use during classes. And let’s all face it, the computers provided by the computer laboratories are not that satisfactory when it comes to data processing and the computer laboratory cannot accommodate all the students because of the scarcity of computers. The least the university can do is provide a free wifi service in which the students who has laptops can access free internet by just staying inside the campus. I believe that this kind of change will be a “substantial change for the good” because I believe that it will really help the students in particular to stay inside the campus than go outside just to access the internet.
Continuous improvement and user acceptance of UniiSys
For the benefit of those who are not aware of what UniiSys is, here are some information about it:
UniiSys stands for University Integrated Information System. It is a collection of online systems made by IC students from the University of Southeastern Philippines Obrero Campus. It generally aims to improve the current systems in the university.
Three years from now, I can see that UniiSys will have a huge impact on the aspect of school services if properly implemented and supported by the students. With the increasing number of students going online and using the internet, I think UniiSys can be very useful and a huge hit. Three years from now, I believe that the internet will still play a significant role in the lifestyle of people world wide. Because of this, online systems are still relevant and have a huge possibility of user acceptance. UniiSys provides a venue for students to create and integrate unique and useful systems for the benefit of the university in general.
The following are my reasons why I think UniiSys is beneficial for the university:
1. It will improve student services from the effort of students
2. It will help showcase student skills to the world through the World Wide Web
3. It will promote system development for the benefit of the university
4. It will help in pioneering the creation of unique and relevant online systems
Reference:
Vasishta, S. and Dhanda M.(January, 2010).Transforming a Traditional Library to Modern Library using Barcode Technology: An Experience of Central Library, PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh. DESIDOC Journal of Library & Information Technology, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 44-48
http://www.officezone.com/school-id.htm
Note:
This is a response to MIS 2 Subject Assignment # 9.
Assignment # 9
The pace of change seems to increase relentlessly, especially changes involving information technology. Using your crystal ball, identify and discuss three changes likely to have substantial impact on your school services in the next three years. (1500 words)
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