Importance of Information Technology

While technology is playing a larger role in society overall, developing a holistic, up-to-date system is particularly critical in higher education because it offers new avenues to explore—academically, socially and recreationally. It is becoming increasingly important in at least three distinct areas:

• Pedagogy
  Volume of data
  The amount of information/resources available online through Internet engines and portals enables users to search through large amounts of materials from library databases around the world. Therefore, time can be spent more productively analyzing and synthesizing data rather than just digging for and retrieving it.
  
  Immediacy and collaboration
  Technology-enabled pedagogy allows professors and students to interact together in real-time with rapidly changing information. For example, a Constitutional Law class can use online news resources to discuss the outcomes from a current Supreme Court case which is too recent to be included in a textbook.
  
  Interactive multi-media
  Students and faculty can access a vast array of online resources, past and present, and can be studied in a dynamic multi-media application by viewing DVD’s or online content.
  
   
• Career preparation
  Computer skills are necessary for all careers from technology-based positions to the field of medicine to the fine arts.
   

• Administrative
  Student information (financial data, names, addresses, grades, class schedules, etc.) is readily available in a centralized system. The ACI program provides students with around-the-clock, secure access to their personal information. This becomes increasingly important as the need for student data tracking and reporting in such areas as financial aid and federal compliance grows.