Current Systems
The current system that St John’s University has implemented caters to everyone in the college community. Their system covers from admissions through graduation and everything in between. One accesses their university information system through what they call St. John’s Central (stjohns.edu, 2013). Through the university’s website, St Johns Central provides internet access to manage many facets of one’s college career. According to StJohn.edu (2013), the University possesses a wide variety of technology systems, places, and services including: * Electronic Mail (E-mail) * Some helpful places to bookmark * Some important places for learning * Computing devices * Communication via the Network * Software * Collaboration and Storage Places * Student Support and Technical Consultation
St John’s University provides access to e-mail by way of Microsoft Live 365’s system.
Their e-mail can be accessed through their network on campus, but they also provide access to their e-mail system through mobile devices (tablets, smartphones), which eases the burden of communication between teachers and students and amongst other students in an effort of collaboration, so that one doesn’t have to be physically in school to log in to one of the university’s pc’s to view e-mails or to work on projects or other assignments. In today’s digital age, Cloud computing provides ease of access to the university’s network by, according to Laudon & Laudon(2012), “. . .provides access to a shared pool of computing resources, over a network, often the internet. These ‘clouds’ of computing resources can be accessed on an as-needed basis from any connected device and location.” So long as students, educators, and administrators have a device connected over an approved network then productivity and efficiency, which gives the entire university community a much better chance at success by being able to get so much more done with slightly less effort and time. The university’s user interface for e-mail is simple to understand and navigate making it easier for the students and professors to use. Through the St John’s network one can bookmark anything they need so long as they have access to the web. Stjohns.edu claims that almost anything one wants to do is available anywhere in the world where one can find an internet connection (stjohns.edu, 2013). One could be anywhere in the world and so long as there is connection to the internet, one could work on an assignment for class or one could work on grading exams or homework or monitor discussions between its class’ students. This is very beneficial to all, and makes everyone that much more productive. The university’s website joins most all of the university’s departments into what can be deemed as one stop shopping for all who access it. Through the website, students can connect to many resources including multiple databases to view one’s grades, pay tuition expenses, link to the blackboard platform, where students connect with other students or their professors. That is key, since most classes are hybrid courses (blended, some online and some in class physically) blackboard is the way to connect with others in the class. Blackboard is a great tool to have because ultimately, blackboard gives the students the best chance to succeed in its college career. With the website, students can even purchase their books and supplies all from the comforts of their home or anywhere else they feel comfortable outside of school. Now in order to properly use the blackboard, the university uses Java software for its programming. According to Laudon & Laudon(2012), “Java software is designed to run on any computer or computing device, regardless of the specific microprocessor or operating system the device uses.” The great thing about Java software, is that no matter the operating system, Java can be run which allows the programming of a particular computer or device to work properly while accessing the university’s network, allowing cloud computing to be possible. As I mentioned earlier, one uses St John’s website to access its UIS, the University Information System. Through the UIS one can access more private information including demographic information like social, class status, graduation status, and financial information including holds, tuition bills, scholarship information, and FAFSA information. It is vital that St John’s University’s systems are up to date and continue being top of the line because today most learning is done over the internet on their network. It is also equally important that the university provides tips and tutorials on how to properly navigate its network over the internet because eLearning can be quite complex and complicated, and the difference between students at the university level and above, and other students is that students at the university level are totally responsible for their own work and no one will be there to push them to work especially if classes are online. As Schworm & Gruber (2012) stated in their article in the British Journal of Educational Technology:
“University students are more responsible than school students for their own learning. The role of self-regulated learning increases in virtual e-learning course environments. Academic help-seeking is an important strategy of self-regulated learning, but many students fail to use this strategy appropriately. A lack of information and a perceived threat of help-seeking may cause this effect.”
Not only do students have to worry about learning on their own, but there are other factors that potentially can interfere with the student learning effectively and being successful like the consequences of both political decisions like the Bologna Process and other technical developments (Schworm & Gruber, 2012). In a nutshell, the Bologna Process is an agreement made back in 1999 by 40 or so European countries to make higher education modeled evenly so that students can move into other countries within this accord and its education platform remains the same, and the students do not lose out on what they have earned at the university level. Monteiro, Leite & Lima (2013) talk about how blended learning (b-learning), which is the new hybrid course of education in the classroom mixed with learning in the virtual classroom is the way of the future, and it is vital for an institution like St. John’s University to maintain an infrastructure to keep up with today’s technology but yet able to continue adapting to tomorrow’s new innovations to prepare their students for what lies ahead and allows them to compete with students from around the world, especially those who have to luxury of studying in Europe where higher education has become a level playing field. The problem with studying the U.S. and what it will take for schools like St John’s University to close the gap in the near future is very complex. In a report from the North American Council for Online Learning (2011) the author claims that students in the United States have been lagging behind students at the same collegiate level internationally. The NACOL (2011) article states, “We can no longer claim that US educational results are unparalleled. Students around the world outperform
American students on assessments that measure 21st century skills.” So it is vital that the U.S’s top universities keep up with the advancing technologies in the twenty-first century to stay neck and neck with student abroad. And with most European country’s level of higher learning remaining constant throughout, it is going to be a tough task to keep up. I believe the one way the many colleges and universities in the US remain competitive is for the different schools to stay or become technologically advanced with its information systems and e-learning resources like virtual classrooms. The new digital age calls for technology to make and keep everyone productive and efficient and by doing so, performance problems can be cut down to be minimal. In an article about how Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments to Solve Performance Problems, the author writes, “. . . specifically emphasized that, in order to meet the demands of the 21st century, a workforce requires knowledge workers who are able to solve quickly-changing real-world problems. The ability to solve complex and ill-structured real-world problems is not obtained by simply taking traditional formal training.” (Kim, 2011) In order to create a workforce that can handle the complexities of ever changing technologies, schools and universities have to use precise and complex methods to train their students to become and remain competitive and be able to sustain that competitive nature professionally. In order to provide state of the art IS technology, one must have great Internet Service Providers providing wired and wireless network access. Currently, St. John’s uses two strong ISP to provide wired and wireless network access all over campus. On stjohns.edu (2012), the university wrote:
“The University’s internet service is provided by two ISPs, Cogent (100 Mbps) and Time Warner Cable (300 Mbps), via two physically diverse circuits on the Queens campus. Dynamic address reconfiguration in the event of a failure of either circuit is accomplished using BGP.”
With all the access by Cogent and Time Warner Cable readily available all over its main campus, it gives the Information Technology Department the capabilities to provide access to the internet and its network in all major study areas including the common student area, the library, and all offices and classrooms. The capability to provide network access and internet access anywhere on campus really complements the University’s student laptop program. The laptop program at St John’s is a sign of keeping up with the new digital time because for those students who cannot afford a laptop or pc now will be afforded the opportunity to have access to laptops to be utilized at home or anywhere on campus. It is agreed upon that the laptops are exclusive school property to be used by the students so long as they are active students and remain on a full time status by the University’s standards. Once a student either graduates, withdraws from school, or drops below full time status, then the student must return the laptop back to the University. This a great program because what is better to have your school provide this piece of equipment to help you gain all the opportunities to succeed in your college career, plus, while you have the laptop, you have your own service department, the Information Technology Department to help you keep the laptop functional and in the best condition possible, tools you need to be successful and productive. With access to the University’s network, students and professors have access to many resources to use while teaching or learning at the University. One of the most important resources the University provides within its network is the over 150 different databases from different areas or activities at the University like web based databases like Micro-Medics for Pharmacy students to various accounting databases like Peachtree or ACL for Windows. No matter what area of the University you are affiliated with, there surely is a relevant database used in class for students to study while on their own or in student study groups. Since the Spring of 2010, the University, with request reviews and approvals from the Software Advisory Board have added at least 90 or so new databases and continue to research and investigate new and innovative programs for the ever changing technology for higher learning.
In all, St John’s University has proven to have the ability to teach their students vital information for them to compete with new entrants in the global workplace and the always changing trends of technology that will shape the workplace of tomorrow. It is known that students of higher learning from the United States seem to be lagging behind those from other parts of the world, but I personally believe, being a recent college graduate and currently a graduate level student, that with effective technology, I know I will be able to be a competitor with other students of the same level from across the city to across the globe.

References Cited * St John’s University; Information Technology Strategic Plan (2012) * Laudon, K.C & Laudon, J.P. (2012). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (12th Edition) * Monteiro, A., Leite, C., & Lima, L. (2013). QUALITY OF BLENDED LEARNING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE BOLOGNA PROCESS. Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology, 12(1), 108-118. * Schworm, S., & Gruber, H. (2012). e-Learning in universities: Supporting help-seeking processes by instructional prompts. British Journal Of Educational Technology, 43(2), 272-281. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01176.x * LOERTSCHER, D. V., & KOECHLIN, C. (2012). The Virtual Learning Commons and School Improvement. Teacher Librarian, 39(6), 20-24. * Min Kyu, K. (2011). Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments to Solve Performance Problems: A Case of a Korean Company. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 55(1), 37-41. doi:10.1007/s11528-011-0468-x * North American Council for Online, L. (2006). Virtual Schools and 21st Century Skills. North American Council For Online Learning,