A great deal has happened since crafting my original goal statement in 1999. Technology has forged ahead at a breathtaking pace, providing faster, more robust computing networks, new tools and standards for software application development, and a generation of college students who are as comfortable with a computer mouse and Sony Playstation™ as I was with black-and-white television and the hula hoop. In addition, a large number of college and university faculty - particularly tenured faculty - are approaching retirement age, challenged by their more technology savvy students to make learning more engaging, more relevant, more "usable" for obtaining gainful employment in the knowledge economy. Unfortunately, colleges and universities are also faced with shrinking budgets and endowments, hampering their ability to acquire the latest and greatest technologies and adapt those for the learning environment.

These events make it even more critical for faculty to acquire the skills to meet the needs of today's and tomorrow's learners, yet do so without placing additional pressures on their institution's already strained technology support staff. Doing more with less means maximizing investments already made at the institutional level to benefit all of the institution's constituents, particularly students and faculty. As such, providing faculty and students with the tools they need to create an engaging learning experience is only part of the story. The institution's total technology infrastructure must now serve both teaching and learning and the business side of the institution (i.e., recruitment, admissions, registration, billing, etc.). The end result should be a seamless user experience for all constituents: Students, faculty, staff.

My coursework in the Instructional Technology track, as well as my teaching experience with the University of Phoenix Online Campus, have provided me with a solid foundation in learning theory, instructional design, and the application of these to the virtual classroom of non-traditional students. In my work environment - where I am now Director of Product Marketing at Datatel, Inc., a leading provider of information management systems to higher education - I am becoming more and more aware of the synergy between administrative technology and academic technology. To take advantage of current educational technologies requires not only the application of sound pedagogy, but the availability of up-to-date systems and architecture at the institutional level to deliver and maintain learning materials and resources built on those educational technologies. The systems and architecture that constitute the institution's business backbone can also support teaching and learning. How? By assessing the needs of both academic and administrative stakeholders when acquiring and updating enterprise-wide systems, then integrating them during the implementation and roll-out processes. My minor course of study - Information Systems and Software - completes the definition of touchpoints between administrative and academic technology. Knowing these touchpoints will help me and my colleagues at Datatel better design enterprise-wide systems that not only run the business of higher education, but facilitate the integration of technology into instruction by capitalizing on investments already made.