Student-led technology is popping up everywhere around campus. With ConnectCarolina 2.0, the prank Alert Carolina message and rumors of a mobile app in student government, the pattern is pretty clear: students want to create. Likewise, the new leadership of Information Technology Services should make a better environment to allow students to make technology — and partner up with them.
Chris Kielt, new chief information officer, was appointed earlier this year. Although many students are dissatisfied with the current technology at UNC, there are plans to change it.
“First, we understand that the current version of ConnectCarolina is far from the best interface, and may not be the easiest to use application to navigate. We are, though, in our infancy in terms of its use here at Carolina. With respect to ConnectCarolina we’ve licensed a mobile interface to the product and hope to have that launched during the 2013-14 academic year.”
Despite its inability to return search results with over 130 items, its insistence that students log out as soon as they log in, its love of dropdown menus and a logo from the ’90s, ConnectCarolina isn’t going anywhere.
“I expect that decisions to adopt software like Sakai and PeopleSoft were made with expectations to leverage them for years. Changing teaching and learning platforms (e.g., Sakai) or ERPs like PeopleSoft is highly disruptive to the community of users.”
Recently, computer science student Winston Howes launched ConnectCarolina 2.0, an initiative that caused ITS to lock out 600 students from their accounts. Even so, it offered a better interface than the current ConnectCarolina, and it serves as an example of students improving technology.
“As far as ConnectCarolina 2.0, I have already asked the senior team in ITS to reach out to the student who created the application and inquire about working with us . . . I would welcome the chance to work with a talented student to improve the systems used by our students.”
If we are stuck with our current technology, students should take the initiative to partner up with ITS and improve it themselves.
“We aren’t just looking for computer science students. We need students who can help learn and contribute to a host of ITS initiatives; web designers, writers, communications majors — a broad spectrum of our student population who might be interested in helping us tell the story of IT here at Carolina.”
Matthew Leming is a cartoonist for the Daily Tar Heel.
