Sunday, 12 February 2012
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RESOURCE CENTRE
Tax and Revenue Management: A government’s lifeblood
IT has provided the opportunities for governments to remodel the entire process of tax collection over the last decade. It is, however, a continuously evolving process and governments the world over need to constantly upgrade their tax systems to optimise their revenue workflows.
Unlocking Public Value
A recent SAP study confirmed that those organisations which adopt best practices in the areas of scope and adoption, process standardisation, technology and customer governance, do perform better, and do so as their best practice maturity increases.
Governments and Socialising
The advent of social media has seen governments hopping onto the bandwagon in a bid to further engage citizens.
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Education IT
Building a comprehensive e-learning solution to enhance the student experience
Are you equipped with the right tools to help your students succeed? Pearson eCollege shares insights on key challenges Asian universities’ CIOs are facing this year and how they can capitalise on technology to move ahead of their peers. Report: Kelly Ng
Tertiary institutions face increasing pressure from stakeholders to attract students, demonstrate student progress, and increase retention rates. “When this pressure trickles down to the IT department, it translates to a need for technology to play a key role in modernising the learning environment and improving student administration,” says Gerald Cai, Associate Regional Director Asia Pacific, China, Pearson eCollege, “and do all that while being on a shoe string budget in this economic environment.”
Meeting demand for more accountability
Regulatory bodies today demand more accountability from tertiary institutions which they are funding. Traditional learning management systems provide basic reporting tools which are not robust enough to give a clear picture of how well a university is doing.
Identifying this need, Pearson eCollege, together with Cognos, a leading business intelligence solution provider, developed a powerful reporting suite so educational institutions can easily monitor and act on key performance indicators to improve educational success. With real and meaningful measurements on student progress and retention rates, educational boards can demonstrate tangibly how they help students succeed. Pearson eCollege’s involvement and partnership does not stop here. Anne K. Keehn, Senior Vice President Global Sales, Marketing & Business Development, shares that Pearson eCollege works together with universities to identify gaps and growth areas, develop customised programmes and identify suitable learning outcomes based on accrediting requirements.
Getting rid of the white elephant
While campuses try to out-do one another in being more technologically advanced, educational boards worry that their huge IT assets and investments – in this case the learning management system – become a white elephant. Most systems have good capabilities, allowing on-ground teaching staff to hold virtual discussions, conduct quizzes or even collaborate on content creation. Sadly, many systems are only used as online announcement boards, and for sharing of PowerPoint slides and lecture notes, observes Cai. “This is especially true in Asia where face-to-face interaction is still preferred and the one-dimensional lecturing style is widely practised and accepted,” he says.
In order to drive change among teaching staff, higher education CIOs need customisable and easy-to-use learning tools. Pearson eCollege MyLabs dramatically changes how learning continues outside the classroom. “A math teacher who understands each student’s area of weakness can assign online homework or tests. If a student answers a question wrongly, MyLabs provides immediate feedback by giving prompts and access to relevant content, such as eBooks, videos, or audio lectures,” explains Keehn. This means greater management capability and reporting power for educators.
Holding on to your money in tough times
As higher learning institutions face more stringent IT budget review, CIOs have to find ways to counter escalating hardware and bandwidth costs. Cai understands that for each new IT investment, CIOs need to strongly justify how it will help their institutions run more efficiently. Pearson eCollege Software as a Service (SaaS) significantly brings down the costs of operating online learning since all the hardware and software is provided.
Mounting pressure from stakeholders and the economic situation calls for more effective and creative use of technology. Higher learning CIOs need to identify reliable and proven technology partners to face this tough time together. Pearson eCollege has been helping colleges and universities to deliver innovative education since 1996 and is now backed by Pearson, the world’s largest education technology company.
For more information about Pearson eCollege visit www.Pearsonecollege.com
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