What do you do when your IT infrastructure goes up in flames? Kirk Langer faced that daunting challenge when the Lincoln Public Schools Administration Building burned to the ground last May.
Langer, Director of Technology for LPS, will speak in one of 15 sessions at the upcoming NU Technology Day on March 21 at the UNL East Campus Union. The free event is open to all NU faculty, staff and administrators.
Nationally-known speakers and presenters from all NU campuses will discuss IT innovations and experiences. Five session tracks include how IT advances the NU strategic mission; IT in instructional design; using mobile devices for learning; using data in reporting and analytics; and updates on new IT projects. In addition, local and national companies will feature new products and services in the vendor booth area.
“The NU Technology Day conference is a great opportunity to showcase the creative work of our skilled IT innovators across all the NU campuses,” says Mark Askren, CIO at UNL. “You don’t have to be deeply into IT to enjoy it. We welcome anyone interested in using technology to improve teaching and learning, to better serve administrative needs, and to strengthen our infrastructure.”
Shelton Waggener, CIO of the University of California Berkley, will open the conference with a discussion of ways to improve support for academic research at R1 universities. Waggener is also a founding member of the community that supports Kuali Student and Kuali Ready, two elements of the Kuali open-source project to build software to run higher education.
Luncheon speakers are Daniel Duncan, Executive Director of the Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corp., and Gary Kebbel, Dean of the UNL College of Journalism.
Duncan will speak on new approaches to creating strategic partnerships, a major function of his role in developing the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln. A UNL alumnus with a background as a Nebraska farmer and rancher, Duncan has worked in research and extension with the University of Nebraska since 1987. He was appointed to lead the Nebraska Innovation Campus in October 2011.
Kebbel will address how to reach out to new audiences using mobile and social media. A founding editor of USAToday.com, Kebbel came to UNL in 2010 from the Knight Foundation, where he helped create the Knight Citizen News Network, the Knight Digital Media Center, and administered the Knight News Challenge, a $25 million contest to find digital news innovations to inform and engage communities.
Free conference registration includes a continental breakfast, lunch, and a door prize drawing. Schedules and registration are at http://go.unl.edu/nutechday.
Learn how to save time and energy by being more efficient with commonly used technology programs. Ranelle Maltas, Technology Training Services Manager in the Information Services Instructional Technology Department, will share easy to understand tips for becoming a skilled user of Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Ranelle will also present information about technology training offered to UNL faculty and staff.
Dr. Yusuke Minato, guest speaker from the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Oregon State, will present the Nebraska Gateway for Neutrigenomics Seminar Series at noon. All interested faculty, students, and staff are encouraged to attend this free event.
