Turning the QE II Around: Developing Internet and WWW Skills and Awareness at the University of Sydney

Introduction

Background

Technically, the University of Sydney is well served by one of the most advanced ATM networks of any large organisation in the world, and a vigorous team working on our University Wide Information System (UWIS). We should be well placed to use the Internet for research, teaching, administration and advertising. Yet, while it is easy to see how we could improve our performance in each of these areas, we have been slow capitalise on our potential.

In order to meet the demands of a global education marketplace each of the five and a half thousand members of staff at the University will need to learn to use the Internet appropriately for information gathering and dissemination. Just as turning the QE II requires forethought and effort over many miles, manoeuvring a University into the information superhighway requires planning and commitment. The IT Education section of the Staff Development Unit is using several strategies to equip staff for the use of the Internet in the workplace.

Educating Management

The Staff Development Unit runs an information session, Internet for Managers and Heads of Department, that is unashamedly evangelistic. It is intended to motivate managers to get their staff involved in any way that seems appropriate. As well as allowing ample time for questions the course explains the Internet in terms suitable for a novice, demonstrates its use and explains how to get started. Internet for Managers and Heads of Departments also covers University policy in relation to content and style, and presents a survey of our competition around the world.

Responses indicate that this session is meeting its goals. Most senior staff are surprised by the simplicity of the Internet and, after seeing a demonstration of PageMill, the ease with which information can be placed on the World Wide Web.

Training the Troops

The Staff Development Unit has been running an extensive timetable of training courses for Macintosh and Windows desktop applications for some years. In 1996 we added Internet Applications to our repertoire

For those staff who would like some help with the basics of the Internet we run a simple information session, An Overview of the Internet, which is equivalent to the Internet for Managers and Heads of Department. It is intended to allay any fears staff may have and enthuse them to use the Internet and create material for the World Wide Web.

To get people started we run courses for the email software commonly used around the campus (Eudora, Zmail and the Netscape mailer), and an introduction to other Internet services in "Navigating the Internet". This uses Netscape to introduce people to telnet, ftp, gopher, the news and the World Wide Web.

Increasingly staff are keen to create their own material to add to the Web. The Staff Development Unit now employs a full time Internet Trainer, Sam Elbizri, who uses our own courseware to conduct courses on HTML scripting. Over three half days staff are taken through the basics of HTML, image mapping, and using forms and tables.

As a full time member of staff Sam is also able to offer tailored training to individual departments across the campus. He can help individual work groups with particular needs that are not directly met by our timetable.

Linking into Our Community

The Staff Development Unit has been vigorously advertising these services with traditional pamphlets, email lists and, of course, the World Wide Web. But increasingly we expect to use more high profile events related to our strategy to raise the Internet to its proper status as a top of the agenda item. For example, the Centre for teaching and Learning recently held an IT Fest to showcase the use of IT in teaching and learning at the University of Sydney. The Staff Development Unit's presence at events such as the fest is usually successful in generating interest and enquiries about all our services.

Looking Forward

Next year we plan to introduce courses that will introduce staff a subset of each of Java and CGI. Although it is too early to fully predict the eventual form they will take, we are looking into the possibility of introducing staff to CGI by teaching them to create interfaces for commonly used databases. Hopefully we will be able to compile a toolkit of popular applets allowing an intuitive first encounter with Java.

We are encouraged by the University's existing policy on Internet content, but it is inevitable that technological advance will outstrip policy development in any large organisation. In this environment we must look for growth from below rather than direction from above. We hope, by encouraging the constructive and strategic use of the Internet, to further integrate its use into all areas of the life of the University of Sydney.

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