IMS Global: As an active participant in the IMS Global Learning Consortium, what role do you believe the organization should play in establishing standards for measuring and delivering learning outcomes? How can the organization better align with its mission of serving the educational community?

NA: In my opinion, IMS can become an advocate for increased scale, standardization, the use of technology, and the measurement of its impact or outcomes. This seems to be the direction IMS is taking. I'd like to see us become the NGO advocate for these things, especially for assessment of learning outcomes or impact. The awards system we came up with this past year is in the right direction. There's so much technology out there; all these new things coming along, but very little good research or data on impact. Does any of this really make a difference except to increase cost? I think the answer is right down the alley for IMS. What are some of the new things coming out that are really making a difference in helping faculty teach and students learn, improving outcomes and lowering costs of education? I see the IMS role as almost a Consumer Reports for higher education technology.

IMS Global: What about the collaboration that takes place between institutions and vendors? It certainly exists within IMS. Are there benefits to be gained from synergy between these organizations?

NA: One example of how IMS is on the right track is with the Common Cartridge initiative. It really offers an opportunity for IMS to be the referee on that. So much is happening with new technologies and yet, when you get some of these new tools to the classroom, students and faculty still have to jump through too many hoops to make the things work. That gets in the way of learning. Higher education, technology, and business need to get together to make things work, to make the technology invisible to the users. I think this is an area of big need.

Pursuing areas where technology can be the enabler and really impact services, teaching, and learning, should be the mantra when these different industries get together. But it's not just the technology, but reengineering the systems into which we introduce the technology. Great technology brought into bad systems will only result in driving up costs and creating a lot of frustration. We know what is needed: we must find ways to help faculty to teach better, students to learn more and faster, and institutions to deliver education services and opportunities to more people at lower cost. Technology and good systems reengineering have a key role to play in meeting these challenges. And IMS has a role in helping this change come about.