Allow me to introduce myself and this blog. I'm Ben Barraza, my official title at work is Web Systems Architect. I'm at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and have been so since 1996. As a young pup, they tasked me with creating a website for the office I worked in at the time. The bug caught and I went into the Computer Science program at said university, later on took a full time position, and voila, here we are.
Birth of a Blog
Recently we've had a lot of chatter on campus about Web 2.0. Also, we've just hired a new Vice President for Information Technology. There has been a lot of interesting discussion, and there has been a lot of crazy talk. I decided that I'd like to formally throw my hat into the ring. I plan to discuss my thoughts and views on all things Web, especially how they relate to higher ed. I also plan to discuss some of the projects that I work on, or detail some past projects good, bad and ugly, in the hopes that some poor underfunded sap at a university can either learn from my mistakes, or commiserate in our failures, or rejoice in all things web. This blog is not sanctioned by WSU, and the thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own and have nothing to do with University policy, procedure or direction.
A few of the things that I have on tap: Web 2.0 and the Modern University; The Challenge of Online Graduate Admissions; Build, Borrow, or Buy? The answer is simple; The HyperConnected Student vs Everyone Else.
I hope this is useful, if you'd like to get involved in the discussion comment it up, if you'd like me to initiate a discussion...comment it up. Thanks the Internet.
