We're Not In Kansas Anymore: The Networked Employee is Taking Over the 21st Century Workplace

The workplace has become exceedingly virtual for both the public and private sector in recent years. Many companies as well as government agencies utilize the internet to conveniently interact with counterparts both domestically and abroad. Being able to communicate with customers, superiors, peers and subordinates utilizing email, text messages and instant messages allows the organizations to be more efficient and operate at or above the level of competitors to keep to pace.

“Moving at the speed of business” is the slogan of the United Parcel Service and works well for organizations where speed, efficiency and well organized delivery of products and services are essential for the sustainability of their organization. Most companies large and small rely heavily on convergent companies like UPS to keep their businesses afloat. Although there are many benefits to being a Networked employee, there are many disadvantages as well. Translating information into foreign languages for a global organization has been an ongoing problem for companies that have an established global presence as well as well as companies that are interested in taking their business global. Document translation companies like Divergent Language Solutions have made such barriers conquerable however their services and companies like them do come at a substantial cost to the organization not to mention information being lost in translation.   Other problems that persist with organizations that conduct a great deal of their business on line are addressing hackers, power outages, blown servers and viruses. Heavily encrypted online server, VPN’s and top notice security platforms minimizes threats to companies however sophisticated hackers are still able to cripple these companies costing them millions in business losses and lack of consumer faith.

                Although the use of the internet by companies and government agencies has become an essential part of maintaining business operations, colleges have reaped the largest benefit by implementing non-traditional correspondence courses or distance learning formats as a means of generating revenue and operations beyond the campus. In a 2011 study by Babson Survey Research Group. More than 6 million students -- nearly a third of total enrollment at degree-granting postsecondary institutions --were taking at least one online course in 2010. The popularity of non-traditional courses has also sparked interest in the development of satellite campuses throughout the world. The college I work for, Bard College and the Master of Arts in Teaching Program in particular has expanded substantially in the last 8 years. With a home campus in Red Hook New York, satellite campuses in Los Angeles, Bronx New York and Jerusalem have offered enrollment in the program to students who likely would never attend the home campus. Bard College has in turn increased its revenue, sustainability and visibility.  Other colleges such as Penn State offer online Masters programs and University of Penn’s elite Wharton School of Business has a satellite campus offered in San Francisco.

                The convenience of selecting an online program for a student has become a preferred method by many adult learners many of whom have already been to a traditional institution of higher learner and have little time to participate with a traditional course delivery. The benefits while numerous also adds an additional dynamic to professors who are forced to address issues such as plagiarism. The internet provides an abundance of information relevant to a multitude of topics that are easily accessible to students. I’m reminded by a line in the film Spiderman where Uncle Ben (Played by Cliff Robertson) tell his nephew Peter Parker (Toby McGuire), “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Unfortunately, many students fail to adhere to university policy and a common moral code and falsify documents and claim the work of others as their own. This fact has made the work of universities extremely difficult as it diminishes the academic integrity of the institution and mocks the rigor of the college.  The Pew and The Chronicle of Higher Education conducted telephone interviews with 1,055 college presidents from both public and private of two-and four-year institutions determined that according to college presidents  (55% ) believe plagiarism by college students has increased in the last decade and 89% believe the internet and the computer played a major role. The vast number of students believed to have cheated at some point during their college career has caused institutions reconsider whether their effects to penalize students has deterred further offenses.

References:

2011 Babson Survey Research Group.  Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States. Babson College. Retrieved: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/growing-number-of-college-students-choose-online-courses-85483/

2011 Parker,K., Lenhart, A., Moore,K. The Digital Revolution and Higher Education. Pew Internet. Retrieved: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/College-presidents/Summary.aspx