Top 10 Most High Tech Colleges and Universities of [Infographic]

The most high tech colleges and universities in the World are setting the stand for other institutions as we delve further into the Information Age.

Most of the most technologically advanced colleges have adopted new technologies and ideas that other universities have been reluctant to try.

An infographic list (posted below) of the top 10 most innovative universities was recently published by OnlineUniversities.com and features the winners of the 2012 Innovators Award.

354 universities were nominated for the award and the top 10 institutions featured extraordinary innovation in 1 of the following 5 categories:

1. Leadership, Governance and Policy
2. Teaching & Learning
3. Administrative Systems
4. IT Infrastructure & Systems
5. Student Systems and Services

10 Most High Tech Colleges of 2012 Winners:

1. Athabasca University
   Category: Leadership, Governance and Policy
   Athabasca has implemented an “Open Knowledge Environment” in which all of the teaching, learning and administrative functions are done within a virtual world.
2. Purdue University
   Category: Teaching & Learning
   Purdue’s IT group implemented multiple social media related systems that enhanced students’ abilities to communicate before, during and after class as well as share lesson related information.
3. University of Massachusetts – Boston
   Category: Teaching & Learning
   The Ross Center for Disability Services implemented a toolkit that allows students who are hearing and sight impaired to participate in class.
4. Cerritos College
   Category: Teaching & Learning
   The implementation of “Project Kaleidoscope” created course designs for ten GED courses using only materials that are open source / available for free.
5. University of Washington
   Category: Administrative Systems
   The University of Washington created innovative systems to automate authentication to data warehousing systems and reduce the overall IT staff maintenance time.
6. Lone Star College System
   Category: IT Infrastructure & Systems
   The university developed their own private cloud network to serve all 6 of their campuses increasingly network reliability and saving an estimated $1.4 million in costs.
7. Indiana University
   Category: IT Infrastructure & Systems
   The “IUanyWare” project implemented at Indiana University allows students and faculty to access cloud-based tools, software and resources from anywhere at anytime. IU has also purchased site licences for many expensive software programs such as Adobe Creative Suite to allow students to access them free of charge.
8. Stanford University
   Category: IT Infrastructure & Systems
   Stanford developed a propriety mobile device management system that address security issues in higher education. The system is free of charge and allows for simplified device configuration and enhanced security and privacy.
9. South Orange County Community College District
   Category: Student Systems and Services
   The “Sherpa” project allows for students to more easily register for classes and implements a propriety Blackboard-like communication and collaboration system. The system will soon be available for mobile devices and feature advanced analytical capabilities allowing students to find the courses that best align with their academic goals.
10. University of Arizona
    Category: Student Systems and Services
    The “Scholarship Universe” systems provides an advanced infrastructure for students to search and apply for internal and external scholarships. Future plans for the project include the ability to create resumes and cover letters.