IT vs Academics in the Struggle of e-Learning Design

Recently, I stumbled across an article in Campus Technology about how IT and Acadmeics Don't Work Together Much, It's quite mind-blowing to discover the disconnect between academics and IT structure within universities - apparently, 60% of IT professionals don't the academic community on their needs, and 60% of the end users only view IT professionals as technicians who fixes their broken computers. After reading these statistics, it is not hard to picture then why the academic world still prefers more "traditional methodologies", i.e. not making a huge effort in integrating technology, or in some cases avoiding the use of technology altogether.

As a student who has had experience with online classes from public universities, government jobs and professional development in a corporate setting, I have had my fair share of frustration with online learning platforms. In some cases, the layout and hierarchy of where things are placed is not intuitive (though that could be very specific to user preference), the computer generates errors and glitches when calculating course total, or other technical difficulties that send students into panic attacks before assignment deadlines. At one point or another, I find myself cursing over the poor user interface of this platform every single course, and sometimes it leads me wondering: why can't technology be less painful when it comes to learning?

Could it simply be a lack of communication between delivering what the academic community wants and what the UX designer thinks they want? Perhaps it is that vicious cycle of the classic chicken-or-the-egg spiral - which came first,  the academic community's resistance to technology that brought on the miscommunication between IT professionals and end users, or poor UX design which leads to frustration and resentment of new technology? Or have IT requirements evolved so quickly that institutions are having difficulty keeping up? Either way, being able to design any platform with the user in mind in the long-run to future-proof the product is essential. The worse case scenario would be to develop a new interface 5 years later that's already obsolete prior to the roll out of the project.

Moving into cloud services serves as a good example and opportunity for changes. Currently, US institutions spend over $4 billion in developing cloud computing services in hopes of providing an evolutionary learning experience that is more agile, effective, and lower in cost. However, to truly achieve these objectives, concerns about security, cost, and culture of the community should be considered in the design of cloud interface. And while cloud-based computing technology has been made available for years, it is important that designers ask the right questions to academics and researchers in order to produce a quality product that would form a good foundation for future changes in technology tailored to their needs.