EDUCATION NEWS
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DO ONLINE SCHOOLS PROVIDE A QUALITY EDUCATION?
Slashdot discussion of online college experiences based upon the following post: "An anonymous reader asks: "I am attending an online college for the first time and I am starting to get a bad taste in my mouth about the amount of effort that some of my professors are putting forward in my courses. I feel like some of them are 'skating' and all I am paying for is a book, a posted syllabus, and a final exam. Have any of you been to an online school, and what where your experiences like? How did you feel about the quality of education you were getting?"
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/05/30/0051202
 
USING O2 TO OVERCOME LEARNING OBJECTS LIMITATIONS
This paper briefly discusses some issues facing would-be employers of learning objects, and then presents an approach to using learning objects which attempts to avoid many of these pitfalls while leveraging several new opportunities.
http://wiley.ed.usu.edu/docs/EdMedia_Wiley.pdf
 
ONLINE U PROGRAMS UNDER FIRE
An advisory committee to the governing boards of Utah's public and higher education systems says Western Governors University's proposed online degree programs for teachers fall short of state licensing standards. The Educator Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) is scheduled to vote on three WGU teacher licensure programs next week, but a representative told the state Board of Education Friday that many questions about the programs must be answered before the committee will recommend the board approve them.
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jun/06072003/utah/utah.asp
 
KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY: DISTANCE LEARNING AS A COST-EFFECTIVE MEASURE
When Lisa Manning, director of instructional technology at Kennesaw State University in suburban Atlanta, implemented her most recent distance-learning platform, the first thing she noticed wasn't the performance, but the cost. When the cast:stream system from 21st Century Media was implemented at the state university at the beginning of the fall semester in August, the difference in cost between it and other distance learning platforms was exponential.
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7779
 
THE ADL SCORM VERSION 1.3 CONFORMANCE TEST SUITE VERSION 1.3 (SELF TEST) BETA 2 IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
The ADL Technical Team is pleased to announce the release of the ADL SCORM Version 1.3 Conformance Test Suite Version 1.3 (Self Test) Beta 2. This version of the Conformance Test Suite is a beta version and does not contain the complete functionality that will be in the final release. This version is being released to enable vendors to begin testing their products to the SCORM Version 1.3 Application Profile Working Draft Version 1.0. As the SCORM Version 1.3 evolves, the Conformance Test Suite will be updated and subsequent releases will be made.
http://www.adlnet.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=newsstory&newsid=133
 
MOBILE GADGETS OFFER NEW LESSONS
Using mobile phones and handheld computers to teach basic skills could help a generation of youngsters turned off by traditional education. That is the hope of those involved in the 4.5m euro (£3m) m-learning project, an EU-backed initiative taking place in the UK, Sweden and Italy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2940936.stm
 
STUDY SURPRISE: GAMING CAN BE GOOD FOR YOU
Action-packed video games may offer more than just entertainment: They may make you sharper, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Rochester found that young adults who regularly played action-based video games showed better visual skills than those who didn't. Also, they were better able to keep track of objects appearing simultaneously and processed fast-changing visual information more efficiently, said the study's co- author, Daphne Bavelier, an associate professor of brain and cognitive sciences.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/2003-05-28-games-good_x.htm
 
STUDENTS SHOW THAT TEXTBOOKS CAN BE AFFORDABLE, CREATE $10 DVD
Sixteen Ball State University students hope their $10 introduction to theater DVD will serve as a spark that helps drive down the cost of college textbooks. Their semester-long effort began as a project to develop a course supplement for professors, said Michael O’Hara, project supervisor and Ball State theater professor. O’Hara soon learned that the students working on the project had other plans.
http://www.bsu.edu/news/article/0,1299,7273~11198~850,00.html
 
WHY WE SHOULD SHARE LEARNING RESOURCES
Learning objects and learning object repositories are gaining momentum in education. After years of theoretical discussion and promises about learning objects, development is now at a critical stage. Institutions are creating their own repositories, standards are being adopted to make objects shareable, and understanding is growing that learning objects are the centerpiece of a new digital education economy.
http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/why_we_should_share.htm
 
DEPARTMENT SEEKS BROAD INPUT FOR NEW NATIONAL EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY PLAN
The U.S. Department of Education today announced that it is calling for broad participation and input from a wide array of education stakeholders in crafting a new National Education Technology Plan, as required by the recently enacted No Child Left Behind law. The department is actively seeking advice from a variety of constituencies in education, especially students, parents, K-12 educators, colleges and university leaders, and business and industry.
http://www.distance-educator.com/dnews/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=9110&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
 
LEADING THE WAY TO VIRTUAL LEARNING: THE LAA PHYSICS LABORATORY
"This is just like being back in lab!" said one recent student tester of the LAAPhysics online virtual laboratory. "If I had to choose between this and a lecture course? No contest—LAAPhysics!" said another, echoing the sentiments of the testing group. "The graphics are terrific!" was another common response.
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7765
 
HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE WITH VIDEO CONFERENCING
Effective teaching involves using multi-sensory methods for conveying and verifying knowledge acquisition. Invoking as many of these methods as possible can enhance a learner's ability to see and comprehend what they experience. A science experiment is impressive when observed; it reinforces what is discussed in class or read from a textbook. While streaming Internet video can provide this level of presentation, the student's ability to replicate the experiment is also important. It provides recognition to the teacher of learning and for the student about lessons learned.
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7767
 
STREAMING MEDIA IN HIGHER EDUCATION: POSSIBILITIES AND PITFALLS
The immediacy of the moving image and the impact of the human voice is powerful. Streaming media can be richly communicative, tapping in to our profound ability to learn from sensory information. Humans are social animals, and we gain much of our initial understanding of others through our visual and auditory capacities. In the realm of online education, it is important to tap these abilities even across the distances that separate participants. Seeing other participants, or hearing their voices, provides a presence and potency that text alone cannot match.
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7769
 
MY DOG KNOWS HTML—SHOULD YOUR FACULTY?
If Benjamin Franklin were to appear here today he would be totally baffled by a hospital operating room, an airport, and people using cell phones. But if he walked into most university classrooms and saw a professor at the front of the room scribbling on a blackboard, he'd recognize immediately what was going on. In fact, he could likely just pick up the chalk and continue lecturing.
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7774
 
CLICK2LEARN UNVEILS SCORM 1.2 RESOURCE KIT
Click2learn announced today the availability of the Click2learn SCORM 1.2 Resource Kit, a free resource for anyone in the learning and productivity fields interested in interoperable learning content.
http://home.click2learn.com/en/products/standards.asp
 
 
 
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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ORACLE BIDS $5.1B FOR PEOPLESOFT
Oracle Corp. made a surprise $5.1 billion bid for PeopleSoft Inc., an offer that could derail PeopleSoft's recently announced a $1.7 billion deal to buy another software provider, J.D. Edwards & Co.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/06/06/technology/oracle_peoplesoft/index.htm
 
PEOPLESOFT BALKS AT ORACLE TAKEOVER BID
PeopleSoft CEO Craig Conway came out strongly against the surprise hostile takeover bid launched by Oracle, calling it "atrociously bad behavior." The offer is nothing but a competitive strike to disrupt the acquisition of J.D. Edwards announced by PeopleSoft just a few days ago, Conway said in a statement.
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0606peoplbalks.html
 
ORACLE'S PEOPLESOFT BID COULD MEAN TROUBLE FOR USERS
If Oracle succeeds in its bid to acquire PeopleSoft, users are in for a rough transition, industry analysts said Friday. With Oracle's offer of a lowball price for PeopleSoft, it's not clear how likely the takeover attempt is to succeed. But based on Oracle's culture and past history, it would face significant challenges in meshing its products and operations with PeopleSoft's, observers said.
http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2003/0606orusers.html
 
PALM DETAILS PLANS TO BUY HANDSPRING
Palm announced its intention to buy Handspring in a deal that will expand Palm's presence in the market for converged devices that combine voice and data with traditional handhelds, according to executives and analysts. Palm is currently made up of two companies; PalmSource, which develops the Palm operating system, and Palm Solutions Group. After the previously announced spin-off of PalmSource later this year, Palm Solutions Group will merge with Handspring to create a new company with a new name, Palm said in a statement. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111018,00.asp
 
E-BOOKS ARE GETTING A BOOST AT BOOKEXPO FREE ADOBE SOFTWARE HELPS GET WORD OUT
E-books are still alive and are getting a new sales pitch, judging from BookExpo America, the annual booksellers' convention. Developers were still pushing the format, which lets you read a book on your computer or portable such as Palm or Pocket PC, though publishers didn't seem quite so excited.
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20030603/5207116s.htm
 
MICROSOFT PLANS WRISTWATCH SERVICES
Microsoft Corp. plans a new service to deliver weather, stock quotes, instant messages and other data to customers via high-tech wristwatches. The service, MSN Direct, will cost $9.95 a month with the first month free or a year's service for $59. It will be available in more than 100 North American cities this fall.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/6028032.htm
 
BALLMER SAYS IBM IS CHIEF RIVAL
In a long e-mail message to Microsoft employees, Chief Executive Steven A. Ballmer singled out IBM as the company's chief corporate rival and the rise of free software like Linux as a threat to Microsoft's lucrative portfolio of products.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6019507.htm
 
MICROSOFT RETHINKS ITS OFFICE PLANS
Microsoft's decision to cut retail prices for some versions of its Office software is more a reaction to internal pressures than outside competition, analysts said. The software giant announced that it would trim the price of Office XP Standard and Office XP Professional by about 15 percent, with steeper cuts for standalone versions of the applications included in those packages--Word, Excel and so on.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-1010964.html
 
MUNICH CHOOSES LINUX OVER MICROSOFT
It's final. After several months of intensive research and debate, the Munich city government has decided to migrate its entire computer network to the open source Linux operating system, dropping Microsoft Corp.'s Windows system in the process.
http://www.linuxworld.com/2003/0528.munich.html
 
SOFTWARE ON-DEMAND, PRICING BY THE BYTE?
By now, the technology world is well-acquainted with the movement among major systems vendors such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems to offer on-demand computing services. The trend makes sense, technology veterans say. On-demand is the next progression from the client-server era of computing to a more distributed model of offering utility-like data center computing services to corporate customers. The positioning for on-demand computing services, utility-style, also reflects the IT industry's profit margin shift to higher-value, value-added technology such as software and services. But are enterprise application vendors prepared to price their products by bits and bytes, or recognize revenue in dribs and drabs as customers order up spurts of software-enabled seats across an enterprise?
http://www.internetnews.com/infra/article.php/2215011
 
MICROSOFT TO STRESS IWAVE PRODUCTS AT TECHED
Microsoft's iWave lineup, new versions of Office, SharePoint Portal Server and Visio, will take another in a series of introductory bows at TechEd. And the company is expected to announce Release Candidate 1 of Exchange Server 2003, the long-awaited e-mail upgrade.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=74&ncid=738&e=10&u=/cmp/20030527/tc_cmp/10100148
 
GESTURE YOUR MOUSE GOODBYE
The most common hand gesture made toward a computer may involve one finger, usually in frustration over a lost document. But one company is turning other natural hand movements into a sleek new way to work on the computer. FingerWorks of Newark, Delaware, has developed a technology that turns hand gestures into some of the most common computing tasks, like opening files. The technology could gain favor with people who suffer from repetitive stress injuries.
http://www.wired.com/news/gizmos/0,1452,58978,00.html
 
WHERE IS GIGABIT ETHERNET GOING?
Ethernet just turned 30, and like anything that age, it's not what it used to be. Once a pokey networking transport, Ethernet has gotten faster. Gigabit Ethernet and 10-gigabit Ethernet have the speed to connect high-traffic data centers to the rest of the enterprise, accommodate voice over IP, and channel bandwidth- consuming multimedia all the way to the last mile.
http://www.techweb.com/tech/network/20030530_network
 
 
 
INTERNET & WIRELESS RELATED NEWS
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SPEEDS 6,000 TIMES FASTER THAN BROADBAND?
A research team has unveiled a new system to turbocharge the Internet, claiming to be able to achieve speeds so high an entire movie can be downloaded in mere seconds. According to the journal New Scientist, the breakthrough was achieved by a team from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The team is already talking to Microsoft and Disney to look into using the system to deliver high-quality video over the Web.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-1013969.html
 
WHAT INTERNET2 RESEARCHERS ARE DREAMING UP
There is a parallel universe, and a lucky group of academics and corporate R&D types are lucky enough to live there. It is known as Internet2, or I2, and it is a place where speeds are up to 1,000 times faster, vast datasets can be moved like virtual feathers, and there are no pop-up ads. Internet2 is actually two things. Specifically, it is an organization--a not-for-profit consortium of more than 200 U.S. universities and scores of big-name companies that are working together on the development of a faster, cooler information superhighway. Internet2 is also the name of the network itself--a virtual land where activities that seem incredible to most people are taking place every day.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1212&e=2&u=/nf/20030605/tc_nf/21668&sid=95573505
 
TECHNOLOGY FOR CHALLENGING SPAM IS CHALLENGED
It's being promoted as a surefire way to eliminate unsolicited e-mail: Force senders to prove they are human rather than one of those automated programs that inundate the Internet with spam.  Known as challenge-response, the technology obliges a sender to verify their authenticity before their electronic messages can be accepted.  But the technique has consequences far beyond stymieing spam-spitting software robots, and some leading anti-spam activists fear it could backfire and render e-mail useless if widely adopted.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/06/technology-184921.htm
 
WEBBYS RECOGNIZE BEST SITES
The Webby Awards announced its annual honors for the seventh crop of outstanding sites, but organizers made it clear that this year's event was different. Recognition of online excellence went exclusively online itself, and the Webbys site bore the warning: "Cocktails not available online."
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111060,00.asp
 
NEW BUGBEAR SPREADING FAST
A new variant of the Bugbear virus--Win32.Bugbear.B--has emerged and threatens corporate and home computer systems, according to anti-virus experts. Messagelabs, which runs outsourced e-mail servers for 700,000 customers around the world, has labeled the worm "high risk" and reports more than 31,000 infections in 120 countries.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-1013494.html
 
GETTING MORE FROM GOOGLE
Searching the Web can be a frustrating exercise. Here are some tips and tricks to help you find exactly what you want from the leading search engine.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/wo_garfinkel060403.asp
 
FINAL 802.11G DRAFT STANDARD THROTTLES DATA RATES DOWN
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) has approved a new and final draft standard for 802.11g wireless LANs that will have a true throughput for Internet-type connections of between 10M and 20Mbit/ sec., far lower than 54Mbit/ sec. raw data rate initially billed for the standard.
http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,81450,00.html?nas=WK-81450
 
SPAM BLOCKERS MAY WREAK E-MAIL HAVOC
Here's an unhappy prediction: The explosion of spam-blocking technology could herald the death of much legitimate e-mail.
http://news.com.com/2010-1071_3-1009745.html
 
BIG CHANGES FOR SEARCH ENGINES
While search engines have improved steadily under the hood since the first days of the Web, they look and function pretty much the same as ever. But computer scientists are working on new search techniques and interfaces that could significantly alter most surfers' results pages. Expect, for example, to be able to sift through search results graphically, or to personalize Google results.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,58971,00.html
 
DIGITAL CONTENT MAY GET BOOST
The decision by Microsoft and AOL Time Warner to patch up their legal differences and join forces to promote digital content could speed the delivery of music, magazines and movies to online consumers. But, warned industry analysts, only concrete initiatives from the once-feuding companies in the months to come will prove the deal's significance.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5975744.htm
 
EARTHLINK TO OFFER SOFTWARE TO BLOCK '100%' OF SPAM
EarthLink Inc., the third-largest U.S. Internet- access service, said it will offer software to its subscribers that can block "virtually 100 percent" of their spam e-mail.  The new "spamBlocker" will be offered for free to EarthLink subscribers, the Atlanta-based company said in a statement.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0305/28/technology-176616.htm
 
AOL: WE'LL EXPLORE IM INTEROPERABILITY
After years of shying away from compatibility with other instant messaging networks, AOL Time Warner is again indicating that it will consider ways to open its proprietary system. The partner in this effort is longtime IM archrival Microsoft (Quote, Company Info), and the announcement comes as part of a $750 million settlement between the two Internet giants over antitrust issues. The settlement centered around a payment to AOL and concessions allowing the media behemoth to use Microsoft Web browser and Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.
http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/public/article.php/2214651
 
IS THIS THE END OF NETSCAPE?
So much for Netscape 8.0. That's one upshot of the settlement between Microsoft and AOL Time Warner, according to industry analysts who predict that the Netscape browser--currently at version 7.02--will now move from a neglected orphan of AOL Time Warner to a candidate for euthanasia. "For the most part, it means Netscape is pretty much gone," said Rob Enderle, an analyst for research firm Giga Information Group. "AOL is going to continue indefinitely now on IE (Internet Explorer) and has no justification really to continue funding Netscape."
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-1011356.html
 
 
 
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[NOTE: The selections above are from the Academic ADL Co-Lab News Report, a limited-distribution, weekly executive summary of trends, strategies, and innovations influencing the future of learning and technology in higher education. It is prepared by the University of Wisconsin System Office of Learning and Information Technology (OLIT) in coordination with the Co-Lab. Collegebuys.org/schoolbuys.org is using these selections with permission. The selections from the weekly summaries were selected and edited by David Stuart of collegebuys.org/schoolbuys.org.]
 
[NOTE: This information is provided for information purposes only. Mention or discussion of a product, company, or person does not represent any official endorsement or criticism of the same. All authors and organizations retain complete copyright.]
 
[SOURCE MATERIAL: The reference as specific as possible is provided to a source for each summary. When using an online link, ensure the URL has not been broken with a carriage return.]
 
[ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Judy Brown is the Emerging Technology Analyst for the University of Wisconsin System, OLIT. Brown conducts research and consults for the 15-institution UW System. She is Director of the Academic ADL Co-Laboratory at The Pyle Center in Madison, WI. Until recently she coordinated the WTCS Hardware and Software Purchasing Consortium and other statewide technology initiatives for 16 technical college districts comprised of 47 campuses. Brown was named one of the Top 100 women in computing by McGraw Hill's Open Computing magazine (December 1994). She writes a business technology column for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and is the coordinator of eWEEK's Corporate Partner Program.]
 
[COMMENTS & CONTRIBUTIONS: If you want to offer material, or if you want to comment on the contents, contact Judy Brown at judy@academiccolab.org