EDUCATION NEWS
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IS THE ACADEMY READY FOR LEARNING OBJECTS?
Are the academic culture and instructional infrastructure of higher education ready to deliver and embrace learning objects? The answer is yes, but not at a level that suggests massive institutional transformation—yet. The promise remains too tenuous, the risk-reward ratio too high, and the sense of urgency too low for the majority of faculty to change their current practices. Nonetheless, learning objects—right-sized content that may be re-used, re-contextualized, and re-purposed—bring with them small seeds of change that likely will grow vigorously in the future.
http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=7886
 
WHAT'S DISTANCE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
There is an axiom in the making in the discipline of distance education as more institutions adopt a simplistic definition for the field. The quasi-axiom suggests distance education occurs when the teacher and students are geographically separated. This article suggests there can be distance between the teacher and students even if they are under the same roof. Furthermore, it provides a different outlook for the field that is based on a more solid theoretical groundwork, and data based research.
http://www.distance-educator.com/saba/index.php?name=EZCMS&menu=6&page_id=5
 
BLOGGING AS A COURSE MANAGEMENT TOOL
Self-publishing tools are gradually finding their place in the Web mainstream. They were already popular when I mounted my first Web site on CompuServe in 1995, but today these resources enjoy more attention than ever. This is in part due to the growing community of "bloggers": people who regularly post commentary to personal Web pages, usually targeting a particular readership.
http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=2011
 
ELEARNING AND NATIONAL CULTURE
If you were to look at the elearning that most global organisations currently deliver around the world, you would think that the whole of humanity lives in the same small culturally homogeneous neighbourhood. Why is this? In this article Patrick Dunn and Alessandra Marinetti describe what they call the Four Great Myths of Global Elearning.
http://www.trainingfoundation.com/articles/default.asp?PageID=1266
 
COURSEWORK CODE IS RELEASED AS OPEN SOURCE
Using CourseWork, instructors and TAs can set up a course Web site that displays announcements, on-line readings, a dynamic syllabus and schedule, on-line assignments and quizzes, a discussion forum for students, and a grade book. CourseWork is designed both for faculty with little Web experience, who can use CourseWork to develop their Web site quickly, and for expert Web-users, who can use it to organize complex, Web-based materials and link them to Web communication tools. The CourseWork source code is free and open.
http://getcoursework.stanford.edu/
 
SIMULATION SOFTWARE BEATS TRADITIONAL APPROACH IN ONLINE COURSE
Students in an online class who learned networking through a commercially available simulation scored higher and retained more course information than students taught with a traditional network-diagramming software package, says a Penn State researcher. "Those students also demonstrated better understanding of the networking concepts and indicated they spent more time on course assignments," said Brian Cameron, instructor in Penn State's School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST).
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-07/ps-ssb070203.php
 
EXPANDING ACCESS TO LEARNING: THE ROLE OF VIRTUAL UNIVERSITIES
Almost every state in the United States is engaged in some kind of virtual university effort. Plans for these new organizations tend to emphasize the need to establish a postsecondary educational system that is accessible, efficient, and responsive to the needs of citizens and economic stakeholders; to create educational opportunities that can be delivered to new populations of potential students; to minimize costs; and to enable students to continue to work while attending college.
http://www.center.rpi.edu/PewSym/mono6.html
 
INSTITUTIONAL USE OF LEARNING OBJECTS THREE YEARS ON: LESSONS LEARNED AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
A learning resource catalogue (currently LRC3) comprising records of learning objects has been used for 3 years by members of the Universitas 21 consortium. Five conceptually useful classes of learning objects are used. While almost all faculty introduced to the LRC appreciate the value and need for it, and its ease of use, few are willing to use the system for themselves. There are issues such as time to complete a record (possibly several minutes) and reluctance to make teaching materials public. Even though there are acknowledged efficiency gains made by sharing and reusing learning objects, a reason for slow uptake is the lack of a reward system that parallels rewards for publicising research.
http://www.cs.kuleuven.ac.be/~erikd/PRES/2003/LO2003/Koppi.pdf
 
EDUCATOR SEES GREAT POTENTIAL IN ONLINE LEARNING
If you're taking an online course that has a certified teacher and that's standards based, the quality can be equal to or better than traditional education. If you're going to teach a class online it needs to be interactive. It needs to follow the principles of engaged learning. It's not the "sage on the stage." The teachers need to be engaged with the students. For students who are engaged, the quality of online courses can certainly equal or exceed the quality of face-to-face courses.
http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/22/business/story2.html
 
EDUCATION IN THE INTERNET AGE
In the past 10 years, the Internet has become the most powerful communications medium ever invented, surpassing radio, television and the telephone in its potential for mass communication. In fact, recently, the amount of e-mail and other data traffic flowing across the Internet has surpassed the amount of traffic generated by telephone calls. This is less than 10 years after the invention of the commercial Internet.
http://www.centerdigitaled.com/converge/?pg=magstory&id=56529
 
SCHOOLS OFFER ONLINE FACILITIES PROGRAMS
Many of the 300,000 people nationwide who call themselves "facilities managers" fell into the role accidentally, which may help explain why so few universities offer it as a major. "It's usually the kind of position where you're doing all the jobs that nobody else wants to do," jokes Cheryl Johnson, a facilities manager for a satellite campus of Arizona State University. As Johnson quickly learned, that adds up to a lot of know-how not necessarily found in the curriculum of architecture and design schools, where many in the trade come from. And those who've suddenly found themselves in the position hardly have the time to go back to school. That's the impetus behind a growing number of online programs that aim to beef up the profession with an academic foundation and practical experience.
http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2003/06/16/focus3.html
 
 
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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FUTURE TECH: 20 HOT TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH
The technology strides made over the past few decades are note-worthy, but wait until you see what's to come. For this special issue, we've explored the very beginnings of computing's next phase. The technologies you'll read about in the following pages—from carbon nanotube microprocessors and self-driving cars to biosensors and quantum cryptography—are works in progress. Some are little more than sparks of ideas, some are being fine-tuned, and some are waiting in the wings for the right market conditions. Yet they all share something in common: Each holds the promise of transforming computing.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1136276,00.asp
 
LAPTOP SALES BEAT DESKTOPS FOR FIRST TIME
Sales of laptop computers in U.S. stores outpaced those of desktop computers for the first time in May, according to a survey by market research firm The NPD Group. Laptops accounted for more than 54 percent of the nearly $500 million in retail computer sales in May, the Port Washington, N.Y., company said.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030702/D7S1HP5G1.html
 
MICROSOFT OFFERS FREE E-BOOK DOWNLOADS
In a move aimed at bolstering the use of its Microsoft Reader program, the software giant announced that it would offer free downloads of e-book bestsellers over a 20-week period. Although Microsoft has launched similar promotions in the past to boost users' familiarity with Reader and attempt to snag market share from Adobe's omnipresent Acrobat software, the new promotion is the largest in scope and duration that the company has offered, Microsoft eReading group product manager Cliff Guren said.
http://news.com.com/2100-1046_3-1023134.html
 
A LAPTOP POWERED BY FUEL CELL
Japanese computer giant NEC Corp. revealed a prototype of a laptop computer that runs on a methanol fuel cell instead of a rechargeable battery, and said it will start selling it next year.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/933004.asp
 
DOJ MAKES SECOND INQUIRY TO ORACLE
The U.S. Department of Justice Monday issued a second request to Oracle Corp. requiring more information regarding that company's bid to acquire rival PeopleSoft Inc., according to a release put out by Oracle. The request comes from the DOJ's antitrust division, which will look at the proposed merger and its possible ramifications on the software market.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,1149403,00.asp
 
MICROSOFT'S SECOND ASSAULT ON SMARTPHONES
After a lackluster first effort to build a super-cell-phone operating system, it's back with more a flexible platform and new name. Bill Gates describes Microsoft as "the most optimistic company in the technology business." Instead of obsessing about the slowdown in its core market for PC software, the Redmond giant is refocusing on new opportunities, such as the market for advanced cell-phone software.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2003/tc20030630_8009_tc119.htm
 
IS THE TABLET PC THE FUTURE OF COLLEGE COMPUTING?
So many tablets, so little time. Read Decisions, Decisions to see what tablet PC might best fit the needs of your university. Rutledge Ellis-Behnke at MIT uses his tablet to help with lectures; with a special accessory, he transposes the display image onto a wall screen, uses his digital pen to add emphasis that everyone can see, then e-mails students the updated notes at the end of class. At Temple's School of Medicine, professor Tom Marino projects too, but adds diagrams and flowcharts in real time, and e-mails his notes to students during class. Now they can't say they didn't get the information. Professors at Purdue University (IN) call it the "Wall Effect": Students straggle into class, pull out their notebook computers and flip up their screens, effectively constructing barriers between themselves and their teachers. Add the constant cacophony of clicking keys, and the notebook can be a professor's worst nightmare.
http://www.universitybusiness.com/page.cfm?id=289
 
U.S. APPEALS COURT SIDES WITH MICROSOFT ON JAVA
A federal appeals court overturned a ruling that would have forced Microsoft to incorporate Sun's Java programming language in the Windows operating system. The three-judge panel in Richmond, Virginia, said a lower court judge had erred by ordering Microsoft to carry its rival's software, a penalty the lower court judge said was necessary to make up for Microsoft's past misdeeds.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2003-06-26-ms-java-appeal_x.htm
 
APPLE RELEASES SAFARI 1.0
Apple® introduced Safari(TM) 1.0, completing the wildly successful beta program which had nearly five million downloads since its initial release on January 7, 2003. Safari has become the browser of choice for millions of Mac® users and will be the default browser for all newly introduced Macintosh® computers, starting with the Power Mac® G5.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030623/sfm097_1.html
 
E-MAIL CHALLENGES MAY DETER SPAMMERS
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.
http://www.detnews.com/2003/technology/0306/24/c03-201228.htm
 
NEW NAMES ENTER HANDHELD MARKET
On the tails of the release of Windows Mobile, a new version of Microsoft's operating system for handheld computers, a number of prominent vendors have revealed new hardware that run the system. Beginning in July, Gateway Inc. will launch its first branded PDA, the 100x, which will retail for around $350.
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=10800115
 
THE WIRED 40
Only 10 of the original 40 companies remain. This year's 13 new entries include inspired upstarts like Netflix and reinventions like BP. The growing power of Linux is reflected by the selection of open source-friendly IBM and the removal of Sun. Topping the list is Google, a private firm so compelling we bent our public-only rule to include it.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.07/40main_pr.html
 
POCKET PC OS GETS A NEW NAME AND A MAJOR OVERHAUL
Microsoft has refreshed its PDA operating system to deliver better multimedia handling, increased messaging support, plus more powerful (and more easily configurable) wireless connectivity. Not a mere point upgrade, the new OS has even been christened with a new name: Windows Mobile Software 2003 for Pocket PC (thankfully, Windows Mobile for short).
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1133128,00.asp
 
ALL U.S. FLIGHTS TO HAVE E-MAIL IN 2004
E-mail service will be available on all domestic flights in North America before the end of next year, although services elsewhere in the world will take two to three years to become widespread, according to the chief executive officer of Tenzing Communications, which provides technology and services for in-flight messaging. United Air Lines announced a deal with Tenzing last week to provide e-mail on approximately 400 of its North American domestic flights by the end of this year.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111289,00.asp
 
 
INTERNET/WIRELESS RELATED
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RSS: THE NEXT KILLER APP FOR EDUCATION
Like many technology specialists, I have been looking for the next "killer app" for quite some time. I define a killer application as a program that gives average people the capability to use technology to solve everyday problems and enrich their lives. E-mail was the first killer app. Its usefulness has been demonstrated clearly by its being embraced across the entire spectrum of computer users.
http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=2010
 
GARTNER PROJECTS RAPID GROWTH FOR HOT SPOTS
The number of wireless LAN (WLAN) hot spots worldwide will more than double by 2005, but the services are unlikely to reach "critical mass" until three to five years from now, according to a Gartner analyst. Potential fans of the hot spots, where Internet access is available to users of notebook PCs and other devices equipped with IEEE 802.11 technology, are frustrated by the limited number of hot spots available and the lack of consistency among billing systems.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/06/30/HNhotspots_1.html
 
P2P ALLIANCE TO COUNTER RIAA?
The company behind the popular Kazaa file-swapping software plans to launch a trade group to push the case for peer-to-peer networking. Kazaa distributor Sharman Networks and partner Altnet hope their new group, called the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), will help legitimize the much-maligned peer-to-peer industry, which has come under fire from Hollywood, politicians and the recording industry for being a haven for pirates.
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-1022811.html
 
BILL WOULD REQUIRE CUSTOMER NOTIFICATION OF HACKS
Embarrassed businesses and government agencies would have to notify consumers under a proposed law if hackers break into computers and steal some types of personal information, including Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and credit card information. The bill, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a senior member on the Judiciary Committee, follows a similar California law with slightly tougher provisions that takes effect next week.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/06/30/hacker.bill.ap/index.html
 
STUDY PUTS A PRICE ON SPAM
Unsolicited commercial e-mail--spam--costs U.S. companies $874 per employee per year in lost productivity, according to a new report out from independent research company Nucleus Research. The report is titled "Spam: The Silent ROI Killer," referring to the lost return on investment. It contains the results of interviews with employees and IT administrators at 76 different U.S. companies. The $874 figure is based on an hourly pay of $30 and a work year of 2080 hours, Nucleus says.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111433,00.asp
 
WEEKEND WARNING: HACKER DEFACEMENT CONTEST
A call for online vandals to take part in a Web site defacement contest has some companies warning clients to beware over the holiday weekend. The contest awards points to vandal groups for defacing Web sites, with higher points awarded for sites that are run on less common servers. The winner of the contest will be the group that defaces 6,000 servers in the shortest amount of time.
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105_2-1023172.html
 
EARTH TO ANDREESSEN: BROWSER INNOVATION IS AT HAND
Netscape founder Marc Andreessen doesn't think there's going to be any innovation in web browsers in the next five years. Someone should buy him a flight to Glasgow. That's the home of Picsel, whose handheld browser we first wrote about last Spring. I had a chance to look at it in February and it's comfortably the most impressive demo I've seen all year. Picsel's roots are in file viewing technology, rather than HTML, and for co-founder Majid Anwar it's been a case of waiting the world to catch up. This year, it's finally done so, with NTT DoCoMo in Japan opting for Picsel's browser and Sony including the file viewer with the NZ90 Clie.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/31572.html
 
BLOGGERS GAIN LIBEL PROTECTION
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Web loggers, website operators and e-mail list editors can't be held responsible for libel for information they republish, extending crucial First Amendment protections to do-it-yourself online publishers. Online free speech advocates praised the decision as a victory. The ruling effectively differentiates conventional news media, which can be sued relatively easily for libel, from certain forms of online communication such as moderated e-mail lists. One implication is that DIY publishers like bloggers cannot be sued as easily.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59424,00.html
 
MIT MEDIA LAB OPENS GOVERNMENT INFORMATION AWARENESS SITE
The Open Government Information Awareness suite of software tools acts as a framework for US citizens to construct and analyze a comprehensive database on our government. Modeled on recent government programs designed to consolidate information on individuals into massive databases, our system does the opposite, allowing you to scrutinize those in government. Citizens are able to explore data, track events, find patterns, and build risk profiles, all in an effort to encourage and motivate action. We like to think of it as a Citizen’s Intelligence Agency, giving people similar tools and technologies to those held by their government.
http://opengov.media.mit.edu/
 
GOOGLE ADDS GADGETS TO ITS BROWSER TOOLBAR
Online search engine Google introduced several new gadgets in its popular toolbar for Web browsers, hoping to build even greater brand loyalty amid heightened competition. The new software for the Google toolbar includes a feature that automatically blocks pop-up ads, as well a program that automatically fills out Internet forms seeking a customer's name and address.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6184497.htm
 
NEW 54 MBPS STANDARD COULD SPEED WIRELESS ADOPTION IN SCHOOLS
The final approval of a new wireless standard called 802.11g should open the door for further adoption of wireless networks in schools by providing the power to transmit data up to five times faster than had previously been allowed under earlier standards, industry analysts say. [Free registration required]
http://www.eschoolnews.org/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=4475
 
INTEL, UNIVERSITIES CREATE WORLD NETWORK
Intel, Princeton University, the University of California at Berkeley, and a host of other academic and industrial heavyweights have banded together to take the lag out of getting data from halfway around the world. PlanetLab is an experimental network that sits on top of the Internet that will allow researchers and others to test and build applications that can essentially span the globe.
http://news.com.com/2100-1035_3-1020157.html
 
SUCCESSFUL INTERNET TITANS SET PACE FOR FUTURE FINANCIAL WIN
Internet companies are rising from the tech bust's ruins, much as the auto industry survived its 20th century shakeout. USA TODAY's Michelle Kessler, Matt Krantz, Kevin Maney and Jon Swartz spotlight Net leaders—and offer a peek at possible pacesetters of the future.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/2003-06-22-netwinners_x.htm
 
 
 
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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