EDUCATION NEWS
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THE LEARNING GAME - RESEARCHERS STUDY VIDEO GAMING PRINCIPLES THAT APPLY TO EDUCATION
Why do you think games are important for learning? If you think about it, games have an interesting problem. They cost a lot of money to make and they are pretty long and challenging. They can take up to 50 hours to play. But if a company couldn’t get you to learn that game, they’d go broke. They have this classic problem that schools have: How do I get somebody to learn something that is long and difficult and takes a lot of commitment, but get them to learn it well?
http://www.wistechnology.com/article.php?id=243
 
SCHOOLS SET RULES ON CLASSROOM GADGETS
For better or worse, handheld devices and laptops are now seen as essential back-to-school supplies for students across America. And many schools have only begun to weigh their educational benefits against their potential for text messaging, photo swapping, cheating and chatting.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/969109.asp?0cv=TB10
 
TEACHING COURSES ONLINE: HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE?
Studies show that temporal factors like workload and lack of release time inhibit faculty participation in developing and teaching online courses; however, few studies exist to gauge the time commitment. This longitudinal case study, presented at the Seventh Annual Sloan-C International Conference on ALN, examined the amount of time needed to teach three asynchronous online courses at The University of Michigan-Dearborn from Winter 1999 through Winter 2000.
http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/jaln/v7n3/v7n3_lazarus.asp
 
MOTIVATION AND INCENTIVES FOR DISTANCE FACULTY
Colleges continue to offer growing numbers of courses and programs of study through distance education technologies. Yet despite this growth, relatively little is known about what inspires faculty to teach with a technology-mediated approach. The current study was designed as an exploration into the incentives that faculty perceive as motivating. The analysis of over one hundred articles lead to the conclusion that faculty generally teach in distance education programs for the same reasons (incentives) they teach traditional courses; for intrinsic rewards.
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/parker63.htm
 
ON CAMPUSES, HANDHELDS REPLACING RAISED HANDS
Hoping to make large classes more interactive, a growing number of professors on large campuses are requiring students to buy wireless, handheld transmitters that give teachers instant feedback on whether they understand the lesson--or whether they're even there. Use of the $36 device has exploded this fall at the University of Massachusetts, where faculty say class sizes are creeping up following $80 million in systemwide budget cuts.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2003/09/13/on_campuses_handhelds_replacing_raised_hands/
 
MICROSOFT SETS UP $250M FUND FOR SCHOOLS
Microsoft Corp. is unveiling a new program that offers $250 million in grants for schools around the world that want to develop a technology curriculum for their students. The Partners in Learning program also offers participating schools steep discounts on buying Microsoft software.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/6783660.htm
 
DIVIDE BY THREE, CARRY THE 745
Students returning to Foster High School for the start of the academic year encountered a very different school than the one they left behind in June. The school, located in Tukwila, a small, working-class suburb about 10 miles south of Seattle, recently was divided into three largely independent "learning academies," each with its own cadre of teachers and distinctive approach to education. Meanwhile, students have been given the opportunity to take some previously unavailable classes, like calculus, online.
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,60375,00.html
 
WHEN BOOKS BREAK THE BANK
In the past two decades, the price of textbooks has soared. The price of educational books and supplies has risen 238 percent, while the price of consumer goods over all has increased only 51 percent, according to the Consumer Price Index. At four-year private colleges, the College Board found, students spent an average of $807 on books last year. Some students, particularly science and math majors, spent that much in one semester. Indeed, about 20 percent no longer buy all their required texts, according to the National Association of College Stores. And that percentage is growing fast enough to worry both textbook publishers and college bookstores.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/16/nyregion/16BOOK.html
 
THIRTY-TWO TRENDS AFFECTING DISTANCE EDUCATION: AN INFORMED FOUNDATION FOR STRATEGIC PLANNING
Recent issues in this journal and other prominent distance-learning journals have established the need for administrators to be informed and prepared with strategic plans equal to foreseeable challenges. This article provides decision makers with 32 trends that affect distance learning and thus enable them to plan accordingly. The trends are organized into categories as they pertain to students and enrollment, faculty members, academics, technology, the economy, and distance learning. All the trends were identified during an extensive review of current literature in the field.
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/howell63.html
 
 

TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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REPORT: WIDESPREAD USE OF MICROSOFT POSES SECURITY RISK
Whatever Microsoft's strengths or failings as a developer of reliable software, the mere existence of an operating system monopoly is a critical security risk, argues a new report released at a Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) gathering in Washington, D.C. Written by seven IT security researchers, "CyberInsecurity -- The Cost of Monopoly" calls on governments and businesses to consider in their buying decisions the dangers of homogenous systems, and to diversify the software mix deployed in their organizations.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/24/HNwidespreadms_1.html
 
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES GRAB MIT SPOTLIGHT
A handful of somewhat futuristic technologies manifested themselves during discussions at the Emerging Technologies Conference last week at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Specifically, what Intel referred to as proactive systems, wireless mesh networks, and the convergence of wireless devices garnered the most attention.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/26/38NNmit_1.html
 
WIRELESS INNOVATIONS - KEY TO REVIVING THE ECONOMY
We're back from last week's DEMOmobile 2003, and the experience has only strengthened our belief that wireless and mobile innovations are key to reviving the overall economy. The energy from the 400-plus attendees and 37 demonstrating companies was palpable throughout the conference, and one thing became crystal clear: True connectivity -- both in our homes and our businesses -- has arrived and one can't help but imagine the changes it will effect in our lives.
http://www.wistechnology.com/column.php?id=250
 
AMD PUTS ITS CHIPS ON THE TABLE
Advanced Micro Devices is ready to up the ante in its ongoing rivalry with chipmaker Intel Corp. The company unveiled 64-bit chips for desktop and laptop PCs, and is already hyping them as one-of-a-kind technology. "The Athlon 64 microprocessor takes on Intel in a market where the larger rival does not have a competing desktop PC product
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51392-2003Sep23.html
 
RADIO TAGS PROVIDE GUIDANCE
University of Rochester researchers have found a new use for the radio frequency identification tags that manufacturers are aiming to use to track products like cartons of milk and sweaters. The Rochester team has reversed the standard setup by making the receivers mobile and the transponders fixed. The arrangement, dubbed Navigational Assistance for the Visually Impaired (NAVI), can provide location information for the visually impaired and for other kinds of navigational assistance applications like self-guided tours.
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_092403.asp
 
UTILITY'S LAST SNAG: THE PRICE TAG
The arrangement is an example of utility computing, an approach that is just starting to gain momentum. In utility computing, suppliers pipe applications and processing power across the Internet to customers, who pay a monthly charge depending on how much they consume, just as they do when they purchase water, gas or electricity. Proponents say the idea can fundamentally change the way corporations do business, giving them the flexibility to buy computing capacity in reaction to spikes in demand.
http://news.com.com/2100-1011_3-5075629.html
 
APPLE POLISHES OFF TITANIUM LINE
Goodbye, titanium. Hello, aluminum. Apple Computer replaced the last of its titanium PowerBooks with aluminum versions, as it updated its entire line of high-end portables. The new PowerBooks were unveiled by CEO Steve Jobs during a keynote speech at Apple Expo Paris. Apple kept the same dimensions for the new models, which come with 12-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch screens. The biggest change was to the 15-inch version, which, in addition to a new aluminum case, gains options such as AirPort Extreme wireless networking and the backlit keyboard that had been reserved for the 17-inch version.
http://news.com.com/2100-1044_3-5077133.html
 
OI! HOW BIG DID YOU SAY THIS HARD DISK IS?
US PC users have banded together to protest against "deceptive advertising" of hard drive capacity by filling a lawsuit against the world's biggest computer manufacturers. Apple Computer, Dell, Gateway Inc, HP, IBM, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba Corp are named in the lawsuit, which seeks to attain class-action status.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/32935.html
 
VIRUS MASQUERADES AS MICROSOFT E-MAIL
A new mass-mailing virus is on the loose on the Internet, this one masquerading as a message from Microsoft Corp. about a cumulative security patch. Known as either Swen or Gibe, the virus is mainly found in Europe right now, but anti-virus experts say it has the potential to spread quickly and widely. Like some other recent worms and viruses, Swen attempts to spread through several different methods, including peer-to-peer file sharing networks and IRC channels. It takes advantage of a two-year-old flaw in Microsoft Internet Explorer and is capable of automatically executing the infected attachment once the message is opened.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,4149,1273249,00.asp
 
MICROSOFT, MOTOROLA DEBUT U.S. MODEL SMART PHONE
Get ready for the battle of the Smart Phones. Microsoft plans to debut its first U.S. model, built by Motorola, while Handspring also is expected to release its second-generation device, the Treo 600. Motorola's MPx200 SmartPhone is scheduled to be available in the fourth quarter from AT&T Wireless and will work with the carrier's GSM and GRPS networks. Microsoft and AT&T Wireless, both of Redmond, Wash., inked an agreement last year to push wireless data communications over mobile devices.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20030915S0003
 
WINDOWS TO POWER ATMS IN 2005
Within three years, most bank machines that dispense cash will run on the Windows operating system, according to a study. By 2005, 65 percent of bank ATMs (not including free-standing machines in places like convenience stores and casinos) in the United States will use a stripped-down version of Windows. About 12 percent of the machines will use the operating system by the end of this year, according to Gwenn Bezard, an analyst at market researcher Celent. He concluded the banking industry is ready to scrap IBM's OS/2 operating system, which powers most ATMs today. They would prefer Windows, a platform they consider "open" in that it is compatible with their internal corporate networks.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60497,00.html
 
 
INTERNET/WIRELESS RELATED
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LIBRARIANS TO P2P CRITICS: SHHH!
In a hotly contested lawsuit before a federal appeals court, two peer-to-peer companies are about to gain a vast army of allies: America's librarians. The five major U.S. library associations are planning to file a legal brief Friday siding with Streamcast Networks and Grokster in the California suit, brought by the major record labels and Hollywood studios.
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5082684.html
 
MICROSOFT NIPS FREE MSN CHATS
Bill Gates-led Microsoft says it seeks to protect children. Microsoft is locking the doors on its free MSN chat rooms, positioning the move as a crackdown on the spread of online pedophilia, pornography and junk E-mail.
http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/120455p-108491c.html
 
MACROMEDIA TAKES FLASH BEYOND THE WEB
In a move designed to showcase the possibilities of life without wires, Macromedia (Quote, Chart) unveiled a public beta release of a new environment for people to interact with the Web without relying on a continuous connection. The system, dubbed "Macromedia Central" is considered an "occasionally-connected application" that enables users to operate applications that run outside the browser environment.
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/3084401
 
MICROSOFT EYES MOBILE CONTENT SERVICES
Revamped business will supply programs, products, and partners for mobile devices. Microsoft has renamed a business unit that develops products for delivering content to mobile devices, reflecting a wider focus that now includes media and entertainment companies. The newly named Communications and Mobile Solutions unit will sell to fixed and mobile phone operators, Web hosting providers and entertainment and media companies, said Maria Martinez, a new Microsoft hire who heads up the unit as corporate vice president.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,112651,00.asp
 
VERISIGN REDIRECTS ERROR PAGES
Criticism is quickly growing over VeriSign's surprise decision to take control of all unassigned .com and .net domain names, a move that has wreaked havoc on many e-mail utilities and antispam filters.  VeriSign began to redirect domain lookups for misspelled or nonexistent names to its own site, a process that has confused Internet e-mail utilities and drawn angry denunciations of the company's business practices from frustrated network administrators.
http://news.com.com/2100-1032-5077530.html
 
MICROSOFT'S NEXT TARGET: WEBEX
The red-hot Web-conferencing space got a big boost when Microsoft unveiled its new Live Meeting software. The software, Microsoft's first real attempt to enter the Web- conferencing space, appears at a time when the sector as a whole is seeing annual growth rates north of 40 percent, according to the Yankee Group.
http://www.business2.com/articles/web/0,1653,52309,00.html
 
LANDLINE NUMBERS CAN JUMP TO CELL PHONES
The coming freedom to keep your cell phone number when changing wireless companies has overshadowed a possibly more revolutionary change also due this fall: the power to move a number from a regular wired phone to a mobile handset. While traditional local phone companies see the government-mandated change as an unfair invitation for wireless rivals to steal their core customers, they say they'll be ready by a Nov. 24 deadline to fulfill certain requests by customers who want a home or office number to become a cell phone number.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2003-09-19-land-to-mobile_x.htm
 
HOUSE PASSES INTERNET TAX BAN
The U.S. House passed a bill that would permanently ban governments in the U.S. from levying taxes unique to the Internet. The House, on a voice vote, passed the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, which would permanently prohibit taxing jurisdictions in the U.S. from levying such taxes as e-mail taxes, bandwidth taxes, or bit taxes. To become law, the bill would have to pass the U.S. Senate and be signed by President Bush. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved its version of the bill July 31, and its next stop is the full Senate.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/09/17/HNhouseinternet_1.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