CT Briefs
:: NEWS
STARTING DOWN AN ONLINE
PATH. At Kaplan University (IA),
incoming students can now maximize
their own career paths using MyPath,
the university's program that leverages
student success diagnostics and assessment
tools with an internet-based
career planning system from Kuder. The key: doing
this right from the start. "By utilizing
these assessments before students
begin their academic programs, we
can help them personalize their education,
zero in on their career goals, and
have a stellar academic experience,"
explains Wade Britt, Kaplan's executive
director of academic operations.
Read more here.
BRYANT STUDENTS AND FACULTY now can access hundreds of
educational videos on demand, from anywhere on campus.
VIDEO ON DEMAND MEANS
VIDEO IN DEMAND. Bryant
University's (RI) selection of VBrick
Sytems has paid off:
Students and faculty are taking ample
advantage of their new, on-demand
access to hundreds of educational
videos. Earlier, the school "lacked an
efficient way of making the videos easily
available, and feared [its] investment
would be underutilized,"
says Daniel Greene, a
media production specialist
at Bryant. "Now, [users] can
just log in to one location
from anywhere on campus
and get access to several
hundred videos at once."
SHOW ME THE
GREEN. With green content
getting hotter, institutions
are seeking outlets to
distribute such information
widely. Always ready to
innovate, Arizona State
University collaborated
with Modavox to webcast
the school's Sustainability
Summit this fall. "We are
delighted that we could
partner with Modavox to webcast this
discussion to an international audience,"
says Virgil Renzulli, ASU's VP
for public affairs. Read more here.
WHERE ANGELS DON'T FEAR
TO TREAD. The University of
Alabama in Huntsville has adopted the
Angel Learning Management Suite to make content
and collaboration tools available
24/7 to the institution's 7,000 students.
"We're not going to change how today's
students think," comments Bobbi Jo
Rissmann, an instructional technology
administrator at UA. "We have to reach
them using the tools that are meaningful
to them." Read more here.
A GROWN-UP SAKAI. Remember
when institutions questioned the sustainability
of the Sakai Collaboration
and Learning Environment? That's not the case
anymore, given the success and apparent
stability of the open source community
effort. Notably, two major
institutions recently moved forward in
their work with Sakai. The University
of Hawaii system has adopted Sakai
as its official learning and collaboration
service, effective this fall, and
Columbia University (NY) has
recently upgraded to a new version of
Sakai as part of a pilot program in several
schools and departments. Read
more here.
INDUSTRY AND EDUCATION
MEET IN THE GARAGE. Watch
for the Brooklyn Media Garage, soon
to pop up as part of New York state's
plan to accelerate and expand mediarelated
work in the New York City
area. Polytechnic University of NYU has received $2 million from the
state's capital budget to establish
NYC's first on-campus Entertainment
and Media Research Center. The university
will back the center's efforts
by applying its expertise in computer
graphics, media distribution, and related
digital media technologies.
:: PEOPLE
SOUTHEAST'S
ASSISTANT VP
FOR IT. Archie
Sprengel is leading
IT at Southeast
Missouri State
University this fall
as the institution's new assistant
vice president for information technology.
Previously director of operations
and systems support at the
university, Sprengel is successor to
John Weber. Sprengel will update
Southeast's information technology
strategic plan and integrate technology
into the academic and administrative
functions of the institution.
