IT Trends for August 28th, 2003

Thursday, August 28, 2003

In This Issue

OPINION

Architecture for the Transparent University

Terry Calhoun, Commentator
Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
University of Michigan

This week, we offer a guest opinion from G. Randolph Mayes, from Cal State-Sacramento. After our recent visit, during this summer's Syllabus conference, to leading-edge technology classrooms at Stanford, it is a lot easier to understand what Mayes is getting at when he talks about the "transparent university," meaning that when everything is digital, access can be wide open which has its pros and cons. Don't think for a moment though that Mayes is advocating on behalf of "big brother" legislators like Jack Hoogendyk (R-Kalamazoo), who has a list of 60 college courses in Michigan he thinks the legislature might want to ban.

We think that Mayes has folks like Hoogendyk in mind when he cautions that "[t]he university is not a place for children, and it is not a place for hypersensitive adults who lack a fundamental grasp of academic freedom, and the reality of learning at an American institution of higher education." Not only d'es Mayes make some good points about the value of educational transparency but, as he notes, in many ways such transparency is happening inevitably as the result of the application of information technologies...
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IT NEWS

Higher Education Hardest Hit by Sobig.F Virus

The timing couldn't have been worse - with students coming on campus in less than two weeks. The higher education community got hit hard by the worm-following Sobig.F virus. While the consequences have not been disastrous, staff resources, already stretched because of budget constraints, were hammered. (Chronicle of Higher Education)...
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[Access provided courtesy of The Chronicle]

Global Geeks Getting Free Education from MIT

Next month, MIT officially launches OpenCourseWare, starting with courses on nuclear engineering and political science. Lectures, handouts, and quizzes all online, for free. Evidence shows that geek-types from around the world are lining up to take advantage. (Wired)...
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Fiscal Crisis Pushes Faculty Late Adopters Online

Apparently the current economic situation is motivating more faculty to go line. One Michigan State University economics professor says his online syllabus saved the institution $1,200 in copying costs. (State News Service)...
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Microsoft: Big Manipulator on Campus?

Microsoft has spent half a billion dollars in five years on research and teaching projects at 1,000 schools. So where d'es the company? largesse on college campuses end and influence peddling begin. (The Washington Post)...
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Washington State Adds Event Authorization to Cards

New technology, costing about $300,000, will reduce student sharing of tickets to major sporting events at Washington State University, Pullman. Instead of tickets, students' identification cards will be tagged for access to events. (The Daily Evergreen)...

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Laptops: Three Months of Groceries, Plus Your Rent?

Clemson University provost Doris Helms says that as a percentage of total college expenses," a laptop costs today's student about as much as an engineering student paid for a slide rule in the 1950s. But students still see it as a big, necessary expense. (The Greenville S.C. News)...
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Degrees in Our Future: Bachelors of Identification

A center at West Virginia University says it is the only U.S. higher education institution offering a degree in biometrics. (worldandicollege.com)...
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New Mexico State Installs Emergency Alert System

New Mexico State has turned on an emergency phone alert system, which is designed to be used in situations such as hazardous materials spills or severe weather. In an emergency, it dials all phone lines in the NMSU system automatically...
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RESOURCES

Michigan Virtual University Technology Source

"The Technology Source" is a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical published by Michigan Virtual University designed to provide articles that will assist educators integrate technology into teaching and managing....
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EDU Tools

A site was built to assist higher education in rational decision-making in reviewing options for course management systems. The site reviews each product by researching and describing more than 40 product features. The site also guides users through a number of processes to consider all the aspects of a course management system. . .
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DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

UCI Engineering Prof Funded for Broadband Research

Professor Michael Green, associate chair of the department of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Irvine, was awarded a $270,000 National Science Foundation grant to develop new ways of optimizing the performance of existing broadband networking technologies based on CMOS circuit design...
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Case Western, Motion Computing Form Tech Partnership

Case Western Reserve University and Tablet PC maker Motion Computing have agreed to a four-year partnership in which Motion will collaborate on research, development and testing with the university. The agreement also enables Motion Computing to sell its M1300 Tablet PC and accessories to the university's students, faculty and staff.
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Computer Comforts designs and manufactures furniture for computer labs and classrooms. Our many product solutions include recessed monitor tables, tech benches and multi-media carts. Make sure to visit our website to see the patented Hide-Away table, designed for the multi-use lab. When not in use, the monitor is safely stored below a flip-down lid for non-computer use. We recently added a video clip of this HOT product. Let us help with classroom layout and design.

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POLL

Sponsored by:

Dell

Is your institution leveraging the Internet to facilitate remote desktop support?

Yes
No

Poll Results


Sponsored by:
Syllabus.com Offers More Content, Easier Navigation
Check out the new, redesigned Syllabus website for news, information, opinion, resources, forums and more. Search by topics that are critical to your interests and read online only news on technology for higher education. New, easy-to-use navigation, and more content add up to a premier site for all your education technology information needs.

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NEW PRODUCTS

Anti-Spam Application for Higher Education

In recent months, academic IT departments have become overwhelmed with spam complaints from end users. Yet many schools have a policy protecting academic freedom and privacy, which must be balanced with the need to protect their IT infrastructures and end users. To help address the problem, ActiveState has introduced PureMessage, a server-based email filtering solution that identifies and quarantines spam using a combination of heuristics, spam directories, and spam signatures...
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Service Enables Domain Name Back-Ordering

Network Solutions, which manages the Internet Domain Registry, the central catalog of domain names for commercial Web sites, is now accepting pre-orders for a Next Registration Rights service. The service would automatically obtain the registration for a currently registered .com or .net domain name if the current domain name holder fails to renew, or affirmatively deletes, the domain name during the subscription period...
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Anti-Virus Software for Handhelds Introduced

Symantec Corp. unveiled an anti-virus offering for Palm OS and PocketPC handhelds that provides real-time and on-demand scanning against viruses, worms, and other malicious code. The AntiVirus for Handhelds line comes in editions for both individual users and the enterprise. Although there haven't been any malicious assaults on PocketPC devices--and relatively few aimed at Palm-based PDAs--it's only a matter of time before virus writers turn their attention to handhelds, says the company...
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CipherTrust Introduces Enterprise Spam-Blocking Appliance

CipherTrust has introduced an enterprise appliance designed to block spam without also blocking legitimate e-mail. The IronMail device is designed to block spam, viruses, and other inappropriate content while also including rules for creating "whitelists" of legitimate e-mail that should not be blocked. . .
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Sponsored By

Wireless Handheld Computers to Increase Interactivity and Collaborative Learning
This week's interview features Betty L. Black,

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Sponsored By

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