IT Trends for Thursday, November 20, 2003.

Thursday, November 20, 2003

In This Issue

OPINION

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

A Cyber-Glimmer of Hope in the Rust Belt

We’ve taken a look recently at feral users, students who’ve become adept at life on the Internet without parental or school training or acculturation and who interact in a kind of Lord of the Flies cyberworld. We’ve also thought and read a lot about the technology expectations with which our students arrive at college. Last week I was privileged to visit the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Midland, Pennsylvania.

The school’s story is a great one, demonstrating how creative use of information technology in a small, economically depressed school district can provide benefits to both a local constituency and a geographically-dispersed one. It also raises the bar for higher education, with its implications about the skill levels, experiences, and expectations for learning delivery of a growing number of K-12 students heading our way. And it raises a hope that there may actually be some adults interacting with some K-12 kids in cyberspace; maybe we won’t have to acculturate all of them for the first time as freshmen.

Read more

Terry Calhoun ([email protected]) is director of communications and publications for the Society for College and University Planning (www.scup.org).


IT NEWS

Wake Forest a Harbinger of Converged Technologies

Making phone calls and checking voice mail on their laptops are just some of the new services Wake Forest students are looking forward to – a harbinger of converged technologies coming to campus.
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IT Tautologies: The Open Code Market Is … Open and Coded

The Open Code Market (OCM) is an open market for code, as well as a market for open code, and is aiming to become a free market for software, as well as a market for free software, while aligning the motives of developers with those of users (Distance Educator)...
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Google Gaga: Three-year-olds Use Wireless Laptops in Preschool

Primrose School Franchising Co. is putting laptops into the hands of three-year-olds at its 120 preschool locations next year. Wait until those kids get to college! (E-School News - Registration Needed)...
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Don't Look Now, But the Dean is Watching

This article claims that university administrators are engaging in privacy-violating Big Brother practices with student information technology usage. (Salon)...
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Penn State Toughening its Peer-to-Peer Firewalls

In addition to providing students with the "Nittany Napster," Penn State is strengthening its firewalls as part of its overall security outlook. (The Collegian)...
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Oracle Takeover of PeopleSoft Deal Kaput?

Some analysts think that the much-hyped attempt by Oracle to take over PeopleSoft is close to dead (CNN)...
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Apple iTunes Music-Sharing Software Hits Campuses as Legal Alternative

Much of what Penn State students will get from its "Nittany Napster music service other college students are getting for free from Apple's iTunes. (Daily Northwestern)...
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Info Tech Majors Dropping Sharply in Australia

They're not sure why, but the number of undergraduates expressing an interest in an IT career is dropping each year in Australia by about 25 percent....
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Auburn University Moves to E-bill System for Student Payments

Auburn expects to save $100K on supplies and labor by requiring students to pay bills online through its new system. (The Plainsman)...
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Question: Why do Students Leave Their Computers On All Day?

Answer: The Away Message This just in: A new cultural norm for students is taking root: "away" messages that make a statement about them. (USD Student Vista)...
Read more


RESOURCES


Grid Computing Resources for Computer Systems Design

Grid computing resources for research in computer systems design including Nano technology is available at the University of Florida Advanced Computing and Information Systems (ACIS) Laboratory.
Learn more

New Genetic Coding Software at Stanford

Genetic researchers will find extensive information on the design of new genes using a computer algorithm available at Stanford University’s Genome@home.
Learn more

DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

Ohio Universities Go with Cable Telephony

Time Warner Telecom won competitive award for a multi-year contract to deliver voice communications and Internet access services to Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. Time Warner Telecom also won a contract to supply local voice services to the University of Cincinnati. Time Warner Telecom will deliver local and long distance inward/outbound calling for five buildings at Cincinnati State's three campus locations. The company will also provide voice services to the University of Cincinnati including local inward- and outward-bound calling for the main campus as well as 20,000 DID numbers.

Villa Julie College Contract for eCommerce Web Development

Villa Julie College (VJC) School of Graduate and Professional Studies (GPS) E-commerce awarded a contract to HIMC Corp.’s ITI Internet Services division for a student project to develop Web sites conducting eCommerce. "Class work incorporates hands-on projects and practical knowledge that immediately apply to everyday work challenges," said Ken Snyder, Department Chair, Graduate Information Technology Programs. “VJC will use ITI's back end Internet check processing service to bring “one more level of reality to our curriculum.”

Sponsored by:
Case Study: How to Webify PeopleSoft and Win
Santa Clara University CIO Ron Danielson talks about his experiences as an early adopter of PeopleSoft 8 and how he reduced bandwidth expense, increased server capacity and extended the network life cycle. 19 minutes. Sponsored by Redline Networks.

Click here for details

Events


Syllabus fall2003
December 8-10,
Cambridge, Mass.

Events Calendar


Sponsored by:
Innovative Furniture Solutions for the Electronic Classroom
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.

Click here for details

POLL

Sponsored by: Mitsubishi

Dell

A wireless connection between a laptop and certain classroom projectors is now possible, but you may have to make some choices about the cost and configuration. Would you choose:

Wireless fully integrated into projector (a $500 premium)
Wireless dongle capability as an add-on ($500)
Stay with a cable connection for now (not wireless)


Sponsored by:
Syllabus Fall Conference: Ideas and Insights into Education Technology
Explore the latest developments and applications in education technology on campus at Syllabus fall2003, December 8-10 in Cambridge, Mass. Five tracks in areas critical to your needs and will further your knowledge of best practices. For complete details and to register go to

Click here for details

NEW PRODUCTS

Altova Releases XML-Based eLearning Authoring Tools

Altova Inc. is offering the AgileLMS Studio tool to create XML-based eLearning content for students to access via the Web. Unlike existing HTML tools, the use of XML means that academic content can be created once for presentation on a variety of devices from classroom PC workstations to notebook computers and ultimately mobile handheld devices.

Jenzabar Tool Meets Fed Rules for Data on International Students

University IT departments seeking tools to meet federal guidelines for tracking foreign exchange students are getting help from the SEVIS System from Jenzabar, Inc. The company’s Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) product is designed specifically to help IT departments comply with the federal demand that higher education institutions maintain up-to-date information on foreign students and exchange visitors. SEVIS can be used to extract relevant student data from ERP systems and other data sources.

Harcourt Upgrades Flagship Speech And Language Tester

Harcourt Assessment upgraded its flagship speech and language testing tool, the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - Fourth Edition (CELF- 4). The new version is a fast and flexible assessment for students ages five to 21 that uses a four-level process to evaluate all four aspects of language -- structure, content, use and sound awareness. By following the test's four-level assessment process, clinicians can obtain up to seven different index scores that provide insight into a student's language ability. These index scores are Core Language, Receptive Language (comprehension), Expressive Language, Language Content, Language Structure, Language Memory and Working Memory.


Sponsored By

Discussion of the Week:

"Recently we received a Tablet PC from Eurocom. It's appeal is not quite that strong (although it costs only about $1500) because it d'es not make good use of the “Journal” functionality embedded in the Windows XP operating system for Tablet PCs. In fact it d'es not use that operating system at all but has its specific annotation tool/writing pad. Is this the beginning of a babylonian confusion of Tablet incompatibilities?" -- posted by Ulrich Rauch, Arts ISIT, University of British Columbia Vancouver

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