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).

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.
Read more

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)...
Read more

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)...
Read more

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)...
Read more

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)...
Read more

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)...
Read more

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)...
Read more

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....
Read more

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)...
Read more

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

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

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.”