Syllabus News Update for Tuesday, April 20, 2004

• 04/20/04

Visions for IT-Enabled Learning at Syllabus2004
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=6585

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News for Tuesday, April 20, 2004

* Grant Available for Free WiFI for Ten Colleges Nationwide
* Oral Roberts Pursues Portfolio Tool for Cross-Campus Analysis
* Dartmouth Begins Authentication for Campus-Wide Data Access
* Chinese University Opens Institute for Wearable Computing R&D
* McGraw-Hill/Irwin Announces Pilot Study-Tool on Cellphones

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Take 4 days out of the office and get ready for the future.

Come to the dynamic and educational caworldSM, being
held May 23–27, 2004, at The Venetian Las Vegas and Sands
Expo and Convention Center. Benefit from four days of
hands-on demonstrations, dynamic speakers and one-on-one
meetings with industry leaders.

To find out more or to register, go to:
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=6315

or call 1-877-caworld (229-6753).
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Grant Available for Free WiFi for Ten Colleges Nationwide

The Higher Education Wireless Access Consortium (HEWAC),
together with wireless Internet purveyor WiSE Technologies
announced rules last week for colleges that would like to
apply for one of 10 grants being given to provide campus
wireless networks to colleges. The grants will include free
equipment and installation. As a bonus, one of the 10 winning
colleges will receive free network management services and
broadband connection for three years.

The competition is intended to showcase the benefits and use
of wireless technology on college campuses. Colleges that
may benefit most from the grant would have a high percentage
of students with laptops but lacked the capital to deploy
the equipment and infrastructure needed. Once applications
are in, applicants will be contacted individually for
follow-up discussions. The 10 grant winners will be selected
in time for the fall semester of 2004. After installation,
WiSE will also canvas popular off-campus locations to
recruit these sites into their WiSE-Zone network of affiliated
"hot spots" for additional convenience and enjoyment of
students, faculty and staff.

Free applications available at:
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=6610

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Visions for IT-Enabled Learning at Syllabus2004

Join your colleagues at Syllabus2004, July 18-22 in
San Francisco for five days of programming
featuring higher education's foremost thought leaders
in IT and education technologies. On Monday, July 19,
Clifford Lynch, Executive Director of the Coalition
for Networked Information and an adjunct professor at
the University of California-Berkeley offers the
opening keynote examining digital information and
learning cultures.

Thought-provoking keynotes are among the many reasons
to be a part of Syllabus2004. Spend a day on campus at
UC Berkeley, select sessions from five conference
tracks, enjoy plenary panels led by technology
experts from campuses across the country, and network
with your peers in a collegial atmosphere.

For more information and to register, go to:
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=6585

Register by June 18 and save up to $200.

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Oral Roberts Pursues Portfolio Tool for Cross-campus Analysis

Oral Roberts University is launching an electronic portfolio
system designed to collect student performance data from
across the entire university and slice and dice it against
goals – or “mission-directed learning outcomes” -- for each
student, department, school, or the institution as a whole.

"While electronic portfolios are becoming more common in
higher education, this e-portfolio system's ability to
organize data and to assess students, programs, and schools
across an entire comprehensive university qualifies this
initiative as a cutting-edge assessment system," said Dr.
Ralph Fagin, vice president for academic affairs at ORU. The
university is partnering on the project with Chalk and Wire,
a Canadian education research-based company, which is using
its ePortfolio and RubricMarker systems.

Dartmouth Begins Authentication for Campus-Wide Data Access

Dartmouth College is installing an USB-based security-key
system that will enable students controlled access to university
data via a smart-card alternative the size of a normal
house-key. The system is called the eToken, made by Aladdin
Inc., which uses a PIN to provide two-factor authentication.
The school is helping promote a nationwide PKI-based identity
management solution throughout higher education.

"We needed a secure way to store digital credentials while
also allowing faculty, students, and staff to remain mobile,"
said Mark Franklin, PKI Lab Project Manager at Dartmouth.
"We have information systems that allow students' access to
schedule and grade information via the network. Our ongoing
commitment to protect students' personal information, now
reinforced by FERPA requirements, compels us and other
schools to protect our online systems as much as possible,
while still simplifying access for users. Two-factor
authentication is proving to be a cost-effective way to
accomplish this, and strikes a healthy balance between
enhanced security and ease of use."

To make token-based PKI use possible at Dartmouth, the eToken
stores digital certificates unique to each user, who plug
the eToken into their computer's USB port and type one
eToken password, enabling access to a variety of different
information systems on campus.

Chinese University Opens Institute for Wearable Computing R&D

China’s Beihang University dedicated the new Beihang-Xybernaut
Research Institute (BXRI), created to develop mobile/wearable
computing solutions for the greater Chinese market and other
international markets. The institute is partly funded by the
Xybernaut Corp., a provider of wearable/mobile computing
hardware, software and services. Some of the institutes’
first research projects will focus on the transportation
industry, aviation, law enforcement and security, and the
medical communities. The BXRI will have an initial staff of
twenty PhD researchers and engineers, as well as a large
number of software developers and post-graduate students,
business development staff and administrative professionals.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Announces Pilot Study-Tool on Cellphones

Higher Ed Publisher McGraw-Hill/Irwin released a pilot version
of a student self-assessment application designed for cell
phones with Internet access. The assessment tool, called
Study-to-Go, is currently available for Palm and Pocket PC
devices. The pilot version is available to students free of
charge for access to textbook correlated quizzes, key terms,
and flashcards via their cell phone Internet browser. The
company is making the service available in beta to gather
research on the future development of the service.

"This is another option for students that delivers a simple,
yet powerful way for them to use their cellphone to study
when they have down time in their busy schedules,” JP Lenney,
president of McGraw-Hill/Irwin, a unit of McGraw-Hill Higher
Education.

Students can provide comments at:
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=6611

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IT Compliance World, May 17–19, Boston: Compliance Solutions for IT Pros
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=5165

Syllabus2004 July 18-22, San Francisco: Technologies to Connect the Campus
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=6453
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