IN THIS ISSUE

VIEWPOINT

• Beware Publishing Reps Bearing "Free" Gifts That Click

NEWS & PRODUCT UPDATES

• Launch Startup to Commercialize Breakthrough Personal Knowledge Networking Software
• eLearning - The 21st Century Path to Success
• National University Adopts iLinc Communications for Web Conferencing
• UK College Introduces Distance Learning

CASE STUDY

• Providence College: Angel-Supported Academic Advising

TECH NOTES

• Schools Buying Tungsten C Wireless Handhelds from palmOne Get Free Software License for Creating Wireless Learning Environments

READER RESPONSE

• Submit Your Case Study and News

Sponsors

• Free White Paper: How to Manage and Protect Campus File Sharing
  
• Exploring IT-Enabled Learning Cultures at Syllabus2004

Beware Publishing Reps Bearing "Free" Gifts That Click

By Tom Stone, The Ohio State University

Audience response stations, or “clickers” have returned to the educational technology stage as a great tool for tracking student knowledge as well as their misconceptions. Ohio State University instructional designer Tom Stone considers their costs and benefits from a campus-wide perspective.

They're clicking with faculty and gaining popularity quickly. But they also have the potential to create expensive burdens on both students and those who support instructional technology for classrooms on campus.

Launch Startup to Commercialize Breakthrough Personal Knowledge Networking Software

Graham Glynn, PhD, a neuroscientist and director at the Center for Learning & Academic Technologies at Penn State University, has joined with other eLearning experts to found Learning Management Solutions, a developer of personal knowledge management and personal knowledge networking software. The company's first product, KnowledgeWorkshop, allows computer users to create, manage, share and publish knowledge bases covering all aspects of their personal and professional lives.

Read more

eLearning - The 21st Century Path to Success

Britain has seen a massive growth in the popularity of Internet-based adult education over the last decade, to the extent that it is currently revolutionizing the way the country’s population learns. At the helm of the revolution is learn direct, the Government-sponsored initiative run by the University for Industry, which has helped 1.2 million people since 2000 to improve their workplace skills, boost their employability, or simply try something new. The program is delivered throughout Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by the Fareham-based Hampshire and Solent Learning Hub, whose chief executive, Denise Candy, is fanatical about the benefits of eLearning. (Online Recruitment Magazine)

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National University Adopts iLinc Communications for Web Conferencing

National University has purchased 250 iLinc licenses to fulfill its enterprise-wide Web conferencing and collaboration needs. National University will deploy the full iLinc product suite, which includes ConferenceLinc, LearnLinc, MeetingLinc, and SupportLinc. With close to 17,000 full-time equivalent students, more than 109,000 alumni, and 26 campuses in 11 major metropolitan areas, National University is the second-largest private, nonprofit university in California. National University offers more than 55 undergraduate and graduate degree and 16 teacher credential and certificate programs. National University selected LearnLinc after an extensive evaluation of virtual classroom software to provide Internet distance learning to their students.

UK College Introduces Distance Learning

The Canterbury Christ Church University College, UK, is planning to offer it courses in management and communications for Indian students and executives through distance learning. The college has recently tied up with the Pune-based Training and Advanced Studies in Management and Communications (Tasmac) to avail of its infrastructure facilities for a study centre and an admissions office in India. (Business Standard)

Providence College: Angel-Supported Academic Advising

Providence College in the Rhode Island city of the same name, prides itself in selecting the right students for its highly regarded primarily undergraduate programs, and starting early on to assure that the students receive what they seek from their Providence education. Incoming students are contacted with the usual welcoming events and messages from the Student Life office. In addition, new students are invited to take their Spanish language and mathematics placement tests on line prior to coming to campus orientation. All new students now take the math test, and more than one-fourth of the new students take the language test prior to summer orientation. The remainder completes the tests on-line from the Providence campus. The results are immediately available to new students and their advisors to plan the students’ fall course schedules.

This attention to proper course placement, as well as positioning the student at the center of the Providence learning experience, no doubt helps account for Providence’s 92 percent retention rate for incoming students. This placement/advising partnership also extends to the campus IT organization- students receive their Angel (CyberLearning Labs course management system) login prior to coming to campus. The placement tests are delivered through Angel, simultaneously building a profile of the incoming student and giving that student early access and navigational practice for the CMS that will support much of their coursework.

Schools Buying Tungsten C Wireless Handhelds from palmOne Get Free Software License for Creating Wireless Learning Environments

Through Sept. 30, schools that purchase a minimum of 30 Tungsten C wireless handhelds through the palmOne Education Purchase Program will get a free license to use a file distribution and exchange program that could revolutionize workflow in the classroom, palmOne, Inc. announced. The palmOne Education Purchase Program gives K-12 schools and universities a way to extend their technology budgets and enable equity among students by offering additional free handhelds for certain levels of purchase.

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