News Update for Tuesday, December 14, 2004

• 12/13/04

Creating the Classroom of Tomorrow
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11450

Share your expertise: Speak at Syllabus2005
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=10922

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News for Tuesday, December 14

* Educators Are Outsourcing to Save, Not Innovate
* Higher Ed Open Source Program Is Thriving
* SIIA: Best to Think Long-Term on Ed Tech Investment
* Online Music Giants Napster Lands Campus Deals
* Noteworthy Announcements Across US Campuses

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Educators Are Outsourcing to Save, Not Innovate

Institutions that farm out portions of their operations to learning service providers
now do so overwhelmingly to save money, not to adopt new capabilities, according to
a survey completed recently by the American Society for Training & Development
(ASTD) and IBM.

Nearly 70 percent of those academic institutions and private companies that responded
to the ASTD-IBM survey claimed that cost reduction goals still mightily drive
outsourcing decisions. Yet a number of those polled further indicated that future
adoptions of outside learning services would hinge more on the “transformative aspects”
of hiring outsiders for newer e-learning services.

Read more: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11499

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Creating the Classroom of Tomorrow

What d'es it take to successfully integrate all systems across a
campus? Planning, communication, flexibility, and more. In a new
micro site sponsored by HP, you'll read how several campuses
approached their IIS projects and what made them successful.
Join a peer forum to discuss implementation and budget issues;
read white papers, case studies and articles on the challenges
of integration.

http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11450

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Higher Ed Open Source Program Thriving

Since Sun Microsystems just over eight months ago unveiled the Global Education and
Learning Community (GELC), a new forum dedicated to the advancement of JAVA-based
open source educational tools, more than 175 projects from more than 20 countries
have gotten underway.

GELC’s mission is to serve as an online gathering place for researchers, educators,
programmers, and others striving to develop and implement open learning standards
and open course learning materials.

Projects currently posted to the site include straight content on open source learning
efforts along with discussion forums, blogging, and wikis. A specific example of an
online community hatched on the GELC site is ‘Girls’ Java Café,’ an effort to
encourage female high school students to pursue Java programming and computer
science studies.

The GELC portal is located at http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11500

SIIA: Best to Think Long-Term on Ed Tech Investment

The education technology sector is still undergoing consolidation and from an investment
perspective must be considered in a two- to four-year timeframe, according to
private sector presenters gathered recently at the Software & Information Industry
Association’s (SIIA) 4th annual Ed Tech Business Forum.

Speakers such as McGraw-Hill Education president Henry Hirschberg cautioned that
investment in education technology will indeed require steadfastness. “You’re not
really investing for this year’s sales or opportunities,” he noted. Meanwhile, other
presenters drew attention to the rapid ramp up of consolidation in the industry and
advised corporate education technology players to tread lightly when making
acquisition moves.

Read more: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11501

Online Music Giant Napster Lands Campus Deals

Digital music subscription company Napster announced recently that it has nailed
down agreements with four institutions to provide discounted music services to students.
Napster has been working with Campus Action Network (CAN) to line up deals such as
these in large part to cut down on the level of digital music piracy that has been
ongoing on US campuses.

Napster’s new agreements include Eastern Michigan University, the University of
North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and the University of Tennessee at
Knoxville which are joining ranks with Penn State, the University of Miami, and a
handful of other institutions where Napster offers students unlimited subscriptions
rates far below the company’s $9.95 per month.

For more information, see http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11502

Tools or Law Enforcement at CSU

California State University, Fresno teamed recently with FacePrint Global Solutions
to offer e-learning tools to law enforcement. Since many criminal justice entities
do not have the resources to send personnel to classroom-based training, CSU will
offer online education alternatives that cover areas such as risk management.
Specifically, the institution and vendor will provide law enforcement with electronic
tools to train personnel how to best handle threats both in the field and in the
courtroom.

Read more: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11503

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Deadline for Proposals to Present at Syllabus2005 Extended

There is still time to submit a proposal to speak at Syllabus2005,
July 24-28 in Los Angeles. The deadline for the Call for Papers
has been extended to December 15. Plan to share your expertise
in one of five tracks applicable to higher education
technology.

For complete details click here.
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=10922.

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Product Announcements

· To help college-bound students hone critical writing skills, Vantage Learning debuted
recently an expanded version of its MY Access! Web-based writing assessment and
diagnostic tool. Earlier versions of MY Access! have focused primarily on coaxing
student-writing skills to the point at which students are competent enough to pass
college admission tests. Now the product places greater emphasis on helping students
redress essay-writing problems that MY Access! identifies.

Learn more: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11504

· America Online has partnered with ClassesUSA to offer to AOL members a comprehensive
directory of online degree and certificate programs, which are available at the
nation’s top 100 institutions.

Learn more: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=11505