CT News Update October 25, 2005

• 10/24/05

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SPONSORS

* Today's Lesson from NEC: Dynamic Communication of
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* Data Protection and DR Planning for the Campus Enterprise
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News for Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005

* Three Nevada Institutions Share Costs of Enterprise Platform

* Survey: Online Degrees More Acceptable in the Workplace

* Dell's 'Campus Architecture' Aims to Simplify Tech Planning

* Sun Offers Students Cash Prizes for Solaris Development

* Georgia Tech Develops Language Tech for Hearing Impaired

* U.S. Distance Learning Association Elects New Officers

* Online Resources
http://www.campus-technology.com/resources/index.asp

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Three Nevada Institutions Share Costs of Enterprise Platform

Three Nevada higher education institutions have formed a
consortium to share the costs of purchasing an enterprise
e-learning platform. The Community College of Southern
Nevada; Nevada State College at Henderson; and the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas will host WebCT's Vista
platform at the central offices of the Nevada System of
Higher Education. NSHE's information technology arm,
System Computing Services, helped purchase the software
license, which will cover more than 1,800 faculty members
and 57,000 students.

Brian Chongtai, director of information technology at
Nevada State College at Henderson, said the move will
enable the schools "to stretch limited resources and
actually halve recurring e-learning costs by sharing
hardware, administration, system management, database
administration, development, and certain help desk and
training duties."

The consortium is expected to save $454,000 annually
by working as a unit versus managing e-learning
individually at each institution. UNLV itself will
save $150,000 per year. "By creatively pooling our
resources, we're able to overcome fiscal challenges
and have enterprise-level support, security, administration,
integration and other services that we would struggle to
obtain by ourselves," said Lori L. Temple, UNLV's vice
provost of information technology.

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Data Protection and DR Planning for the Campus Enterprise

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Survey: Online Degrees More Acceptable in the Workplace

Eighty-five percent of employers believe that online
degrees are more acceptable today than they were five
years ago, according to a survey of employers' attitudes
toward online degreed job candidates by Vault Inc., a
publishing firm focused on career and employment issues.
The findings are based on 107 responses from companies
representing a cross-section of U.S. industries.

Thirty-four percent of the respondents said they had
encountered a job applicant with on online degree,
with 20 percent reporting they have hired applicants
with online degrees. However, most employers--54
percent--said they still favor job applicants with
traditional degrees over those with online degrees.
Forty-five percent said they would give job candidates
with both types of degrees equal consideration.

Even though the majority of employers (86 percent)
said they would be willing to accept a job applicant
with an online degree, 14 percent said online bachelor's
degrees and online graduate degrees are not acceptable.

Dell's 'Campus Architecture' Aims to Simplify Tech Planning

Dell unveiled a set of offerings designed to help colleges
and universities plan, implement and manage their technology
across the campus. Dell Campus Architecture focuses on "key
'pain points' our higher education customers struggle with
in managing their complex technology environments," said
Mullen, Dell's vice president of higher education business.
Dell identified those areas as:

* Student Computing: Dell will offer a customized student
computing program that includes student training and help
desk, a volume-purchasing discount for students, and project
management.

* Academic Computing: Dell's Intelligent Classroom will
comprise computers, projectors, wireless networks and AV
control systems to convert the classroom into a "high-tech
learning environment that engages, involves, and inspires
students."

* Administrative Computing: Under its Scalable Enterprise
Strategy, Dell will offer network and data security assessment,
identity management, server and storage migration and consolidation,
and portals for information sharing across the campus.

* Research Computing: In this niche, Dell will focus on its
high-performance computing clusters, which can be built, tested,
shrink-wrapped on pallets, and shipped directly to the university,
enabling them to be installed quickly and easily.

Sun Offers Students Cash Prizes for Solaris Development

Sun Microsystems staged the "Solaris University Challenge,"
offering students a chance to compete for cash and prizes for
developing projects on the Solaris 10 Operating System and
OpenSolaris, Sun's open source project for Solaris.

The top winner will receive $5,000 and a Sun Ultra 20
workstation. The winner's university will receive $100,000
worth of credit toward the purchase of Sun Microsystems
products. The competition is open to undergraduate and
graduate students, faculty and IT staff at accredited
universities and is scheduled to run between November
2005 and June 2006.

Judging criteria are: usability, quality, innovation,
including uniqueness and originality, effective use of
technology, and benefits to the Solaris 10 OS end-user
or OpenSolaris OS community. The source code for Solaris 10 OS
is available at opensolaris.org under the Common Development
and Distribution License (CDDL).

For more information, visit:
http://www.sun.com/solaris/solaris10universitychallenge

Georgia Tech Develops Language Tech for Hearing Impaired

The College of Computing at Georgia Tech has developed
technology with the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf (AASD)
to help hearing-impaired children improve their language
development. The federally funded CopyCat project is a
computer game that uses a virtual sign language tutor to
augment the classroom experience for hearing-impaired children.
CopyCat enables hearing-impaired children to interact with and
sign to on-screen characters in a fun and engaging way while
improving their communication skills.

Ninety percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents
who do not know or have low levels of proficiency in sign
language, limited exposure that slows the pace of linguistic
development. Dr. Harley Hamilton, educational technology
specialist at AASD, said that by using CopyCat, "children
display noticeable increases in enthusiasm, focus and fluent
signing. The computer provides a patient, skilled, communicative
partner for the children anytime they choose, and that level of
interaction is invaluable."

U.S. Distance Learning Association Elects New Officers

The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)
elected its 2005-2006 slate of officers and board members
at its annual meeting held in Long Beach, California.

Elected President of the Association was Paul Roitman Bardack,
CEO of My Jewish Learning, Inc., a trans-denominational website
of Jewish information and education geared towards learners of
all ages and backgrounds. Don Olcott, Jr., of Western Oregon
University in Monmouth, Ore., was elected Executive Vice
President and President-Elect; Kris Phelps, of Iowa State
University, was elected senior vice president for state chapters;
and Jolly T. Holden of American InterContinental University in
Marietta, Georgia, was elected chair of the Advisory Board.
Deborah Harrison of Texas A&M University became Chair of the
Board and Dr. Darcy W. Hardy of the UT Telecampus in Austin,
Texas became Chair Emerita.
For more information visit: http://www.usdla.org
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Online Resources

Microsite: Security Solutions for the Campus Enterprise
Sponsored by CDWG
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=18260

Solution Center: Wireless Technologies for the Campus Enterprise
Sponsored by HP
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=18262

White Paper: Benefits of Dynamic Signage in Higher Education
Sponsored by NEC
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=18265

White Paper: Mapping Information Technology Strategies to Answer Today's Agenda
Sponsored by Campus Management
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=18264

More Resources
http://www.campus-technology.com/resources/index.asp

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