CT Industry
:: NEWS
MASHUP BOOSTS DISTANCE
ED. Huntington Junior College (WV)
has created a "social presence" using a
mashup of Second Life and Moodle,
called Sloodle, in coordination with
Campus Management's student information
system. The virtual campus enhances
faculty-student interaction while
automating management of rosters,
grades, drop/adds, and other administrative
chores. Students log in once to the
college's portal, and can then leap into
the Second Life campus, attend class, and
participate in online cafe conversations.
Read more here.
MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING.
According to a recent ABI Research survey of 500
users of online social networks, 46 percent
of respondents have visited a social
network via a mobile phone. Of those
mobile users, nearly 70 percent have
visited MySpace.com, and another 67
percent have visited Facebook.com. No
other social networking site reached
higher than 15 percent mobile adoption.
VILLANOVA U is trading paper postings and e-mail for
a campuswide digital signage network.
DIGITAL SIGNAGE VISION.
Villanova University (PA) has partnered
with Rise Vision to create a campuswide digital signage
network. The Rise Display Network digital
signage content management system
allows administrators to disseminate
information about campus events,
schedules, and emergency notifications,
with full control over the
composition and timing of all content.
Villanova also sells advertising
on the digital signage to local merchants
who accept the school's
Wildcard debit card.
GREEN EFFORTS. In the next
12 months, Dell plans to transition all of its new laptop
displays to mercury-free LED.
LED displays are highly recyclable and
deliver significant energy savings compared
to cold cathode fluorescent lamp
(CCFL) technology. Another green tech
leader, Toshiba's Digital Products Division, has extended
its free recycling program beyond Toshiba
laptops to include many of
today's most common consumer
electronics (without
requiring the consumer to purchase
a Toshiba product). The company
has set a goal of recycling 12 million
pounds of e-waste in the US by 2010.
WIKI COLLABORATION. Loyola
Marymount University (CA) is implementing
the eTouch SamePage enterprise wiki solution for
collaboration, knowledge management,
and long-range planning within IT and
other departments. SamePage will
enable collaboration on multiple campus
projects including the development
of new student- and faculty-oriented
learning spaces in the university library.
In addition, academic technology analysts
will use the wiki to collaborate on
research with faculty in various schools
within the university.
MANAGING TRANSFERS. The
OnBase enterprise content management
solution from Hyland Software is streamlining the transfer
credit evaluation (TCE) process at the
American Public University System (online), a for-profit distance learning
institution with mostly active military
students. Eighty-five percent of APUS
students bring transfer credits to the
university, and before OnBase, an average
of 600 new applicants each month
couldn't register for classes because
their credits hadn't been evaluated and
transferred. Now, APUS' TCE processing
time has been cut by more than half,
and the institution is able to evaluate all
new applicants quickly and efficiently,
helping to boost enrollment.
CONTENT ON DEMAND. The
National Association of College Stores has created a new
company, NACS Media Solutions, to
help college stores meet students'
increasing demand for digital video
content at affordable prices. Through an
agreement signed with technology and
media licensing firm Polar Frog Digital, pilot stores
will experiment with touch-screen kiosk
and web-based ordering options for
burning, selling, renting, or downloading
DVDs on demand. By serving as an
electronic hub for these services, NACS
Media Solutions hopes to reduce costs
for suppliers and students who use the
college store for digital products.
:: PEOPLE
SECOND LIFE FOR ADOBE EXEC.
Linden Lab,
creator of the virtual world Second
Life, has announced the appointment
of Tom Hale as chief product
officer. The former Adobe Systems exec will be
responsible for driving product strategy
and business for Second Life.