IT organizations at American colleges and universities are getting clever with cost cutting. Two IT leaders share some of the small, creative tactics they've used to save hundreds of thousands of dollars for their schools while actually managing to improve services for their constituents.
A project out of the University of Virginia to get young children comfortable with engineering has been selected as one of 10 winners in a MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Competition. The project, called Fab@School, is intended to teach K-12 students about mathematical analysis and modeling, digital fabrication, and engineering by allowing them to fabricate 3D copies of objects that they've designed themselves.
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have figured out how to use the same kind of inexpensive optical sensors found in a computer mouse to turn mobile phones and MP3 players into input devices.
In one of its milestone launches of the summer, Microsoft on Friday officially released Silverlight 3, the latest version of its rapidly evolving media client/rich interactive application development platform.
Netop has released PrintLimit Pro 9.4, an update to the company's print management software that's geared toward more efficient printing and helping school environments save on three heavily used commodities: paper, ink, and time.
Smart Technologies this week debuted a new widescreen interactive whiteboard system and widescreen interactive pen display.
ViewSonic this week debuted three new projectors feature DLP-based 3D projection capabilities, the PJD6211, PJD6221, and PJD6381. The new models are part of the first generation of projectors with Texas Instruments' new 3D DLP technologies, which were announced today at the InfoComm 2009 show in Orlando, FL.
Vivitek has introduced two new models in its lineup of portable, single-chip DLP projectors designed for classroom use. The D825ES and D825EX offer high light output and high contrast ratios but come in at less than $900.
The University of Delaware in Newark has purchased three Hitachi SK-HD1000 HD studio/field cameras to produce live HD video shows for big screen displays at its football games and graduations.
Smart Technologies has added touch recognition to its Smart Board 600 series of interactive whiteboards. The new capability allows the board to distinguish between a finger and a pen--and even the palm of the hand.
