News 11-06-2001

• 11/06/01

Featured sessions at Syllabus fall2001 are designed to appeal to a broad audience. We're excited to present two keynoters who are true movers in education technology with exceptional track records in IT on campus.

Carl Berger, of the University of Michigan, will examine the next "killer app" in higher education, and Kathy Christoph, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will talk about the transformation of teaching and learning with technology-on your campus.

A featured panel, moderated by MIT's Phil Long, will consider what Open Source means for higher education. And the TLT Group's Steve Gilbert will offer a featured track covering several facets of the digital realm in higher education. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Ferncroft in Danvers, Mass. November 29-December 2. Register online at <http://www.syllabus.com>.

Educause Awarded Management of Dot Edu Domain

The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded a five-year contract to the non-profit Educause organization to manage the .edu Internet domain name for the higher education community. Under the agreement, first reached last April, Educause will protect the reliability and integrity of the .edu domain for colleges and universities. A key piece of the agreement would make U.S. community colleges eligible for .edu domain names for their Internet addresses. Previously, only four-year colleges and universities were eligible for the distinctive .edu tag. Educause will accept applications for new registrations during a 60-day "sunrise" period when newly eligible institutions can apply for an .edu name without the rush of a first-come, first-served process.

For more information, visit: <http://www.educause.edu/edudomain>

U. Minnesota Moves to IP-Based Voice System

The University of Minnesota is finishing the first phase of what is expected to be the largest geographically distributed IP-based voice architecture in the U.S. When finished, the system, which is being provided by Dallas, Texas-based Intecom, Inc., will include the school's Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses and consist of six IP nodes, connect more than 210 buildings, and offer 40,000 lines for students and faculty. The company's PointSpan system is designed so that each of the six nodes can operate independently if a network outage occurs. The IP-based architecture also means that change orders can be programmed easily, via a single database.

Austrian University to Offer Degree in Wearable Computing

The Graz University of Technology (TUG) said it plans to offer the first undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate degree programs for wearable computing and related technologies. The degree programs, which will be offered in the Electrical Engineering department, are being supported by Fairfax, Va.-based Xybernaut Corp., a provider of wearable and mobile computing technology. The programs will include courses in computation, communications, signal and video processing, project and change management and man-machine interface, as well as its traditional core courses in math, physics and electronics. The Graz University of Technology in Graz, Austria, was founded in 1811, and was the first university to confer a degree of doctor of technical sciences in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1901.

For more information, visit: <http://www.iti.tu-graz.ac.at> or <http://www.xybernaut.com>.

UCLA Med Explores Telemedicine Surgical Training

UCLA's School of Medicine and Computer Motion, Inc., a developer of surgical robotic systems, will collaborate to combine surgical robotic systems with telemedicine to allow surgeons to guide surgeons in-training through complex surgical procedures. "This could be the world's first tele-collaborative surgical system," said Dr. E. Carmack Holmes, chairman of the department of surgery at UCLA. "We hope to develop a program that mimics a flight simulator to help train future surgeons." The work is being supported by a $2 million research grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Advanced Technology Program. In September, doctors using the system performed the world's first transatlantic telesurgery when a surgeon operating from a console in New York removed the gallbladder of a patient in France.

For more information, visit: <http://www.computermotion.com>.

WVU to Deliver IT Courses Via Videoconference

West Virginia University at Parkersburg will deliver associate degree courses in computer and information technology via teleconferencing to WVU in Morgantown in January. The project, funded by a $85,000 grant from phone giant Verizon, will enable the Parkersburg campus to transmit courses to WVU's Center for Information Technology Workforce Development in Morgantown and other locations in the state. WVU Parkersburg will also provide access to training for IT certifications. "This grant will allow us to extend our capacity to deliver courses and programs as well as certification training beyond the traditional classroom," said Joseph Badgley, WVU Parkersburg dean of academic affairs. "In effect, we will be able to deliver to the most rural areas of West Virginia -- anywhere where people want IT skills and training."

Texas A&M Signs Security Research Partnership

Texas A&M University has partnered with a security technology company to explore new approaches to securing Internet transactions and netork data storage. The research will be focused on the technology of "process-based security" developed by Systems Advisory Group Enterprises (SAGE), Inc. With process-based security, access to computer resources is based on the process running, irrespective of the user. Under traditional security models, the operating system checks to see if the program user has right to access a particular resource. It may then grant access to resources outside of their intended use. Dr. Steve Liu, an associate professor of computer science at the university, will direct the research.

For more information, visit: <http://www.sage-inc.com>.

Sun, Campus Pipeline Announce Joint Strategy

Sun Microsystems, Inc. and Campus Pipeline, Inc., a provider of web-based enterprise software for higher education, announced an alliance to jointly market products and services to the higher education market. Under the deal, the two companies will jointly market the Campus Pipeline Web Platform and Luminis product family; back the Sun One open standards architecture for higher education; and apply Sun's iPlanet product suite as a communications platform for Campus Pipeline's web integration products. John Lawson, chief information officer of Pepperdine University, said "dedication to open standards" as represented by the deal, "recognize(s) our complex integration needs and give us flexibility in choosing the technologies that work best for our unique environments."

For more information, visit: <http://www.sun.com/edu> or <http://www.campuspipeline.com>.

HP Inaugurates Campus Notebook PC Program

Hewlett-Packard last week launched a program to provide college students with notebook PCs and service support. The HP Campus Advantage program includes consultation, notebook PCs, call center support, and leasing and financing options. Kevin Learned, president of Albertson College of Idaho, which teamed with HP to offer a similar program this fall, said such technology investments are increasingly an important factor in students choice of school. "The ability for students to have instant access to the tools and information they need ... is a very appealing prospect," he said. HP said it will also be inviting schools to participate in the Annual Laptop Symposium on January 11th at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. The symposium helps schools drive creative uses for their technology.

For more information, visit: <http://www.hp.com/go/campusadvantage>.

Blackboard Announces e-Education Suite

Blackboard Inc. last week announced a series of product packaging enhancements that will unify its three electronic education platforms under a single suite of products. Customers can now choose between complete or independent licensing of the three primary packages: the Blackboard 5 Learning System, the Blackboard 5 Community Portal System, and the Blackboard Transaction System. In explaining the announcement, Eduventures research group director Adam Newman said, "much as the administrative systems market moved from separate providers of human resource, finance and student records systems into a common suite, we see the e-Education segment of the higher educations technology market converging into suites as well. By taking a suite approach, Blackboard is helping to define the emerging paradigm for deploying Web services that touch the daily student experience, such as Web course environments, community portals, and online commerce."

For more information, visit: <http://www.blackboard.com>.

Don't Miss This Event from 101communications

Syllabus fall2001 "Next Steps: Moving Forward with Campus IT"
November 29-December 2
Danvers, MA
Online registration available: <http://www.syllabus.com>