News 07-05-2002
Group Seeks Tool for Higher Ed Tech Costs
The Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET), a unit of
the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), is mounting
a project to give administrators and policy-makers insights into educational
technology costs. The Technology Costing Methodology (TCM) project is a costing
analysis tool for schools to use to analyze the costs of instructional approaches
that make heavy use of technology, and to compare cost data for different instructional
approaches. The project expands WCET's work to develop a standard method to
calculate technology costs across higher education, and help policymakers and
planners understand how to use cost information. WCET said it would use eCollege's
AU plaform to create the tool. eCollege is providing a hosted environment, a
digital campus, online registration and evaluation capabilities, and help desk
support for all participants.
For more information, visit: http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/projects/tcm/index.htm
Dell and Proxim Cyber Cafe Co-Sponsors at Syllabus2002
Dell, the world's leading direct computer systems company and Proxim Corporation,
a leading manufacturer of wireless networking equipment, will combine to bring
conference attendees a wireless, state-of-the-art Cyber Cafe at Syllabus2002.
The Cyber Cafe will feature a relaxing atmosphere, Dell laptops and the new
802.11a Proxim wireless technology. The ninth annual education technology conference
will be held July 27-31 in Santa Clara, offering a full program of workshops,
seminars and breakout sessions plus keynote speakers Diana Laurillard, Lawrence
Lessig and Jack Wilson.
For conference details and to register, go to http://www.syllabus.com/summer2002/index27.asp
Study: Email Hurts Workplace Productivity
Email is costing businesses millions of dollars each year, according to research
by the University of Western Ontario. A study by UWO B-school prof Christina
Cavanagh shows email is eating up employees' time. "Put simply, email is failing
as a productivity tool in the workplace," she said. "People enjoy the convenience
[of email] but this is far overshadowed by the volumes of low-value emails received
each day." Most of the extra time spent dealing with email occurs away from
the office, usually at home. That means that not only employees are spending
productive time on unproductive matters, but they're also using personal time
to do so, exascerbating work-lifestyle imbalances. "The most alarming finding
was that many respondents accept their frustration with email as the price they
have to pay for using it," said Cavanagh. Besides extending the workweek, that
price includes answering emails while on the telephone, during meetings, and
during vacations.
For more information, contact Christina Cavanagh at (519) 661-3357 or ccavanagh@ivey.uwo.ca
Columbia Dental School Takes to the Web
The Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery said it would develop
online continuing education courses for dentists in collaboration with ArcMesa
Educators, a multi-profession provider of continuing education. The school will
select and develop the content for the courses, which ArcMesa will develop for
both Internet and traditional home study. According to the American Dental Association,
47 states mandate continuing dental education for practicing dentists, totaling
over 200,000 dentists. "We are a forward-looking institution that believes in
providing education beyond the traditional walls of a dental school," said Dr.
Ira Lamster, dean of the school. "Offering CME courses online will benefit our
practicing faculty and alumni, as well as dentists across the country. In addition,
foreign institutions seeking an affiliation with us will now have an opportunity
to do so via the Internet."
For more information, visit: http://www.arcmesa.com
Deals, Awards, Contracts in Higher Education
-- The University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky have signed
a site license with InforMax, Inc., a provider of life science informatics solutions,
that will enable both universities and 10 affiliated educational institutions
to use InforMax's Vector NTI Suite and Xpression NTI software as a uniform platform
for the management and analysis of molecular data.
-- The University of Tokyo has picked Avaya Wireless local area network technology
for its campus network. The network will enable 30,000 students, faculty and
staff at the university's campuses in the suburban towns of Hongo and Komaba
to have wireless access to the university network and the Internet. It is the
first campuswide wireless network for the University, which is one of Japan's
leading universities.