News 07-16-2002
Duke Pursues Talented Highschoolers Online
Duke University is developing a series of e-learning courses to reach gifted
prospective undergraduate candidates in 16 states. The university's Talent Identification
Program (TIP), started in 1980 to identify students with exceptional abilities
and to offer challenging summer courses, will work with multimedia producer
erroyo Inc. to develop electronic and interactive courses to broaden the program's
reach. Among the courses Duke and erroyo will offer are "Clues in Crime," a
forensic science course taught by Marilyn Miller, coauthor of Henry Lee's Crime
Scene Handbook; "Peace and Protest," an exploration of America in the 1960s
guided by Duke TIP instructor Shayne Goodrum; and "Switched on Sound," which
exanines the changing role of music in the twentieth century. Steven Pfeiffer,
executive director of Duke TIP, said the program "provides in-depth learning
in academic areas infrequently covered in most high schools in America."
For more information, visit: http://www.eduscreen.com
What's in the Future for Course Management Systems?
A special panel discussion on course management systems featuring four experts
on open source initiatives is one of the highlights at the ninth annual Syllabus2002
conference July 27-31 in Santa Clara, Calif. Oakley Thorne, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer, eCollege; Matthew Pittinsky, Chairman of Blackboard; Barbara
Ross, Chief Operating Officer of WebCT, and Phillip D. Long of MIT will discuss
the successes and challenges of course management systems, the possibilities
for the future, and implementation issues for new software. This interactive
session with the audience will focus on possibilities and priorities. Don't
miss out on this summer's education technology conference for faculty, administrators
and IT professionals in higher education.
U. Texas Event Explores Games-Learning Ties
The University of Texas at Austin said it will host a workshop on the development
of electronic games to explore the future of interactive learning. "Games and
simulations represent the future of learning," said Alex Cavalli, deputy director
of the univeristy's IC2 Institute, which is developing the program. "In the
next decade, nearly every classroom will use game-based learning programs to
enhance its curriculum. Our youth, who have grown up playing electronic games,
need programs that simulate work environments and teach life skills if they
are to compete in the 21st century." The school's IC2 Institue will host the
event Aug. 22-24. The meeting will include lectures, case studies and panel
discussions led by industry experts covering game development, academic research
opportunities and game systems design. The goal of the workshop is to support
the next generation of game developers and develop multidisciplinary game-related
curricula for the univeristy, Cavalli said.
For more information, visit: at www.eltlabs.org/workshop/index.htm
Canada Funds eLearning Research Project
The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada's Institute for Information Technology
has started a project to conduct scientific research in the development of educational
courseware. Canada's NRC operates research facilities and technology support
networks to help spark innovation in Canadian industry. NRC-ITT said it would
work with Mosaic Technologies Corp., a Canadian educational technologies company,
to launch the project. "We are very pleased to work with a private sector leader
in the eLearning field to help advance Canada's position as a major player in
the development of advanced training technologies," said Christian Couturier,
Director, Atlantic Research Programs, NRC-IIT.
Study: Parents Pessimistic on Higher Ed Financing
Half of the 39 percent of parents who are not saving for their children's college
education say they do not expect their children to ever attend college, a notable15
percent increase over last year, according to a national survey. The second
annual survey, conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by investment firm
Aegon Institutional markets, also found notes of pessimism among parents who
have been saving: When asked their biggest fear about saving for their children's
college education, 29 percent of parents cited never being able to save enough.
Of those who are not saving, 72 percent plan to try pay for their children's
college education as they actually attend college, and 24 percent of parents
not saving expected their children to pay their own way through college. The
survey found that a major barrier for a majority of non-saving parents, 65 percent,
is the fact they have no discretionary income.
Babson, India, Sign Entrepreneurial Research Pact
The Asia Institute at Babson College and the NS Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurial
Learning at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB), India, signed
a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on entrepreneurial research. "There
is a lot of shared and common enthusiasm between our two institutions concerning
entrepreneurial research," said Robert Eng, director of the Asia Institute.
"Our immediate goal is to deliver meaningful academic research, but there are
also opportunities to jointly offer management education programs to middle-and
upper-level managers in India." Along with IIMB, Babson has an agreement with
China's Tsinghua University School of Economics & Management, and plans to sign
an agreement with a leading business school in Japan.
Awards, Deals, Contracts, in Higher Education
-- The state of Virginia signed an agreement to use SCT Banner for higher education
administrative systems. The agreement allows Virginia's state-suppored higher
ed institutions to license SCT products and acquire SCT services at discounted
rates. The agreement was developed as a cooperative effort by the Virginia Secretary
of Technology, the Department of Technology Planning, the State Council of Higher
Education, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), SCT, and a focus group of
representatives from state colleges and universities currently using SCT products.
-- The Oxford University Clinical School has chosen SANsymphony from Ft. Lauderdale,
Fla.-bsaed DataCore Software, to handle its storage management requirements.
The Oxford University Clinical School Information Management Services Unit (IMSU)
is installing SANsymphony into its current Novell -dominated 'SAN in a box'
storage solution, enabling better management of data pools across directories,
clients and various legacy systems.
