News 01-24-2003
Sponsor: NEC's eco-friendly, business-friendly PC
http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=86
The PowerMate eco, from NEC. It's small, powerful, environmentally conscious,
and quiet. It's built with a lead-free motherboard, NEC's patented recyclable
plastic, and a boron-free flat-screen display. For more information from NEC
Solutions America, visit http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=86.
Educause, MERLOT Form Alliance on eLearning
The National Learning Infrastructure Initiative (NLII), a program of Educause,
and the Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT)
formed an alliance to share information and to develop joint programs that advance
online learning. The alliance will support national and campus-based initiatives
in faculty development, technology use in teaching and learning, shared learning
tools, and online community facilitation. Educause Vice President Carole Barone,
who leads the NLII, said, "This alliance will result in an extension of expertise
and focused action plans between two programs singularly dedicated to the transformative
role that technology plays in education."
For more information visit: www.educause.edu
Syllabus Radio: Log on and Listen!
www.syllabus.com/radio/index.asp
Sponsor: Syllabus Radio: Log on and Listen!
Jeffrey L. Popyack and Nira Herrmann of Drexel University discuss pen-based
electronic grading of student work submitted online. The challenges and several
solutions to marking electronic text are presented in this interview with Judith
Boettcher. Syllabus Radiopresents audio interviews with leaders in education
technology available 24x7 at www.syllabus.com/radio/index.asp.
NSF to Fund Nan'Engineering Education Initiatives
The National Science Foundation will contribute financial support to a new
professional education initiative from the Electrical and Computer Engineering
Department Heads Association (ECEDHA). The program, the Nan'Engineering TecForum
and Nan'Engineering Education Workshop, will take place this week in Santa Clara,
Calif. The program will consist of the Nan'Engineering TecForum tutorial to
give members and faculty a grounding in discipline. It will take on the task
of introducing nanoscience and engineering into undergraduate engineering programs,
and the development of a framework of interdisciplinary nan'engineering graduate
degree programs accessible to students from both the engineering and scientific
disciplines.
For more information visit: www.designcon.com/2003/nanotechnology.html
Worcester Poly Adds Human Transporters to Fleet
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is incorporating Human Transporters (HTs)—personal
motorized self-balancing vehicles—into its campus police department to
make patrols around the school easier.
The Segway HT uses gyroscopes and tilt
sensors to emulate human balance. When a person leans slightly forward, the
HT moves forward. When leaning back, the Segway HT moves back. Riders can comfortably
cruise at six to eight miles per hour on sidewalks and paths, or about two to
three times walking speed. The Segway HT can travel a distance that ranges from
11 to 15 miles on a single charge. The Admissions Department at WPI also plans
on using its Segway HT for activities like hosting campus tours, open houses,
college nights and special events.
Help Desk Institute to Offer Training Via Webinar
The Help Desk Institute (HDI), an industry association for help desk and support
professionals, said its Internet component—the HDI eUniversity—will
offer HDI certification training via Webinars beginning this month. HDI eUniversity
will use the WebEx Training Center to reach service and support professionals
with HDI's training programs. HDI eUniversity, which began last fall, currently
provides HDI's online certification training program, which includes downloadable
courseware to prepare for HDI's Customer Support Specialist (CSS), Help Desk
Analyst (HDA), Help Desk Senior Analyst (HDSA), and Help Desk Manager certifications.
Deals, Awards, Contracts in Higher Education
COURSE MANAGEMENT—Michigan State University has adopted ANGEL,
an open enterprise course management system, as its online course management
solution. AGEL is a Web-based, enterprise course management system that can
manage course material for distance learners. The platform was developed by
CyberLearning Labs Inc., which grew out of Indiana University's Advanced Research
and Technology Institute after ANGEL was developed by faculty at Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis.
EQUAL ACCESS—Kurzweil Educational Systems Inc., a maker of reading
technology for people with learning and visual disabilities, began shipping
Version 7 of Kurzweil 3000, a reading, writing and learning application for
struggling students. Kurzweil 3000 Version 7 is designed to give flexibility
to the testing experience, allowing students to leverage, when appropriate,
the visual and auditory features of the software.
