News 02-21-2003
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This week: Doug Peterson of the University of South Dakota discusses ways to
implement and integrate PDAs in college courses. Click on www.syllabus.com/radio/index.asp
for a complete list of interviews with established leaders, creative thinkers,
and education technology experts in higher education from around the country.
www.syllabus.com/radio/index.asp
Wharton Extends Simulation-Based Learning Method
The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business signed an agreement
with educational publisher Pearson Addison Wesley to produce a series of interactive
software simulations for business, finance, and economics education. The series
is based on the principle that students need to learn through experience developed
in real-world, real-time scenarios. Wharton MBAs currently have access to 15
software simulations, including: Wharton Securities Exchange, a real-time trading
environment; Fare Game, an airline price simulation; the Online Trading and
Investment Simulator, which allows student "fund managers" to buy and sell equities
using real-time market data; and Oil Production Equilibrium (OPEQ), a simulation
that puts students in the sh'es of decision makers from oil-producing nations.
Pearson Addison Wesley will distribute the software.
NYU Deal to Offer Project Management Certification
New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU SCPS)
has signed a deal with executive training firm International Institute for Learning
(ILL) to offer joint programs in project management certification. To date,
the programs have generated a nearly 100 percent pass rate for those taking
the Project Management Professional exam from the Project Management Institute.
With NYU’s participation, students will earn a certificate from NYU SCPS, a
university transcript, and letter grades, credentials that meet many tuition
remission and reimbursement requirements. The two organizations said the joint
project would help authenticate project management education among rank-and-file
business organizations.
For more information visit: www.iil.com
In Tough Economy, Collegis Claims Record Numbers
Collegis Inc., which provides eLearning services to higher education, said
it posted record revenues in 2002: $95 million, up 35 percent from its 2001
results. The growth, in the face of a slow economy and state budget cuts, was
propelled by new business agreements with 36 clients in 2002. New higher education
clients signed by Collegis in 2002 include: Loyola Marymount University (Calif.),
Claremont Graduate University (Calif.), Seattle University (Wash.), University
of Bridgeport (Conn.), Merrimack College (Mass.), and the Community College
of Philadelphia. Also, the company entered 2003 with nearly $86 million of revenues
in contractual backlog to be realized throughout the course of the year.
UCSF Biomed Facility Designed to Encourage Collaboration
The architects of UCSF Genentech Hall, a freshly minted biomedical research
and teaching building that anchors the University of California-San Francisco's
new Mission Bay campus, said their design was intended to foster collaboration
between researchers. Designed by the San Francisco office of SmithGroup, the
building will house about 900 faculty, students, and staff. "In addition to
providing highly efficient and adaptable laboratories, the building is designed
to encourage contact among the disciplines," said William Diefenbach, the principal
architect for the project. "Researchers from interdisciplinary fields of study
will work next to each other, instead of in separate labs, and will have the
opportunity to collaborate and share ideas and information."
Deals, Contracts, Awards in Higher Education
DISTANCE LEARNING—The African Virtual University (AVU), a "university
beyond borders" extending higher education to under-served sub-Saharan Africa,
picked WebCT Campus Edition course management system for its distance learning
platform. With WebCT, the AVU will begin migrating its satellite-based distance
learning programs to the Web, making them more convenient, cost-effective, and
pervasive.
VISUALIZATION—Ghent University, a leading institution of higher education
in the Benelux region of Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, signed a deal to
use SolidWorks three-dimensional computer-added design (3-D CAD) software in
its engineering design curriculum. Using the software, a team of two students
working in cooperation with the school's department of medicine redesigned a
dentist chair in only a few weeks, a feat that would have required almost a
full semester using 2-D. About 100 Ghent University students and 15 faculty
members are currently using and learning SolidWorks.
