| Thursday, February 26, 2004 |
| OPINION
IT NEWS
RESOURCES
NEW PRODUCTS
DEALS, CONTRACTS, GRANTS
SPONSORS
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OPINION
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Terry Calhoun, IT Trends Commentator
Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
University of Michigan
Modern Classroom Design Happens With You or Without You.
What’s Your Preference?
Technology-enhanced classrooms often serve, for a chair of a
department or the dean of a college within a larger university,
much the same function as do state-of-the-art media unions for
college and university presidents. A major though sometimes
unstated mission for the project, one perhaps as important as
its functionality, may be as a showcase for prospective students
and faculty, or donors. There can be a lot of ego involvement.
In such cases, the involvement of IT management (or even
academic leadership for that matter) may be an afterthought,
something tacked on after major decisions have already been
made. That’s a serious mistake, but it’s one that’s repeated
over and over on many campuses. You need to be ready, knowledgeable,
connected, and ensure that decision makers and other
stakeholders know that you expect and should be involved early
on.
Read more
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| IT NEWS |
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US Navy Lieutenant Plugged into Texas A&M While At Sea
It's becoming commonplace for technology to let students stay involved in diverse
higher education efforts while serving in the military....
Read more
Dickinson College to Install Webcams Around Campus
Students will be able to check how crowded the dining hall is
without leaving their rooms; parents and prospective students
can check out live, moving campus views....
Read more
Cyber-Literature Movement Big in China
On one Web site alone, more than 5,000 articles are self-published each day,
not just providing an outlet for the otherwise unpublished, but sometimes a
path to literary fame...
Read more
Online Robotics Text Book Features 3D Imaging
"An Introduction to Robotic Manipulators — An Online Course in Robotics" at
New Mexico Tech also has such features as interactive math formulas and is online
at no fee for anyone to use...
Read more
Targeted Woman Sues Record Industry for Racketeering
A New Jersey woman, targeted by the Recording Industry Association of America
for her 23-year-old daughter's alleged file sharing, has sued the RIAA under
federal RICO statutes...
Read more
U. Wisconsin Closely Watching Others' Napster Experiences
Even in a world where residence hall amenities grow more important, UW-Madison
is not sure universities should be in the business of providing music for students...
Read more
Internet2's Abilene Upgrade Completed
New OC-192 circuits are leading edge and each router node now has service
at 10Gbps...
Read more
P2P Network to Benefit Public Agencies in Oregon Town
The new network will set up a distributed network with individual
users machines and replace current city voice and data systems,
providing a return on investment inside the first year...
Read more
U. South Alabama Students Benefit from Research Park
Companies and organizations at the research park have contributed both dollars
and technology to the university, and also provide both research opportunities
and post-graduate employment in technology areas...
Read more
Next-Generation Classrom at Central Michigan
There's no chalk in this building, and "even whiteboards take a back seat to
enormous, super-high-definition video screens...
Read more
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| RESOURCES |
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Athabasca U. Publishes Open Source Book On eLearning
Chapters by practitioner scholars provide both theoretical
and practical chapters about large-scale online program development
and the book itself is open source, on the Web via a Creative
Commons License...
Learn more
E-Mail List for Classroom Design
SMARTC is an online community for those involved in classroom
design, including IT managers, architects, and contractors.
Just send a message to [email protected] with the
word “subscribe” in the subject line of your message. It’s
a gratis and open Lyris-based e-mail list...
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| DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS |
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U. Louisville Runs MedReach Telemedicine System
The Department of Pediatrics of the University of Louisville
School of Medicine installed MedReach, a telemedicine system
from Trestle Holdings Inc. Using the system, patients at T.J.
Samson Community Hospital located in Glasgow, Ky., and
affiliated with UOL, will now have access to pediatric specialty
care without having to drive 100 miles to Louisville. MedReach
provides real-time integrated medical data sharing among
physicians and patients while enabling the remote examination,
diagnosis, and treatment of patients.
Community College Selects Centra's Virtual Classroom App
The Collin County Community College District (CCCCD), a
suburban multi-community college campus in Texas, has deployed
Centra Software Inc.'s real-time virtual classroom application
to augment its distance education program and services. Centra
was brought in to CCCCD through a technology grant from the
state of Texas, and will help the college enhance student
services in a number of areas outside of distance education.
About 25-30 faculty and staff members will be delivering
Centra-powered online courses, seminars and programs by spring
2004, with a goal of reaching up to 2,000 students, the entire
distance education population.
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POLL
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In general, is IT support given adequate consideration in the planning and
development of new classroom spaces?
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NEW PRODUCTS
Sun Rolls Out Java Desktop System for Higher Ed
Sun Microsystems, Inc. introduced the Sun Java Desktop System
to the higher education market. The company calls the system an
affordable, comprehensive, simple-to-use, secure enterprise-class
desktop solution. It introduces a business model to education
institutions that provides a single price of $25 per desktop
per year for desktop software, maintenance, support and
training. The competitive pricing for the education market
represents a dramatic savings compared to Window-centric
clients, says Sun.
The system includes an office suite, Web browser, e-mail,
calendar, and instant messaging. Its fully integrated Java
technology makes it ready to run Java-based applications with
a consistent look and feel. The Java Desktop System follows
Sun’s earlier delivery of the Sun Java Enterprise System to
education institutions.
Macromedia Breeze Offers Distance Learning, Collaboration
Macromedia Inc. released Breeze, a simple-to-use platform to
enable Web users a method for tapping instruction, meetings,
and content without downloading special plug-ins or media
players. The company says university and college faculty,
staff, and students can collaborate, communicate, teach, and
train with a single, easy-to-use, integrated solution that
includes live meetings to on-demand presentations.
Allison Rossett, a professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University,
said, "Breeze is bridging gaps for us. I am posting short, targeted presentations
and enjoying online meetings that enable us to talk across great distances and
time zones, from San Diego to Hong Kong. Oh, it's not the classroom, but it's
a darn good experience."
Publisher Using XyEnterprise Web Services Toolkit
GEX Inc., a service provider of textbooks, journals, and
reference materials, has implemented XyEnterprise's XML
Professional Publisher (XPP) to automate its publishing
operations. GEX is using XPP and the XPP Web Services Toolkit
to support customer interaction with their XML-based publishing
workflows in new, innovative ways. The system is designed to
receive native XML, perform complex formatting tasks
automatically, and provide high-speed, high-quality output.
Through the standards-based XPP Web Services interface, GEX
customers can proof, modify, and publish their documents in a
browser from virtually any location, reducing cycle time, and
enhancing production quality.
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New! IT Security Forum
Do you believe viruses (trojans or worms) or spam constitute
a threat to your IT infrastructure? How well did you do with
MyDOOM?
Join the Forum now!
Exchange ideas about the latest security
issues on campus. Moderated by William Dougherty and Ariel
Silverstone.
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