OPINION

Bravo for the Duke iPod Experiment

By Terry Calhoun

It was a daring experiment, and one that caught immediate criticism because some saw the university as “giving away toys” to the incoming freshman class. Well, iPods are "toys" in a sense, and of course they were mostly used for entertainment. But some pretty interesting lessons were learned.

And it was just the start. Next fall, incoming freshman at one university are each getting their own personal gigabyte key fob drive and there are probably many initiatives I haven’t learned of yet. There’s no doubt that we’ll all be carrying everything we have access to with us, all of the time, in the not-to-distant future. So, let’s take a look at what Duke learned before we go off doing bigger and better things. Read more

IT NEWS

Federal ID Theft Fugitive Had Access to U Hawaii Records

A woman who has been indicted for ID theft elsewhere, turns out to have been employed by the University of Hawaii for six months in 2003 - in a job where she had access to more than 150,000 social security numbers and other information. It's a major headache for university administrators. (KHON2 News) Read more

IUPUI, Fort Wayne Company Develop RFID Study Guide

Briljent, a technical writing, training and documentation company has teamed up with the IUPUI Solution Center to develop materials for a study guide for a new RFID certification exam. (Inside Edge) Read more

Purdue Traces Security Breach to Belgium

As part of an ongoing criminal investigation, the Purdue University (IN) has determined that a recent security break that left more than 11,000 Social Security numbers exposed originated in Belgium. (Purdue Expononet) Read more

Oops! 119 University of Kansas Students Get Group e-Mail After Failing Course

Someone at the financial aid office at UK sent an e-mail to 199 students who had failed classes last semester and whose financial aid was in jeopardy. Unfortunately, each of the 119 students could also read in the email who the other 118 students were. (USA Today)
Read more

RESOURCES

Technology and the Management of Instruction

This is an "Education Review" report on Management of Instruction: Monograph 4 by Robert Heinich. (Education Review) Read more

DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

USC Using SunGard Technology for Homeland Security Compliance

To deal with the Homeland Security issues facing Internation students and the campuses that host them, The University of Southern California is using SunGard software to manage compliance with the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) reporting requirements mandated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The USC program was recognized in the Open Doors Report. Read more