OPINION

The NSF May be Measuring Your Institution’s Computing Power

By Terry Calhoun

Almost exactly two years ago I wrote about a forthcoming survey by the National Science Foundation (NSF) which is a biannual event that historically measures research space on college campuses. In 2003 the NSF added an entire section to measure networking capacity and I anticipated that IT folks on campus would be surprised by the request to provide data that had not previously been asked for.

I really don’t know how “surprised” anyone was, but to my surprise, a considerable number of institutions did in fact find the time to collect and share their data with NSF. Four-hundred and sixty-five institutions responded to the survey. Of those, only a tiny handful did not also provide network data. I’ll summarize here a little bit of the early findings. Read more

IT NEWS

Remembering System Administrator Appreciation Day

In case you missed it, last Friday was "System Administrator Appreciation Day"; next year it's also Friday, July 28th, only 2006. This list of "advice to employees on the proper use of the system administrator's valuable time" is a hoot. (System Administrator Day official Website) Read more

Wireless in the Classroom: Necessity or Distraction?

Some professors have issues with talking to people who appear not to be listening to them, but wireless in classrooms increases the likelihood of "digital doodling." Who's going to change? Probably the professors. (NewsWise) Read more

Professor: Students Should Put Away Technology to Make Friends

This professor is concerned that students are living inside a technology bubble and are not making friends: Forget about the classroom, he says they need to turn some stuff off and get out and meet people. (Ascribe) Read more

University of Miami Opens its MyUM "Portal"

The recently-revamped website is students' one-stop source for university-related information, 24x7. (The Hurricane online) Read more

RESOURCES

CT Live! at Syllabus2005

Campus Technology reporters interviewed attendees at this past week's Syllabus2005 Conference. Listen to audiocast recorded live from the show floor. Also we have videos of all the keynotes. Listen and see now!

DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

O'Reilly Media and MERLOT Partner

MERLOT's got content and O'Reilly's got SafariU; both will now use MERLOT's quality evaluation system for learning objects. (i-Newswire) Read more