FCN
News 17 Feb 1998FCN
News 17 Feb 1998Don't read this by e-mail! Instead, read the hypertext version of this newsletter: <http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/fcn/news/current.html>. Contents:
Local and online events of particular interest to FCN members (see
also upcoming conferences and IT
Curiculum below):![[new!]](newyahoo1.gif){kind=small}
![[new!]](newyahoo.gif){kind=small}
![[updated]](updated.gif){kind=small}
Library UOnet access expands. You can now bring your laptop to Knight Library and connect it to UOnet at any of 110 publicly accessible locations. All faculty studies, group study rooms, and around the "skirts" on the 4th floor now have live Ethernet jacks. To use them, you'll need a laptop with 10baseT Ethernet card, a 10baseT cable, and appropriate network software. For further information, ask at the Reference Desk or contact Microcomputer Services for assistance.
Cybersisters connects middle school girls with UO grad student mentors. A WISTEC project with support from the Women's Faculty Resource Network, Cybersisters is a telementoring program designed to increase girls' technical skills and science literacy. See <http://www.efn.org/~wistec/cybersis>. Cybersisters needs additional sponsorship to allow it to continue; contact Jill Bishop <mailto:jbishop@efn.org> for more information.
IT Curriculum. The winter IT Curriculum is available at <http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/>. For FCN members, some of the more interesting workshops in the next few weeks include:
If you use UOnet or the web from home, you're probably connected at 33.6K bits/sec or slower, and would love higher speed access. The good news is that new opportunities are coming. The bad news is that they may be priced beyond what you want to spend.
Many people have seen the US West announcement that it plans to offer an ADSL ("asymmetric digital subscriber line") service in Eugene, perhaps as early as July of 1998. The service will be called "MegaBit Services" and will be available in a variety of flavors and packages. The service will be available in a limited geographical area, probably about 3 mi. from the USWest central office (in which case, it will be available in most of Eugene and adjoining areas), and will typically advertise data rates of at least 256K bps network connectivity (8 times the speed of a 33.6Kbps modem).
It's a bit early to know what rate will be approved by the Oregon PUC or what service will be appropriate for UO users, but a good guess is that you'll be able to buy the ADSL service (at 256K bps) itself for $40/month plus a fairly hefty installation charge. A major issue of such services is what you'll talk to at the other end. One possibility is to pay an additional $19.95/month and connect to USWest as your Internet Service Provider. This will probably not be desirable for UO users since many UO-licensed resources require you to have an IP address on UOnet. Another possibility is that Network Services may decide to offer direct connections from the USWest service to UOnet, saving you the $19.95 and avoiding the IP address problems, but shifting a substantial support cost to the UO.
The bottom line: if you care about high speed Internet access enough to be willing to spend $40/month to $60/month for it, sit tight and watch the development of ADSL closely; by next fall you may have a very attractive option.
For more information on the USWest DLS service, see <http://www.interprise.com/dsl/>. For the press release describing the plan, see <http://www.uswest.com/com/insideusw/news/012998.html>
Microsoft 1999 Instructional Grant Program. This grant
program offers software licenses for Microsoft Visual Development
tools and operating systems in exchange for posting and sharing
curricula demonstrating innovative use of technology via the
Microsoft Academic Cooperative Web site. Deadline June 30.
<http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker/grant.htm>
or <http://academiccoop.isu.edu/>.
Faculty Incentive Awards for Web Use. The goal of the NWACC Faculty Incentive Award is to stimulate innovative use of World Wide Web in the development and sharing of instructional material within and among institutions. Projects should focus on innovative ways of using the web for instruction. The support funds might be used, for example, for faculty stipends or to pay for the cost of conversion of slide collections used in instruction, or to acquire software needed for effective instructional use of the web, etc. Materials developed with grant support should be made available, via the web, to other NWACC institutions. Grants of $3000 for faculty stipends, or $10000 for stipend plus additional expenses are available.Submission deadline May 15. For further information, contact Joanne Hugi, <hugi@oregon>, or see <http://www.nwacc.org>.
Collaborative Program Development. NWACC is soliciting proposals for projects for improving the access and application of advanced information technology resources in support of instruction, research, and economic development. The program is aimed at providing modest support for the development of collaborative proposals by NWACC institutions to help remove barriers to collaboration. The support is expected to be used to enable collaboration in the development of proposals by funding travel and support for workshops or other activities that would help get the proposals written. Grants in the range of $2000 to $10000 will be made during the first half of 1998. Submission deadline May 15. For further information, contact Joanne Hugi, <hugi@oregon>, or see <http://www.nwacc.org>.
NSF Educational Innovation Program Supports Instructional
Technologies
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer and Information
Science and Engineering (CISE) Educational Innovation (EI) program
supports the design, development, testing and dissemination of
innovative approaches for increasing the effectiveness of the
undergraduate learning experience by integrating research results
into undergraduate courses and curricula. EI awards will be for three
years and are expected to range from $300,000 to $600,000 over the
three year period. Four to six proposals are expected to be selected
for support. Deadline: March 16. The Program Announcement is
available on the NSF Website at <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9844/nsf9844.htm>.
Controlling the Cost of Postsecondary Education. The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) has announced a Special Focus Competition: Controlling the Cost of Postsecondary Education. The purpose of program: is to provide grants to improve postsecondary education opportunities by focusing on problem areas or improvement approaches in postsecondary education. Eligible applicants include: institutions of higher education, other public & private nonprofit educational institutions & agencies, or combinations of those institutions or agencies. The deadline for transmittal of applications is March 20. Available funds total $1,300,000, with the estimated range of awards $70,000-$200,000. Additional information is available online at:<http://ocfo.ed.gov/gophroot/4fedreg/1grantann/012098c.txt>.
Fast Web Searching. Here's an excellent (UO!) resource sponsored by the Oregon US West/NEA Teacher Network. The web site has a wonderful collection of information on fast and effective Web-searching. In addition to explaining the basics (Boolean operators, etc.), it also contains advice on choosing the best search engine for particular kinds of searches. For example, searches for SONG LYRICS or IMAGES would send you to two different, specialized search engines. <http://otn.uoregon.edu/navigation/navigation.html>.
Flashlight. The AAHE Flashlight Project helps educators study and evaluate educational uses of technologies. Flashlight provides a suite of evaluative tools, training, consulting, and other services. The best starting place on the Web to learn about Flashlight is <http://www.aahe.org/technology/elephant.htm>.. Sample Flashlight questions and a more detailed description of the Current Student Inventory are posted at <http://www.wiche.edu/flshlght/flashinv.htm>
Internet Adiction on the rise? An article appearing in the journal CyberPsychology and Behavior says that students between the ages of 18 and 22 are especially at risk for developing "Internet addiction," defined as "a psychological dependence on the Internet, regardless of type of activity once 'logged on.'" Administrators at Alfred University have noted a correlation between high Internet use and a high dropout rate among students, and a number of schools have set up support groups for Internet addiction. Meanwhile, the University of Washington attempts to curb Internet overuse by limiting online time available to each student. (Chronicle of Higher Education 6 Feb 98; quoted from Edupage, 3 Feb 98).
Online journals tap authors for page charges. At least two scholarly journals are forging a new business model for academic publishing: they're charging the authors, not the readers. Optics Express, a publication of the Optical Society of America, and the Internet Journal of Nitride Semiconductor Research, both have adopted the "pay to publish" strategy and distribute the journals free to subscribers. Optics Express charges $300 for an accepted article, and the Internet Journal charges $275 per submission, with a refund of $165 if an article is not accepted. Publishers acknowledge that the success of this approach will hinge on whether they can produce enough influential readers to make it worth the authors' while. The director of science libraries at Yale calls it a "fascinating new approach to journal distribution." (Chronicle of Higher Education 6 Feb 98). See <http://www.chronicle.com/infotech/>.
Filtering in Schools and Public Libraries. A major issue for public institutions these days is whether to use web filtering software to block patron access to "objectionable" sites. Legislation introduced in the Senate last week by John McCain (R, AZ) would withdraw funding for schools that do not use filtering software to block access to material "deemed to be inappropriate for minors". (AP 10 Feb 98); legislation introduced by Dan Coats (R, IN) would require commercial vendors to restrict access by minors to such material on their web sites. (Washington Update, 2-16-98) The American Civil Liberties Union and a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner are among eight plaintiffs challenging the constitutionality of a decision by a library in Loudon County, Virginia, to use filtering software to block certain Internet sites from its publicly available computers. The software is blocking sites that include some mainstream newspapers, a Methodist church, a university women's association, and a safe-sex page for teenagers. An ACLU attorney says: "We should hold libraries to the higher standards of the First Amendment. You simply can't block books that are constitutionally protected." The chair of the library's board says: "The library has the right to choose the material in its library. We could become the financers of pornography." (AP 8 Feb 98; quoted in Edupage 8 Feb 98)
Current World News Index. Updated hourly, the free News Index catalogs news stories from over 150 publications around the world, including many of the major news sources and includes several smaller independent publications. With no direct association with any of the news organizations, the site attempts to present all sides of a story.<http://www.newsindex.com>.
Academic Guide to the Net and University Info. Yahoo is a usable directory of the net, but more specialized guides are often a better choice. For academia, two of the best guides to the Internet are the InterNIC directories. The Academic Guide to the Internet includes librarian- and peer-evaluated reviews of sites ranked by academic value. The Guide to US Universities provides a fairly complete listing of US university home pages.<http://www.aldea.com/>. or <http://ds.internic.net/ds/>.
Online Academic Bookstore. Visit the Stanford Bookstore website to see what's feasible in a well-implemented academic bookstore. Among other features is a a searchable database of textbooks currently assigned for University courses and a secure order system so that faculty can order books for their classes online and students can check current availability. <http://bookstore.stanford.org>.
Mentornet connects female scientists. The Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network will use the Internet and e-mail to connect female engineering, science and math students across the country with volunteer mentors employed in scientific and technical fields in private industry. <http://www-engr.sjsu.edu/~mentornt>
An idiosyncratic list of upcoming conferences relevant to educational tech., both "virtual" (online) and traditional. For conferences that require physical travel, my emphasis is on conferences in the Northwest and on those I find personally interesting. The Educom and CAUSE calendars, <http://educom.edu/web/calendar/calendarHome.html> and <http://cause-www.colorado.edu/information-resources/events.html>, contain a more extensive list of mainstream conferences. Virtual conferences and tutorials:
Traditional conferences and workshops:
I know the Virginia players are smart because you need a 1500 SAT to get in. I have to drop bread crumbs to get our players to and from class.George Raveling, Washington State basketball coach
The UO Faculty Consultants Network Newsletter is published (approximately) twice a month. If you have materials for inclusion in the newsletter you can send them to <mailto:jqj@darkwing>. This newsletter (as well as other FCN-related material) is available on line in <http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/fcn/news/>.