FCN
News 3 March 1998FCN
News 3 March 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):
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Classrom Coordination. We made an error in last month's newsletter. Rather than a subcommittee, the university space committee has appointed Jack Rice, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, as "the central point of contact for problems, needs, and suggestions regarding classrooms and the teaching and learning environment." A major portion of this role will be to seek faculty perspective on the condition, design, and rennovation of classroom spaces.
New UO rules for Mac purchases. Citing concerns over continued Apple market share problems and over Macintosh Banner compatibility, John Moseley announced last month that he would require a review by Joanne Hugi of all Academic Affairs purchases of Apple equipment. The goal of the review is to avoid cases where new purchases "will not be supported over the next five years to perform the primary purpose for which they are being purchased." The concern is mostly directed at Banner compatibility in adminstrative offices; PCs currently are expected to function more effectively than Macs as Banner stations, though solutions do exist for Macintosh Banner usage. The Computing Center is developing an implementation of this policy. Contact Joanne Hugi, <mailto:hugi@oregon> for details.
IT Curriculum. The winter IT Curriculum is winding down, and spring listings will soon be available at <http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/>. FCN members, take note of:
Online Learning Projects. The Commerce Department of
Commerce is accepting proposals for grants to help spur creation of
"adaptive learning systems." The grants are geared toward Web,
Internet, and Intranet projects, and aimed at development of
technology behind learning projects, not educational content.
Officials are particularly interested in seeing development of
authoring tools to make it simple for educators and trainers who are
not software experts to put their ideas and course-work online.
<http://www.atp.nist.gov/atp/>.
Distance learning for rural schools. $162.5 million is
available under the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities
Service (RUS) Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant and Loan
Program (DLT). Proposal deadline: June 1. <http://www.usda.gov/rus/dlt/dlml.htm>.
Allen Foundatiion Virtual Ed award. $25,000 award for "the
best and brightest in online course development". Visit <http://www.paulallen.com/foundations/virtualu/>
for eligibility and entrance requirements. Entries must be received
by April 24, 1998.
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. <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9844/nsf9844.htm>.
Controlling the Cost of Postsecondary Education. The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) will 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. <http://ocfo.ed.gov/gophroot/4fedreg/1grantann/012098c.txt>.
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/>.
What makes a good online course? Appearance! Researchers at the University of British Columbia have concluded that to be effective, the appearance of an online course is as important as the content. "We paid attention to the feeling and tone of the course, not just the content and teaching processes," says one of the researchers. "It's like going into the supermarket -- the food might look all right, but the music drives you crazy, so you leave." The study, "Best- and Worst-Dressed Web Courses: Strutting into the 21st Century in Comfort and Style," includes a "Madonna Award for Best-Dressed Course," which was granted to an American history course at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The researchers evaluated 127 courses using 43 criteria. <http://www.usq.edu.au/dec/decjourn/demain.htm> (Chronicle of Higher Education 27 Feb 98; quoted from Edupage, 24 Feb)
Student Copyright. A former University of Nebraska student has sued a professor for posting on the Internet a personal essay the student had written in class several years ago. The student, Rania K. Shlien, said in her complaint that the posting, which anyone could read, had violated her copyright and caused her humiliation.<http://chronicle.com/infotech>.
House bill would dramatically limit fair use. The House Judiciary committee voted HR 2281 out of subcommittee and to the full committee last week. This legislation contains a provision that makes it criminal to tamper with any "technological protection measure" aimed at preventing the copying of copyrighted works -- even if such copying was fair use. For instance, it would encourage the production of video programming that did not allow the consumer to tape a television show for later viewing.
Study while driving? PC makers are targeting the automobile market, with Clarion Corp. planning to be the first to offer a PC as a replacement for the factory-installed radio. The device will use Microsoft's Auto PC software, which runs on the Windows CE operating system and includes voice-recognition technology. Microsoft and Intel are working with Ford Motor Co.'s Visteon unit to develop a car PC, called ICES, which will be offered as a dealer-installed option in California and other states this summer. And General Motors' Delphi Delco Electronics unit is working on a 1999 Saab complete with on-board PC based on Microsoft software. "The amount of software in a vehicle is increasing by 20% to 30% a year," says the director of advanced engineering at Delphi Delco. Meanwhile, Sun Microsystems is working on a PC that uses Java software to link all of a car's computer system, from braking to airbags to dashboard meters. (Wall Street Journal 23 Feb 98; quoted from Edupage, 24 Feb).
Colleges fostering notebook computer usage. Ray Brown, Mayville State U, reports that he is maintaing "a matrix of institutions that are providing universal access with notebook computers." <http://www.masu.nodak.edu/adminst/vpaa/ThinkPadU98.html>, and <http://www.vcsu.nodak.edu/offices/itc/notebooks/other.htm>.
Digital Libraries. The U.S. government plans to spend $50 million over four or five years as part of its new Digital Library 2 project. The original Digital Library project started in 1994 with about half that amount of funding. The leader of the University of Illinois' digital library project notes that online technology is developing so rapidly, that proposals will have to "sound very grand and flaky" in order not to become obsolete before the five years is up. Federal agencies involved in the Digital Library 2 project include the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Library of Congress, NASA, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Library of Medicine. (Chronicle of Higher Education 27 Feb 98; quoted from Edupage, 1 Mar). <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9863/nsf9863.htm>.
Free ed tech webzine. The Technology Source (TS) is a free, Microsoft-sponsored, webzine (with 134,000 subscribers) that focuses on integrating information technology in higher education. To subscribe, visit <http://register.microsoft.com/regwiz/personalinfo.asp>. Subscribers receive a content summary of the web site the first of each month.
Here's a thought provoking outline/executive summary of the skill set proposed in one course designed to train online trainers. The intro to the course notes "Training people in a classroom and training them on-line are two similar, yet distinctly different skill sets." If they really are different skill sets, should we be encouraging faculty to teach in both modes, or would specialization be a better institutional strategy?
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:
From a long list of proposed haiku error messages, some of my favorites:
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Three things are certain: Everything is gone; First snow, then silence. |
With searching comes loss Seeing my great fault The Web site you seek |
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/>.