|
Do you have UO colleagues who would find this newsletter useful? Call their attention to the html version, or they can subscribe by sending e-mail to jqj@darkwing.uoregon.edu. |
Local events of particular interest to FCN members (see also On Campus below):
![[New!]](newyahoo.gif){kind=small}
IT CURRICULUM. The Spring IT Curriculum workshop series is listed on line at <http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/>.
EndNote/ProCite
Mon Apr 17 3:30 PM - 4:50 PM RSR Brownmiller, Lenn
Thu Apr 20 12:30 PM - 1:50 PM RSR Brownmiller, Lenn
Introduction to PowerPoint
Tue May 2 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM ITC Heerema
Web Publishing I
Fri Apr 21 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM ITC Frantz
Web Publishing II
Mon Apr 17 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM EC Galbraith, Laliberte
Fri Apr 28 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM ITC Falbo, Galbraith
Web Publishing III
Mon May 1 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM EC Johnson
Web Design Principles and Practices
Mon May 8 2:00 PM - 3:50 PM RSR Bell
Web Graphics
Wed May 10 1:00 PM - 2:50 PM ITC Kim
Web Programming I
Fri May 5 10:00 AM - 11:50 AM RSR Johnson
SOFTWARE UPGRADES. More new software:
JANUS UPGRADE. The UO library catalog will be unavailable for a major software upgrade April 12, 6-8am.
DISSERTATIONS ON LINE. You can now get access to electronic versions of all dissertations produced by the UO since 1997. Earlier dissertations are also in the process of being converted, so someday you'll have online access to all 9000 or so UO dissertations.<http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/uoregon/main/>
SSIL RETIRES MOBILE PROJECTOR. Effective April 1, SSIL retired its Mobile Projector Service. This service brought an LCD Projector and laptop to an instructional classroom on campus free of cost. You can obtain similar hardware for use in CRN courses by checkout from Media Services. <http://libweb.uoregon.edu/med_svc/booking.html>. For non-CRN uses on campus, you can obtain equipment and technical support from EMU Technical Services <http://scheduling.uoregon.edu/>
WHP OFFERS DROPIN SERVICE. The Wired Humanities Project will offer walk-in training and support in using new technologies for humanities teaching and research.beginning April 10 - Monday - Friday 3-5 pm. <http://whp.uoregon.edu/>
RESOURCES FOR TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY. A new, and excellent, web site offers a guided tour of virtual classrooms throughout cyberspace, highlighting a range of interactive components that professors can use in their own online courses. <http://www.umuc.edu/virtualteaching/>
EDUCAUSE "Guide to Evaluating Information Technology on Campus". An excellent online consumer guidebook to help prospective students and their parents evaluate information technology on college campuses. <http://www.educause.edu/consumerguide/>
SOFTWARE QUICKSTART GUIDES. Interested in a quick (and free) online guide to popular software. Check out ZDNet's "software quickstart guides." <http://www.zdnet.com/quickstart/>. Among the topics are Mac OS, Windows, Linux, Corel WordPerfect Office 2000, FileMaker, Lotus SmartSuite, Microsoft Office, StarOffice, Illustrator, InDesign, PageMaker, Paint Shop Pro, PhotoDraw, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, and lots more.
EXAMINING EDUCATION RESEARCH. More than 400 studies have looked at differences between "traditional" instruction and distance learning. One researcher who has surveyed the literature reports that almost all are flawed, from failing to define terms to simply asking the wrong questions. He asserts that much of the research is weighted heavily toward the preferred learning theory of the researcher, or has conclusions that really reflect only a transitory snapshot of the current characteristics of "distance learners." (On The Horizon, March/April 2000) <http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/commentary/2000-03a.asp>.
CORNELL ANNOUNCES FOR-PROFIT ELECTRONIC SUBSIDIARY Following the footsteps of Columbia University and the University of Maryland University College, Cornell University recently announced it plans to create a for-profit subsidiary to develop and market its distance-learning program. (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 24 March 2000).
TIPS FOR TAKING YOUR CLASSROOM ONLINE One of the concerns about online education is that many non-technical teachers are unprepared to shift to the new medium. One in-the-trenches veteran offers the following tips for working in the new mixed media: 1) Before the semester begins, add a welcome page to your Web site, and post a welcome e-mail and a welcome message to the Bulletin Board. Hide the icons that aren't needed right away immediately, to reduce complexity and confusion. Fill in dates on the calendar. 2) Be prepared to know both IBM and Mac systems. You never know what will be available. It also saves time and frustration to give students a map to the computer lab, lab hours, student passwords and user names. 3) Create a "snapshot" of the course at regular intervals to record files and student hits per page and per student. 4) Place a time limit on online quizzes (to prevent students from looking up the answers), but do allow students to repeat quizzes (but limit that to three). 5) Make in-class quizzes worth significantly more points than online tests. (There's no way you can prevent students from printing them out and sharing them with others, so roll with this one.) (T.H.E. Journal, March 2000) <http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A2689.cfm>
THE WEB IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS For the results of the largest survey of college-bound high school students on the use and influence of college Web sites, see the Lipman Hearne study <http://www.lipmanhearne.com/wses/>.
FATHOM A GLOBAL LIBRARY ON WEB Six prestigious educational institutions today will announce the formation of an Internet company called Fathom.com that will distribute information and offer online classes to users around the world. Fathom's founders include Columbia University, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, the New York Public Library, the London School of Economics, Cambridge University Press, and the British Library. (Financial Times, 3 April 2000).
IN PRINT. Check out:
It's easy to change the case of letters in Microsoft Word, particularly on a Windows system. Select the text you want to change. Then if you press SHIFT/F3, the case of the selected text cycles from lower case to title case to upper case.
CTRL/SHIFT/A is similar, toggling between its initial state and all-caps. The difference is that SHIFT/F3 replaces "a" with "A" in the file, whereas CTRL/SHIFT/A keeps the letters but sets an attribute of them (like a font selection) that says "display these characters in upper case no matter which case they really are." CTRL/SHIFT/K is like CTRL/SHIFT/A, but sets small caps instead of fullsized caps.
If you use the Format->Change Case menu item, it behaves like SHIFT/F3, but provides even more options.
This space highlights new listings of conferences of possible interest to UO faculty interested in educational technology. For more meetings see <http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~jqj/fcn/conferences.html>.
![[New!]](newyahoo1.gif){kind=small}
Note: in the last issues of FCN news we republished a story that claimed that US railway gauge is derived from Roman chariot sizes. In fact, that story is almost certainly apocryphal, and is thus yet another example of an Internet legend. Don't trust what you read on the web! For this month, we'll try a story that we have a bit more confidence in:
FRENCH MINISTRY BANS ENGLISH "E-MAIL" In an effort to limit the spread of English throughout the Internet, the French Ministry of Finance has banned from official French civil service use such common English language business words as "e-mail" and "startup." In their stead, civil servants are directed to use the phrases "courrier electronique" and "jeune pousse" (a young plant). The announcement came as two French newspapers -- Liberation and Le Monde -- reported that French President Chirac had used the phrase "les start-ups" last month as he toured Republic Alley, a building in Paris that houses many young French Internet businesses. (UPI 6 Mar 2000)
The UO Faculty Consultants Network Newsletter is published (approximately)
once 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/>.