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Online Learning News and Research
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Saturday, April 03, 2004
Education Department Awards Contract for New ERIC - InfoToday
The U.S. Dept. of Education has awarded a five-year, $34.6 million contract to Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) of Rockville, Md., along with its subcontractors, to develop and operate a new database system for ERIC. The ERIC database will use the latest search and retrieval methods to cull education literature and give high-quality access to educators, researchers, and the general public. The ERIC database is the world's largest education database. Begun in 1966, it comprises more than one million bibliographic records. The goal of the new ERIC is to provide more education materials quicker, and more directly, to audiences through the Internet. With the new ERIC, individuals will be able to go to one Web site to search a comprehensive database of journal articles and document abstracts and descriptions and, for the first time, directly access full text. The database will include as much free full text as possible, and links will be provided to commercial sources so that individuals can purchase journal articles and other full text immediately. (0) comments
AgLearn includes Web training - Florence Olsen, FCW
The Agriculture Department plans to make online education a priority with AgLearn, a new departmentwide program that USDA officials announced this week. With AgLearn, USDA officials expect employees to take courses via the Internet to receive additional training and education, said Cynthia Bezz, USDA's eLearning project manager. AgLearn makes it possible for agency employees and citizens to search course catalogs, sign up for online or classroom training and take courses online. (0) comments
The university 'market' is here - Mike Baker, BBC
....At a conference this week, Colin Gilligan, professor of marketing at Sheffield Hallam University, had some tough words for university recruiters. The new breed of international student is, he said, "inherently brand promiscuous". In other words, they are not overly impressed by famous names and reputations but are willing to "experiment with new products and delivery systems". This means overseas students will increasingly decide which university to come to on the basis of the course itself and their perception of its impact on future employability. They may also decide not to travel abroad at all but to take their degree via the internet from providers in any one of several countries. E-learning is developing fast. American and Australian universities are taking a big share of the market. (0) comments Friday, April 02, 2004
Sheffield University joins e-learning converts - James Mortleman, VnuNet
Huge surge in demand sees more than 12,000 students accessing courses online. Sheffield has joined the growing list of universities deciding to invest in a major expansion of e-learning. The university is upgrading its WebCT virtual learning environment to the latest version, WebCT Vista, which will allow it to meet growing demand from students for courses to be made available online. The decision follows similar moves by other universities such as Coventry and City (London). Sheffield has been using e-learning for around six years, but its popularity has grown hugely in the past two or three years. (0) comments
Internet-based tools could bridge gap in chemistry education, reports Carnegie Mellon Univ.
High school textbooks fail to reflect real-world activities of chemists as reported in the popular press and as honored by Nobel Prizes, found a Carnegie Mellon University team. This educational pitfall could be remedied by Internet-based tools that challenge students to approach chemistry more like practicing scientists, according to David Yaron, associate professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon, who will present this report Thursday, April 1, at the 227th national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif. (CHED 1174, Orangewood 3). Chemistry instructors may now have a way to bridge this learning gap thanks to a new Web site being launched on Monday, March 29, at the ACS meeting. Developed by Yaron and his group, the new Web site (www.chemcollective.org), will be a resource for introductory chemistry educators who are looking for techniques to help their students approach chemistry more like practicing scientists and see interesting real-world applications of key concepts. (0) comments
Sylvan makes move into online higher education- Rachel Sams, Baltimore Business Journal
Sylvan Learning Systems continues its transformation into a higher-education company, announcing Thursday that it has entered the international online higher education market by acquiring Amsterdam-based K.I.T. e-Learning B.V. K.I.T. is the exclusive worldwide distance-learning partner of the University of Liverpool in England. The company delivers online graduate programs to working-adult students in more than 80 countries. K.I.T.'s Amsterdam office will become the headquarters for Sylvan's online activities outside the U.S. (0) comments Thursday, April 01, 2004
Providing Access to Students with Disabilities in Online Distance Education: Legal, Technical, and Practical Considerations - Curtis D. Edmonds, DEC
Online distance education is becoming increasingly prevalent, but many students with disabilities experience barriers to online education. Many stakeholders are unaware of potential electronic barriers to access, do not know the legal responsibility to provide access for students with disabilities, and are not familiar with the methods and resources needed to improve access to distance learning programs. This limits the courses available to students with disabilities, and impacts the quality of overall learning. (0) comments
Delphi Process as a Collaborative Learning Method - Murray Turoff, Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Zheng Li, Yuanqiong Wang, Hee-Kyung Cho; Sloan-C View
The Delphi Method is a process that allows all the members of a class to participate in a class-wide, collaborative, structured learning exercise that can: Improve idea generation. Self organize the contributed content. Facilitate equal participation of all students. Reduce information overload problems for large classes. Facilitate collaborative problem solving. Expose disagreements for focusing the discussion. Facilitate comprehensive idea evaluation. (0) comments
£40m spent on UKeU for just 900 students - Mark Samuels, UK Computing
Almost £40m has been spent on UKeU, the government's flagship online learning scheme, to attract just 900 students - £12m more than we revealed a year ago. Computing today calls for a review of the money spent on the organisation, which was set up to give overseas students the chance to earn degrees online. The government allocated £62m to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) for the project in February 2000. Hefce has so far provided £32.6m for UKeU, mainly to support the creation of an elearning infrastructure. A further £7m of the funding was used to set up the project and various elearning programmes in higher education institutions, according to Alan Johnson, Minister for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education. That adds up to an investment of £39.6m - subsidising distance learning to the tune of £44,000 per student. (0) comments Wednesday, March 31, 2004
UMassOnline Revenue Grows 39% and Enrollments Grow 32% in FY 2004 - TMCnet
UMassOnline, the University of Massachusetts' web-based learning division, today announced that online education program revenues and enrollments grew 39 percent and 32 percent, respectively, in FY 2004 (July 1, 2003 - June 31, 2004). Revenues from the University of Massachusetts system's online programs were $12.7 million, up from $9.1 million in FY 2003, while enrollments reached 14,787, up from 11,239 in the same period. More than 90 percent of the revenues are retained by the UMass campuses to support education and research programs. (0) comments
Education's New Recruits: Soldiers - Larry Greenemeier, InformationWeek
As many as 34,000 teachers, about 45% of the total number in South Carolina, are expected to retire within the next five years. Educators at the state's leading universities believe they've found a potentially rich source of new recruits: military personnel finishing their active duty and looking for civilian work. The problem has been that few of them want to spend the time and money to train, because they aren't eager to give up a paycheck and go back to school full time. That's why the state's Transition-to-Teaching, or T3, Coalition turned to an IBM Lotus-based virtual classroom and content-management system so military personnel around the world can prepare for certification in their free time before leaving active service. (0) comments
Kettering lecturer drops online Ph.D. from his Web site - Shena Abercrombie, Flint Journal
A Kettering University lecturer's virtual degree is now a real lesson in bogus diplomas. Until recently, mechanical engineering lecturer Judson J. Singer's Web site listed a doctorate degree from Kingsfield University among his education credentials. The problem is Kingsfield University doesn't exist. The fraudulent online degree Web site was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission in 2003 for violating federal law and operating as a diploma mill. (0) comments Tuesday, March 30, 2004
It's Here, It's There and Soon Everywhere - Edward C. Baig, News Factor
Wade Little credits Wi-Fi for keeping his work projects on track -- literally. In August, the Sun Microsystems engineer turned his one-hour-plus commute into a productive experience. That's when the Altamont Commuter Express train he rides to work in Northern California began providing wireless Internet access on a trial basis. ''My employer allows us to use some of that time as office time,'' he says. Michael Brodersen rides ACE four hours a day. The Lockheed Martin security representative is taking online classes to earn his master's degree in computer information systems from the University of Phoenix. ''Doing schoolwork on the train allows me to spend more time at home with my family,'' he says. (0) comments
'Pop off to the Pub to Take An Exam' - Dominic Hayes, Education Correspondent, Scotsman.com
People could soon pop along to their local pub to take an exam with their pint as technological advances will make computerised assessment increasingly common, the head of England’s testing watchdog said today. People who hated traditional pen and paper exams might even grow to like them if “doing a test feels more like playing a video game”, said Qualifications and Curriculum Authority chief executive Ken Boston. Dr Boston is a convinced fan of so-called “e-assessment” and promised that the regulator would try not to strangle on-line testing with red tape. (0) comments
Wisconsin Colleges Take Steps to Help Older, Nontraditional Students - Arlen Boardman, The Post-Crescent, Appleton, Wis.
The universities of Wisconsin of the Fox Valley and Oshkosh are betting the nontraditional student segment of their undergraduate populations is going to be around for a long time -- even though student numbers have slipped some in past decade. The four-year UWO school and the two-year UWFV school in Menasha have adapted curriculums and class scheduling and provided major support systems for the adult starting college at an older than traditional age. That trend is expected to continue.... Its Center for New Learning has a unit, dating back to 1979, that caters to adult students. With dramatic changes from its early days the center now offers courses on weekends, evenings, a blended format, distance education, online learning and interactive TV. (0) comments Monday, March 29, 2004
Brooklyn College Library to Create Digital Collections
The recently renovated and expanded Brooklyn College Library sets the standard for 21st Century academic libraries with advanced e-Learning capabilities, an electronic catalogue system and extensive new media resources that allow the institution to exceed its traditional mandate to better serve students, faculty and the community. As part of its efforts to provide enhanced access to its holdings, Artesia Technologies announced today that Brooklyn College has successfully implemented the Artesia TEAMS digital asset management solution, which is designed to provide the college with a centralized digital archive supporting all media types, including audio and video recordings, graphics and images and electronic documents. Through integration with the campus' recently enhanced IT backbone, users can easily access these materials on a 24 by 7 basis from classrooms, dorm rooms, off-campus and within the library itself. (0) comments
AI Science Tutors Never Get Tired - George A. Clowes, School Reform News
No matter how many times a student asks a Quantum Tutor to go over a chemistry or physical science problem, the tireless tutor won’t get frustrated or irritated about having to explain the material all over again. That’s because the nine Quantum Tutors available from Holt, Rinehart and Winston are Artificial Intelligence Tutors, the latest three being released in January. “These new Quantum Tutors will give teachers another level of learning support to help students with difficult concepts in chemistry and physical science,” said Judy Fowler, Holt president. For students who need personal coaching to develop a better grasp of complex science concepts and for teachers, the Tutors provide an on-demand, Web-based educational resource that may be used in class, in the computer lab, or at home at any time. (0) comments
Kerala Indian Institute of Managment will continue to explore e-learning: Muthiah
Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, would continue to maintain its pioneering status in e-learning in terms of conducting research and letting others benefit from that, chairman A C Muthiah said on Saturday. E-learning, he said, had come to be the way to future. "The institute will not only maintain its pioneering status in e-learning but also continue to contribute in the field of research by venturing into major projects," he said at the sixth annual convocation of IIM(K). Calling upon the graduating management students to be always optimistic, Muthiah, who took over as the institute's chairman recently, said the outgoing students had a mission to fulfil even though they might come across unpleasant situations. (0) comments Sunday, March 28, 2004
A little online education a dangerous thing - North Carolina Daily Dispatch
We already know that the Internet can be a tool for good, or for evil. In that vein, it can be a tool to aid education, or to feign education. A college president who serves on a national accreditation board is on a list of Georgia educators who obtained online degrees from a school that state officials now say could be a "diploma mill." Michael Davis, president of Gwinnett College of Business in Lilburn, Ga., received a doctorate from Saint Regis University. And the online school appears to be merely selling degrees to its "students" while requiring little or no course work. Ironically, Davis is a commissioner for the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, a Washington-based agency that accredits some 600 schools both nationwide and abroad. (0) comments
Russian Distance Education Project
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. announced today an agreement to supply Russia's Modern Institute for the Humanities with a SkyStar 360E hub and 155 Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) remote sites. The satellite-based network will provide Internet access, distance learning and video conferencing to the University's branches located throughout the Russian Federation from Kalingrad in the west all the way to Sakhalin in the east. Delivery and installation is expected to be completed during Q2 with the network fully functional in time for the beginning of the new school year in September 2004. The Moscow-based Institute for the Humanities, Russia's largest open university is one of the largest universities in the world, with over 145,000 students. With the network's hub based in Moscow, the Skystar 360E network will eventually provide services to the University's 500-plus branches. This is the first distance education network of its kind in Russia. (0) comments
Online Pharmaceutical Technician Certification Prep Course Launched by APhA
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and LearnSomething.com, Inc. today announced the launch of the "Complete Review for Pharmacy Technicians Online," an online course based on APhA's popular national pharmacy technician certification exam preparation textbook. The online course, the first of three to be built by APhA and LearnSomething, the leading provider of e-learning for the food and drug industries, offers technicians a comprehensive tool to prepare for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) national exam. The course reviews the key content areas of the PTCB exam, and it is presented in an engaging format that includes audio, graphics, interactive activities, and practice tests that appeal to all learning styles. The online format provides the convenience of on-demand training, allowing technicians to study anytime, anywhere. (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
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