__     __ __     __ __     __  web's eye view (April 20, 1999)
| | /| / /| | /| / /| | /| / /  alan levine                        
| |/ |/ / | |/ |/ / | |/ |/ /   Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction
|__/ |__/ |__/|__/  |__/|__/     http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/
===========================================================================

A fresh, steaming, hot bag of URLs is ready for pickup at
   http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/curr.html


How Old is Thy browser, How Old Will It Be?
==========================================
| The Alertbox for April 18 is now online at:
| 
| Historical curves for the speed with which users upgrade to new
| browser versions suggest that sites must continue to support old
| browsers until the Year 2003 and that Netscape 5 may be a "lost
| generation" that will never get more users than version 4.

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990418.html


How Big Can the Net Be?
========================

| PREDICTION OF CONTINUED INTERNET GROWTH A report from the Yankee
| Group research firm says that about one out of every three U.S.
| households is expected to be online by the end of 1999 and nearly
| two-thirds by December 2003.  PCs priced below $600 now represent
| nearly a fifth of all U.S. PC retail sales, and with sub-$300
| machines now a reality, more households can afford the devices
| they need to get online. The report predicts that U.S. consumers
| will spend $56 billion on Internet access services over the next
| five years, and the market will grow 21% a year during the same
| period. (Reuters/San Jose Mercury News 26 Mar 99) 


China Sets up Net Business Portal
=================================
Edupage April 14, 1999
(http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html)

| CHINA SETS UP ITS OWN WEB SITE TO LURE U.S. CONCERNS' BUSINESS
| The Chinese government is establishing its first electronic 
| commerce-oriented Web site, www.meetchina.com, where Chinese 
| companies will be allowed to post company, product, and service 
| information for the benefit of American corporations.  Chinese 
| companies will also be able to provide their e-mail addresses and 
| other contact information.  U.S. Business Network is operating 
| the site for China, and CEO Ken Leonard says the site will help 
| Chinese companies develop contacts with American companies.  
| Leonard says the site represents the first time Chinese companies
| have been allowed to make direct contact with international 
| companies.  Michael Borrus of the Berkeley Roundtable on the 
| International Economy says the site is part of the Chinese 
| government's efforts at privatizing its industries.
| (New York Times 04/12/99)


What does the other Half have?
==============================
Edupage April 14, 1999
(http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html)

| CHEAP PCS LEAD TO BREAKTHROUGH: COMPUTERS NOW 
I IN 50 PERCENT OF HOMES
| The number of U.S. homes with personal computers has surpassed
| the halfway mark.  Although this development is not a surprise,
| it has happened more quickly than many insiders anticipated. 
| While the increasing popularity of the Internet probably is a
| factor, figures show that the introduction of a wider range of
| PCs costing less than $1,000 has democratized computer ownership.
|  Half of the low-priced PC customers never previously owned a
| computer.  Households that earned less than $35,000 in yearly
| income accounted for 56 percent of $1,000-or-less PCs sales.  The
| number of PCs sold at retail cost of $1,000 or less has
| dramatically risen from 25 percent in the beginning of 1997 to
| today's 61 percent. (San Jose Mercury News Online 04/11/99)


Papers on Distance Learning
===========================
The Virtual University & Educational Opportunity -
Issues of Equity and Access for the
Next Generation

a paper from the College Board: 

| "The vision of students collecting certificates or degrees
| without ever setting foot in a classroom has captured the
| imagination of education entrepreneurs and Wall Street investors.
| This report reviews recent developments in information technology
| and distance learning, and how they combine with economic forces
| to fuel a global market for higher education. The report focuses
| especially on the question of access: Will the Òvirtual
| universityÓ expand opportunities for those who have traditionally
| been underrepresented in higher education? The report concludes
| that emerging technologies may, in fact, deepen the divide
| between educational haves and have-nots, and that the marketplace
| will not fix the problem. Public policy must intervene to narrow
| the digital divide between whites and minorities, the wealthy and
| the less advantaged."  

http://www.collegeboard.org/policy/html/virtual.html 


What's the Difference? A Review of Contemporary Research on the Effectiveness
of Distance Learning in Higher Education

from the Institute for Higher Education policy:

| "What's the difference between distance learning and traditional
| classroom-based instruction? This question has become
| increasingly prominent as technology has made distance learning
| much more common. This report reviews a broad array of research
| and articles published in the last decade to determine the
| overall quality of the analysis, the gaps in the research, and
| the implications of the research for the future. The report finds
| that the overall quality of the research is questionable and
| thereby renders many of the findings inconclusive. Numerous gaps
| in the research require more investigation and information. These
| gaps include the fact that the research: emphasizes student
| outcomes for individual courses rather than for a total academic
| program; does not adequately explain why the dropout rates of
| distance learners are higher; does not address the quality of
| digital RlibrariesS; and does not take into account differences
| among students in how they learn. Implications of the research
| findings on college access and the "human factor" in learning
| also are included." 

http://www.ihep.com/PUB.htm