__ __ __ __ __ __ web's eye view (August 2, 1999) | | /| / /| | /| / /| | /| / / alan levine | |/ |/ / | |/ |/ / | |/ |/ / Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction |__/ |__/ |__/|__/ |__/|__/ http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/ =========================================================================== The summer heat is on us, so cool off with a fresh bag of URLs, ready for pickup at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/curr.html and do not forget to replenish our supply by dropping your favorite "cool" sites: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/drop.html Do more than Click n' Surf, Be a Mentor ======================================= | MentorNet is seeking professionals to mentor women | engineering and science student on-line! We need at least | 1,000 mentors this fall for the second year of a national | program, who will be paired with students from 35 | universities across the country. | | Would you like to mentor and to share your experiences with | a student? Help her understand what it is like to work in | industry? Provide support as a women student pursues an | engineering or science degree? | | In todayÕs U.S. workforce, women are just over 9% of the | engineers and approximately 30% of the scientists. Women | students earned 17% of the engineering, 32% of the physical | science, and 41% of all the science and math degrees. | Mentoring is a proven strategy for increasing the retention | rates of women in the engineering, mathematics, and science | fields. | | MentorNet is a national program that pairs women students | with mentors in industry, and provides a framework and | training for them to pursue a year-long mentoring | relationship through email. | | Basic requirements for volunteering as a MentorNet mentor: | * male or female professional with scientific or technical | background | * working in private industry or at a national laboratory | * willingness to mentor an undergraduate or a graduate | student via email | * available to participate for one academic year (October | through May) | | To sign up as a mentor, please visit the MentorNet homepage | and click on "Mentor," then click on "Apply Here." Later | this summer, we will send you an email to let you know the | application has been posted on the web site. You can | sign-up for the 1999-2000 program through October 8, 1999. | | For more information about mentoring, please visit the | MentorNet web site at: | http://www.mentornet.net/ Online Grad Courses in IT ========================= | The University of British Columbia (UBC) located in | Vancouver, BC, Canada, is offering a "Post-Graduate | Certificate in Technology-Based Distributed Learning." This | program results from a course development partnership | between UBC and ITESM, the Monterrey Institute of Technology | in Mexico. The program consists of five courses that are | delivered online and participants from around the world may | enroll in just those courses that interest them or complete | the full series. For those interested in being tutored in | Spanish, they may apply through ITESM as it teaches these | courses within their Master of Education Technologies | program. UBC tutors the courses in English within both | graduate and certificate programs. | | REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN ONLINE at: | | http://itesm.cstudies.ubc.ca/info/ | | The following two courses start August 30, 1999, and the | delivery of course packages to registrants will begin the | first week of August. If you are interested in registering, | please do so as soon as possible as enrolment is limited. | | EDST 565f (DEV&DESIGN) | Developing, Designing and Delivering Technology-Based Distributed | Learning | | EDST 508f (RES&EVAL) | Research and Evaluation Issues in Technology-Based Distributed Learning | | Since its first course offering in September 1997, this | program has attracted registrants from 25 different | countries. In January 1999, UBC entered into an | articulation agreement with Athabasca University in Alberta | allowing certificate students who successfully pass these | courses to apply up to 15 graduate credits toward a Master | of Distance Education offered through Athabasca. | | For more information regarding this program, please visit | the above listed web site or call (604) 822-8889. | | -- | Diane P. Janes, M.Ed. | Distance Education & Technology | University of British Columbia | 1170-2329 West Mall | Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4 | Voice: 604-822-0962; Fax: 604-822-8636 | Email: diane.janes@ubc.ca Go to Stanford Online ===================== | Stanford to Offer Online Advanced Project Management Courses | | Stanford's School of Engineering and the Center for | Professional Development (SCPD) have formed an alliance with | Integrated Project Systems Inc. to develop and deliver | advanced project management courses on campus and over the | Web. | | The course offerings are part of the Professional Education | Program to provide industry engineers and managers with an | additional form of continuing learning. | | The first course in the new series, "Converting Strategy | into Action: Organizational Mastery of Project Management," | will take place at Stanford Sept. 8-10. Additional courses | will be offered over the next year. Said Bill Kern, | president and CEO of Integrated Project Systems. "The | program addresses the challenges that companies have in | converting strategy to the actions that yield required | operating results. By working with Stanford, we can create | an experience that goes far beyond the traditional courses | offered by other academic and training providers." In the | past Stanford has taught project management in the | departments of civil engineering and industrial engineering | and engineering management, which are now collaborating on | the new series. For more information, visit | http://scpd.stanford.edu/pd/pd.html. New in the AlertBox =================== | The Alertbox for July 11 is now online at: | http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990711.html | | Much is known about Web user behavior, yet research | findings are often ignored in actual projects. Examples: | | (*) up-front customer registration doesn't work | (*) frequency of use and effectiveness of Web marketing | methods are negatively correlated. News from EDUPAGE ================= see: http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html | WORLDWIDE INTERNET USE TO REACH 130.6 MILLION, STUDY SAYS | Worldwide Internet use will grow by 35.2 million people this | year, to 130.6 million, according to a report from | eMarketer. By 2003, Internet users will reach 350 million, | a 267 percent increase from the end of 1998. The report, | which incorporates data from hundreds of different sources, | also found that worldwide electronic commerce revenues will | increase from $98.4 billion in 1999 to $1.2 trillion by | 2003, while the U.S. will earn a majority share of every | e-commerce dollar. Germany collects the second-highest | level of worldwide e-commerce revenues, with $1.5 billion in | 1998 and $4.4 billion predicted for 1999, while the United | Kingdom follows, with $3.7 billion in 1999, up from $1.49 | billion in 1998. (Reuters 07/08/99) | | MOST OF WEB IS BEYOND SCOPE OF SEARCH SITES A new study from | the scientific journal Nature reports that the Internet's | rapid growth is outpacing the capabilities of most search | engines. The most sophisticated search engines list no more | than 16 percent of all Web sites on the Internet, according | to the report, and the majority of engines cover less than | 10 percent each. Northern Light got top ranks in the report | with 16 percent coverage, while Lycos, a much more popular | and well-known engine, covers just 2.5 percent. Combined, | all of the major engines cover just 42 percent of the Web. | The remainder of sites are lost to users unless they know | the exact address of a Web site. The search engine | companies do not dispute the report's findings, and analysts | say the situation may give rise to a backwards leap in the | distribution of information as more data is lost to easy | public view than is made available. (Los Angeles Times | 07/08/99) | | | HP RESEARCHERS SHRINK CHIPS TO MOLECULE SIZE Researchers at | Hewlett-Packard and UCLA have created a technology that may | allow for molecule-sized computer chips. The researchers | developed tiny, molecular "logic gates" that are the | building blocks of a semiconductor chip. The researchers | used chemicals to move molecules with the required | electrical characteristics into specific formations. They | then connected these molecular structures to wires and | manipulated them to perform the same functions as silicon | logic gates. By connecting multiple logic gates, the | researchers predict that, in the future, all the functions | of a semiconductor chip will be able to be performed on a | molecular scale. The molecular innovation uses a design | highly tolerant of manufacturing defects, allowing | programmers to identify defective parts of chips and route | around them. Therefore, even if developers can never put | every molecule in the right place, the chips will be | effective. (Wall Street Journal 07/16/99) | | $$$.COM Web entrepreneurs have found that the least | complicated Internet addresses can be extremely valuable. A | number of Web users who bought the rights to generic | Internet addresses years ago are now finding that their | chance property is in high demand. On a whim, Kevin | Sinclair paid $40 five years ago for a Web site with the | address computer.com. Though Sinclair never developed the | site, he earned a profit, as a Massachusetts entrepreneur | bought the name for $500,000 and a portion of potentially | valuable stock. The same businessman, Mike Zapolin, also | bought the name beer.com from beer-lover Bill Fisher, who | retained a third interest in the site. Now, Zapolin has | attracted offers from several major breweries, and Fisher | could become a millionaire from the deal. Internet | marketers are finding that simplicity is important in a Web | address, because it can attract users who may not want to | spend time on a search engine. (Washington Post 07/15/99)