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

The freshest bag of URLs, sturdy enough to survive a strong microburst, 
is ready for pickup at

   http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/curr.html

This is News?
=============
from EDUPAGE
http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html

| TECHNOLOGY AND COLLABORATION ARE NEEDED FOR 
| 'LIFELONG LEARNING,' PRESIDENTS SAY
| Institutions of higher education need to focus on
| encouraging lifelong learning, in part by ensuring that
| students have access to distance learning technology,
| according to a report written by public-university
| presidents belonging to the Kellogg Commission on the Future
| of State and Land-Grant Universities.  Colleges and
| universities should invest in new technologies and prepare
| students to continue their education by using collaborative,
| interactive teaching methods to teach critical-thinking
| skills. In order to create a "learning society," education
| should be universally accessible and lifelong learning
| should be promoted to people of all ages, the report says. 
| To further the goal of lifelong education, the report
| suggests that universities team with elementary and
| secondary schools, as well as businesses and governments, to
| make educational resources available to everyone. The group
| also supports the formation of accredited groups devoted to
| setting standards for lifelong learning programs and
| distance education.  (Chronicle of Higher Education Online
| 09/16/99)


Newest Alertbox
===============

| The Alertbox for September 19 is now online at:
| http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990919.html
| 
| The basic ideology of the Internet is bit transport; we need
| a utility-focused human-centered ideology for its
| fundamental architecture and protocols.


Where Does Scott Get his Data?
==============================
from EDUPAGE
http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html

| HOW TO TURN THE WORLD WIDE WEB INTO A REAL-WORLD EDUCATION
| The growth of the Internet will force changes in education
| that could greatly benefit students, writes Sun Microsystems
| CEO Scott McNealy in a recent USA TODAY article.  For
| example, a university could launch the next Amazon.com,
| considering the importance of books to education, McNealy
| says.  University professors could abandon traditional
| schools in favor of Internet schools, or could teach their
| own online courses.  McNealy says these possibilities,
| combined with changing student demographics, require schools
| to change the way they operate.  Many students are now
| older, trying to balance school with jobs and families.
| McNealy notes that this type of student will soon represent
| 60 percent of the student population, and schools need to
| accommodate these students by offering convenience and
| flexibility.  Technology now allows distance learning to
| provide students with online access to text, graphics,
| audio, video, and libraries of information.  McNealy says
| technology not only makes this learning environment
| possible, but it can also reduce per-student costs and make
| teachers more effective by allowing them to offer more
| one-on-one attention to students via e-mail, for example. 
| (USA TODAY 09/16/99)


Blackboard Goes Big Time
========================

| From: Roger Yohe <yohe@emc.maricopa.edu>
| Subject: Blackboard Article in the Wasington Post
| To: levine@maricopa.edu
| Reply-to: yohe@emc.maricopa.edu
| Organization: Estrella Mountain Community College
| 
| Here's an article on Blackboard that appeared in the
| Washington Post. From the article, an interesting point: 
| "The big worry, of course, is that without official
| accreditation systems it will be hard to tell which
| free-lance courses are worthwhile or whether teachers are
| who they say they are..."
| 

  (long URL here..)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/longterm/tech/techthursday/dotcom/dotcom.htm


Learning About Online Online
============================
from EDUPAGE
http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html

| GETTING THE MOST OUT OF ONLINE LEARNING
| Nitin Guar, an IBM systems specialist in Austin, Texas, says
| he has experienced the benefits and pitfalls of online
| learning. Guar received prompt replies to e-mailed questions
| and felt he could more easily form one-on-one relationships
| with professors online rather than in class, but sometimes
| felt bored by the solitary nature of online learning and
| frustrated by the self-discipline needed to keep up with
| assignments.  Experts say Guar's experience is common and
| that prospective students should be aware of all aspects of
| online learning prior to enrollment. One pitfall is the
| difficulty in adjusting to a classroom where social
| interaction is not a factor, according to Cindy Yager, chief
| technology officer with geteducated.com, a distance learning
| consulting firm.  Some people fail to understand initially
| that online classes can be as challenging as traditional
| classes, said Andy DiPaolo, executive director of Stanford
| University's Center for Professional Development. (InfoWorld
| 09/13/99)


Rio In The Pew $
================

| The Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign is pleased to
| announce the first of three rounds of grant awards. The
| purpose of this institutional grant program is to encourage
| colleges and universities to redesign their instructional
| approaches using technology to achieve cost savings as well
| as quality enhancements. Redesign projects will focus on
| large-enrollment, introductory courses, which have the
| potential of impacting significant student numbers and
| generating substantial cost savings.
| 
| The institutions that have received a $200,000 grant include:
| --Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI)
| --Penn State University
| --Rio Salado College (Maricopa Community College District)
| --State University of New York at Buffalo
| --University of Central Florida
| --University of Colorado-Boulder
| --University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
| --University of Southern Maine
| --University of Wisconsin-Madison
| --Virginia Tech
|
| RIO SALADO COLLEGE
| 
| Rio Salado College, one of the 10 community colleges in the
| Maricopa Community College District, plans to redesign
| Introductory Algebra to increase the number of students that
| can be served in a distance learning format and improve
| student retention.  The redesigned course will use
| interactive software from Academic Systems to deliver
| content and student assistants to provide course management,
| communications and student support, thus increasing faculty
| time spent directly on improving student achievement.
| Redesign will result in a projected cost-per-student
| reduction of 33% compared to traditional MCCD classroom
| instruction and 41% compared to previous distance learning
| formats at Rio.

More details at http://www.center.rpi.edu/