__ __ __ __ __ __ web's eye view (September 30, 1999) | | /| / /| | /| / /| | /| / / alan levine | |/ |/ / | |/ |/ / | |/ |/ / Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction |__/ |__/ |__/|__/ |__/|__/ http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/ =========================================================================== Leaves are chanign (somewhere) and another bag of URLs is ready for pickup at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/curr.html Zen and the Art of Web Searching ================================ (thanks to Holly Beene for this reference) | The Perfect Search | NewsWeek 9/27/99 | The Web is growing by millions of pages every year. Helping | users find the information they want is one of the Net's | biggest challenges. | http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/focus/ty/foty0113_1.htm Tech Barriers ============= (This is from EDUPAGE, http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html) | TEACHERS PLUG IN, PLOD ON | A study published in today's issue of Education Week shows | that software and the Internet are increasingly being used | in the nations schools, but many teachers struggle to make | use of them. According to the survey, 61 percent of | teachers use the Web in class, and 53 percent use software. | However, many teachers find it difficult to match up | educational Internet sites and software with what they are | looking for. In addition, many instructors report that | their computers lack the power to run the software they | would like to use. Teachers say that expense is the | greatest hurdle to overcome in furthering the use of | computers in the classroom. The study also found that older | teachers were just as likely to use computers in class as | younger teachers. (Washington Post 09/23/99) http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-09/23/185l-092399-idx.html ASU Event on Electronic Records =============================== | Electronic Records: Preservation and Access for Colleges and | Universities | October 7 & 8 Hilton Pavilion, Mesa Arizona | Presented by Arizona State University | | | | How to effectively identify and address the issues related | to managing electronic records is one of the most complex | and important problems in Higher Education today. Virtually | every program and planning decision made today - from | student information systems and on-line courses, to web- | based manuals and recruitment, to expansion of research | efforts - involves creating and managing electronic records. | At the same time, the legal, policy, and political | environments are shifting rapidly and dramatically. | | Changes in copyright law, legal discovery practices, and | state and federal records management requirements | continually redefine the environment in which educational | institutions operate. Pressures for increased access to data | about individuals (such as grades, transcripts, and | employment records), registration and recruitment materials, | and the intellectual output of institutions in the form of | research data, theses and dissertations, and faculty | publication add further complications. | | Clearly, planning and implementing solutions to electronic | records issues will require coordinated efforts. | Educational efforts and discussions across disciplines and | among institutions are critical to successfully meeting the | challenge of how to manage electronic records now, and in | the future. | | Preservation and Access for Electronic College and | University Records will bring together a unique blend of | resources to discuss and analyze management issues for | institutional information in electronic form. Knowledgeable | individuals will present information and enter the dialog | about the issues with others - administration, archival, | legal, registrar, business affairs, technology, graduate and | academic affairs professionals. The conference goal is to | help participants better understand the issues and | challenges, and to begin to identify viable solutions and | "best practices" to guide planning and implementation | efforts. | | The keynote speaker is: Clifford A. Lynch, Executive | Director, Coalition for Networked Information. More | information about the program and other speakers is | available at: http://www.asu.edu/it/events/ecure/ When Students Turn Thumbs Down dor Distance Ed? =============================================== | StudentsŐ Frustrations with a Web-based Distance Education | Course: A Taboo Topic in the Discourse | | This article presents a qualitative case study of a | web-based distance education course at a major university in | the United States. Many authors in the distance education | literature discuss only the positive aspects of | computer-mediated distance education. Most of the | literature consists of descriptive case studies, rather than | analytical research. This article inspects a taboo topic; | problems with web-based distance education. First, the | analysis of the reasons why these negative phenomena are not | found in the literature is presented. Second, the study | investigates whether studentsŐ frustrations in this course | inhibit their educational opportunity. In this study, | studentsŐ frustrations were found in three interrelated | sources: lack of prompt feedback, ambiguous instructions on | the web, and technical problems. It is concluded that the | students' frustrations in this web-based course inhibited | their educational opportunity. This case study illustrates | studentsŐ perspectives and calls attention to some | fundamental issues in distance education. http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/wp99_01.html Student Affairs Short Course ============================ | StudentAffairs.com, the most accessed Web site by student | affairs professionals, will be offering its next Short | Course on "Giving Voice to Critical Issues: Qualitative | Research in Student Affairs," by Dr. Kathleen Manning, | Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs | at the University of Vermont. The Short Course, sponsored | by ACPA, is free-of-charge and participants taking the | course will be able to receive a 20% discount off the list | price of the book. The six-week course, delivered directly | to participants' e-mail in-baskets, will begin Thursday, | September 23, 1999. | | The focus of this Short Course is twofold: (a) the use of | qualitative research methods in student affairs, and (b) an | exploration of critical issues on college campuses. Based | on case studies, the topics explored (in order) will be | student suicide, acquaintance rape, an RA's role in the | alcohol related death of a student, a university custodian's | perspective concerning classism, the experience of an adult | daughter of an alcoholic, and the college experiences of a | triracial student. | | For those interested in qualitative research methods, two | sidebar lessons will be offered in the methodology used to | research the case study topics. | | To sign-up for this exciting Internet resource and receive | more information about the Short Course program visit the | StudentAffairs.com website at: | http://www.StudentAffairs.com/shortcourse/. Awards for Saving $ =================== | The USA Group Foundation and the American Council on | Education have launched The Academic Excellence and Cost | Management National Awards Program, which is designed to | recognize, reward, and give greater visibility to innovative | strategies that strengthen academic quality while containing | costs. This is not a program to reward budget cutting; | rather to recognize and share innovations that actually | bring about more efficient operation, reduce real "costs" - | not just "budgets," while at the same time preserving or | strengthening academic quality. To be considered, | institutions must submit a separate proposal for each | initiative to be considered by November 1, 1999. | | Please visit the ACE web site at http://www.acenet.edu for | more information about the Awards Program and how your | institution can be recognized. Award criteria and | applications are available on the web site, or by contacting | Kendra LaDuca at the American Council on Education 202-939- | 9553. Should you have any questions about the application | process, please call Barbara Hill at 202-939-9459.