A Quality Scorecard for Administration of Online Education Programs (Sloan Consortium)

http://sloanconsortium.org/effective_practices/quality-scorecard-administration-online-education-programs

Comparing Online Programs (Inside Higher Ed., May 22nd, 2011 Article

Comparing Online Programs
March 24, 2011
Much of the debate about online higher education turns on comparing online courses to face-to-face ones. But with colleges of every type increasingly venturing into the fray of online teaching regardless, some have turned toward the practical question of comparing online programs with other online programs.

(See link) http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/24/consortium_creates_tool_to_compare_quality_of_online_college_programs

E-Learning Conferences: Inclusive Listing for 2011

http://www.conferencealerts.com/school.htm

Project Gutenberg: A Billion Free E-Books (LA Times Article)

Project Gutenberg: A Billion Free E-Books
Michael Hart invented the e-book. At least that's what Hart's e-mail signature says.
Indeed, Hart is considered by many in technology and literary circles to be the creator of the electronic book. As founder of the Gutenberg Project, named for the 15th century printer credited with inventing movable type, Hart began transcribing and scanning books on July 4, 1971 -- "technically July 5," Hart corrected himself in an e-mail; "it was all night." Click link for more

Bill Gates Predicts 'Place-Based' Colleges Less Important in Five Years (Chron. of Higher Ed. Blog)

Place-Based Colleges Less Important in Five Years (Bill Gates/Chron. of HE)
""After all, what are we trying to do? We're trying to take education that today the tuition is, say, $50,000 a year so over four years—a $200,000 education—that is increasingly hard to get because there's less money for it because it's not there, and we're trying to provide it to every kid who wants it," Mr. Gates said. "And only technology can bring that down, not just to $20,000 but to $2,000. So yes, place-based activiy in that college thing will be five times less important than it is today."

Chronicle of HE Blog Post: Conf. on Using Social Networking Tools in Classes

Chronicle of HE Blog Post: Conf. on Using Social Networking Tools in Classes

Online Lectures May be Harmful to Students' Learning (Chronicle Article)

Online Lectures May be Harmful to Students' Learning:
Colleges and universities that are turning to video lectures because of their institutions' tight budgets may be doing those students a disservice, said Mark Rush, a professor of economics at the University of Florida and one of the working paper's authors.

Blackboard's (LMS) Next Generation

Blackboard's Next Generation:
"It's a lot more modern than it used to be," said Palladinetti, whose university switched from Blackboard 8 to 9.1 last month. "It's a lot easier to navigate."

But many users said they are unimpressed by the additions in Blackboard 9 and disappointed that the company failed to address many of their frustrations with previous versions.
Instructors use Blackboard mainly for grading, testing, and uploading course notes, said Susan Metros, deputy chief information officer and associate vice provost for technology-enhanced learning at the University of Southern California, which switched to Blackboard 9 ilast fall. Many of the new features for social learning were "competent," she said, but not as useful as some existing alternatives.

"I would prefer them concentrating on making the core functionality of their system better," said Kelly Sutton, a recent graduate of Loyola Marymount University, in California, who used Blackboard 9 in several courses in the past year. He runs the hackcollege blog.

Ubiquitous Learning (TC Book Review)

Ubiquitious Learning:
Modern day conceptions of ubiquitous learning build on an influential vision of ubiquitous computing published two decades earlier by Mark Weiser (1991) of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. His article depicted a world of smart objects and intelligent contexts based on ubiquitous computing, a different way of conceptualizing the interface between computers, networks, and people. In Weiser’s vision, tiny computers are embedded into nearly every artifact and setting, networked so that they intercommunicate. For example, a tree could be tagged with information about its botanical characteristics; the tree might also offer to show an historic image of its context about the time it was planted or to describe the contribution it makes to reducing local pollution and greenhouse gases. People who wandered by could access this information on a wireless mobile device; based on a person’s response, the building adjacent to the tree might then offer some information. Current images of smart objects and intelligent contexts for learning include affordances not available twenty years earlier, such as Web 2.0 tools embedded in cyberinfrastructure (Dede, 2007) and augmented reality games (Klopfer, 2008).

The Race Between Education and Technology ( TC Book Review)

The Race Between Education and Technology:
This book is a gallop through 20th Century America covering three broad areas: economic growth and distribution; major forces behind mass education and what characterized these transformations; and finally the “race” between technology and education. The authors argue that this was simultaneously “the American Century” in terms of economic growth and the “Human Capital Century.” The book is about how the two are linked.

Cloud Computing: The Power to Choose

Cloud Computing: The Power to Choose
Colleges and universities around the world are thus discussing, planning for, and using cloud computing and cloud services. The rate of adoption varies from country to country, but the need for awareness and preparation is universal. This article will examine cloud issues — both opportunities and risks — by looking at examples from four countries: Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Drivers

What are the driving forces behind the current interest in cloud computing in higher education?
■College and university IT departments are struggling to deliver scalable, secure, reliable, and cost-effective technology services in a time of shrinking budgets and growing demands for increased operational efficiencies.

■Students, faculty, and staff are bringing a rapidly changing array of consumer electronic devices to campus, and they expect ready access to easy-to-use mobile applications.

■Large commercial IT organizations are gaining significant economies of scale — in their infrastructure and service-delivery capacities — that individual college and university IT departments simply cannot match.

■College and university CIOs are becoming intrigued by the possibility that some — and perhaps most — of the services currently managed by the central IT department could be moved to the cloud. However, many CIOs lack direct experience using cloud services, fear the prospect of a new form of lock-in by service providers, and have deep and legitimate concerns about information privacy issues.

■Colleges and universities are looking to their CIOs and their IT staff for strategic advice associated with the institutional mission of teaching and learning and research, yet at the same time, CIOs are often distracted by operational issues associated with running core infrastructure.

■Many core IT services are being viewed as a utility service much like electricity or gas. As commercial providers enhance their capability and maturity in providing these core services, moving to a commercial provider becomes a more attractive option.

Technology and Teaching Tomorrow's Thinkers

Techology and Teaching Tomorrow's Thinkers.
As educators, we are called upon to challenge the way students already think and guide them into new patterns or ways of thinking as required, in order for them to grasp central concepts and applications of learning. Collaborative technologies, while not central to the process, can help facilitate this core function of education.
By Ruth Reynard 06/02/10