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SurfingThroughNoise

Fall/Winter-07/08

GLOBALIZATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN EUROPE
One of the best ways to get a clear perspective of the "lay of the land" on any given theme is to visit the source. Vice President of EDUCAUSE Richard Katz and University of British Columbia CIO Ted Dodds did exactly that when they embarked on a four-month trip this summer throughout Europe to develop their understanding of the higher education landscape in the European Union (EU). To get an understanding of their experiences, Educational Pathways (EP) interviewed both Katz and Dodds. EP also reviewed the October 24 session they gave on this topic at the EDUCAUSE conference in Seattle, titled "The Adventures of Katz and Dodds" (available online as a Mediasite presentation and as a podcast). The following is a synthesis of the two interviews and the EDUCAUSE presentation. EP also added a good deal of information and links to reports and websites about European higher education and the topic of "globalization." MORE

PROVIDING BLOG, WIKI, PODCASTING AND ePORTFOLIO APPLICATIONS TO STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF THROUGH A COMMON INTERFACE
Institutions that are thinking about adding blogs, wikis, podcasts and/or electronic portfolios to their teaching and learning environments at the enterprise level might want to take a look at Learning Objects, Inc., based out of Washington, DC. MORE

ADOPTION OF TABLET PC SOLUTIONS THROUGH CDW-G MODERNIZES PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AT THREE INSTITUTIONS
CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a source of IT solutions to the education sector, recently announced that it helped three higher education programs adopt innovative tablet PC hardware and software solutions to "enable an interactive learning environment for students and faculty and allow students to easily capture and manage information." Educational Pathways (EP) interviewed representatives from Freed-Hardeman University’s nursing program, the Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy, and the Morehouse School of Medicine about their implementation of tablet PC technology acquired through CDW-G. MORE

CREATING BITE-SIZED, WEB-BASED SOFTWARE TUTORIALS FOR EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS IS A GROWING BUSINESS AT ATOMIC LEARNING
An atom is a tiny unit of matter that is packed with energy. At the company known as Atomic Learning, an "atom" is a tiny web-based tutorial that is under three minutes in length that shows the person viewing it exactly how to perform a very specific function of a software product. Atomic Learning claims to be making about 500 new, atom-sized, web-based software tutorials every 45 days. The Little Falls, Minnesota-based company has been growing at a good clip since it launched in 2000. It started out as a provider of online technology training primarily for the K-12 sector and has moved quickly into higher education, with, for example, tutorials on how to use Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle, and more. The company is also working on a group of tutorials on how to use the Open Source Portfolio tool that is part of the Sakai project. To get an overall picture of Atomic Learning, Educational Pathways (EP) talked with its president; its director of content development; its higher education sales manager; and one of its customers, Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio. MORE

STUDY SHOWS THAT PROFS NEED TO INTERACT AND COMMUNICATE MORE WITH UPPER-DIVISION UNDERGRADS WHEN ASSIGNING RESEARCH PROJECTS
For EdPath’s ongoing investigation into the topic of information literacy in higher education, we talked with Alison J. Head, principal investigator of an interesting and unique study about how upper-division undergraduate students conduct academic research. Head is the Roy and Patricia Disney Visiting Professor of New Media in the Communication Department at Saint Mary’s College of California (SMC), where the study was conducted, as well as sponsored by the SMC Library and the SMC Communication Department. She is also an information resources design and usability expert through her consulting and research firm, Alison J. Head & Associates. MORE