In 1997, 12 million travelers planned their own trips. In 2002, 64 million did it themselves. 77% of those that use the Web to plan their trips actually purchase their tickets online.
These are the kind of numbers I like when I’m talking about the pragmatic values of the Web. In many instances, it provides us with the connectivity and flexibility we need to do our business better. Continue reading ‘The Pragmatic Values of Online Education’
Laura Gibbs and I had an online conversation this month and the result was the following brief manifesto. This is, obviously, incomplete. On the other hand, it should serve as a nice beginning to some substantive conversations about what has to happen if we really want to see change in the way we do courses and course materials online. Continue reading ‘Next-Generation Web Courses — A Brief Manifesto’
Do students arrive at the academy with the requisite computing skills? Who decides this and what are their qualifications? It seems many in Higher Ed think most incoming freshmen are very skilled computer users. Due to this preconceived notion, few measures are taken to insure graduates have the necessary skills to effectively compete in the modern job market. Of course, there are lots of wiz kids in the bunch who can do just about anything with a computer and some disciplines require in-depth knowledge of computers and computing to graduate. Nevertheless, many students (possibly the majority) are passing as skilled when they really have no marketable skills. Continue reading ‘Do Graduates Have Marketable Computer Skills?’
Speaking at the CTIA Wireless 2003 show last week, Qualcomm CEO Irwin Jacobs said that cell phone providers don’t need to spice up their mix of offerings with access to Wi-Fi networks.
Jacobs said providers should instead stick with using cellular technology, which is already matching the download speeds of a Wi-Fi network, is cheaper to operate, and covers more ground than Wi-Fi’s 300-foot range. “As these high-speed cellular networks begin to spread across the country, they will become the preferred service,” he told wireless executives gathered for the show. Continue reading ‘Cellular vs. Wi-Fi Heats Up’
Let’s face it. You can lead a person to the collaboration trough but you can’t make them participate in our online communities. At least that has been our experience in the first waves of Web communities. It has lead to a different kind of digital divide, one that separates people who use Web technology into active and passive camps.
There are many factors, of course, that cause people to feel uncomfortable with participating in Web communities. Some of these factors are social or psychological, but others are actually technological in nature — lack of bandwidth, processing power, software etc. Continue reading ‘New and Improved Collaboration – Untethering Users from Traditional Forms’
As anyone who has tried teaching in a computer lab will agree, it can be very challenging to reach students when they have the world’s most wondrous and intricate “distraction engine” right in front of them. If the hybridization of technology and instruction is going to succeed in such a learning environment, certain requirements or tools are necessary.
Smart Technologies, a Canadian company, is hard at work developing a software package focused on the idea of taking full advantage of PCs in a classroom as well as trying to cut the distractions down. They have released a software program called SynchronEyes which was developed solely for the computer lab classroom setting. Continue reading ‘Computer Lab Instruction Made Easy’
The Chronicle of Higher Education reported this week that university IT budgets will increase an estimated five percent for the coming year. At first glance, that number seems promising. That is, until one reads further in the article and realizes that last year IT budgets grew by approximately 14 percent. The bottom line is that university IT budgets are shrinking (like everyone else’s) and these under-resourced divisions now face the difficult task of expanding connectivity with less money than they need. The five percent pales in comparison to the percentage increases in software and hardware upgrades that universities need. Continue reading ‘Smarter and Friendlier Software is the Solution to Budget Shortfalls’
The Sanskrit word karma means “doing,” “action”. It is also a grammar term, meaning “verb” (the verb is the action part of a sentence). Everybody needs some action. Every sentence needs a verb.
But karma means more than just action. Karma is both the action and its results. In particular, it can mean the consequences of your actions in this life for what will happen to you in the next life. But you don’t have to believe in reincarnation to understand karma.
Inaction: no results. Very boring.
Action: results! Good results… bad results… something happens.
Hence Courseware Karma. What I want to insist on here is that the choices that we make as teachers by using a particular kind of Courseware has consequences. The Courseware that you choose and what you do with that Courseware leads to results! Good results… bad results… something happens.
There are real consequences – in other words, there is Courseware karma.
And basically, using Blackboard means we are probably going to come back in our next life as cockroaches.
If you want to learn more about karma and reincarnation, visit the Wikipedia: Karma entry.
For more about Courseware, stay tuned.
Socialization is one of the benefits of traditional education often pointed out by its proponents. A small children, students begin leaving their homes everyday to go be with others of the same general age and stage of social development. They learn such important lessons as how to play together and, hopefully, how to make decisions as a group. When they reach eighteen, most of them leave home for good and attend a more grown-up version of the same educational model and continue their socialization development via classes, organizations, and internships. People generally state that this process of learning with others and growing comfortable in society is an important thing — it keeps people from becoming isolated and unproductive. Continue reading ‘Snap Shots of Socialization as a Tool for Understanding Connectivity’
Under the category of “why not?” we are watching the growth of VoWLAN with more than a modicum of interest. Instat released a report this week stating that the market is indeed one with a significantly growing amount of interest and potential. This will result in a growth in end-user revenue from approximately 16.5 million in 2002 to 507 million in 2007. Continue reading ‘VoWLAN Offers Potential Data/Voice Connectivity’
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