Chronicle of higher education. August 2, 2010, 04:01 PM ET
By Jennifer Howard
It will surprise very few people to learn that having grown up in a computer age does not make today's students automatically savvy consumers of electronic resources. "It’s almost like information overload—like there’s so much of it out there, they just tend to gravitate to what they’re comfortable with," Mark McBride says of the students he works with at Buffalo State College of the State University of New York. "If they find a need for it, they don’t really evaluate it, they just start using it."
Mr. McBride is a blended librarian at Buffalo State. "Blended librarian" sounds like some kind of power smoothie. It's actually a fairly new model of academic librarianship that took root about five years ago. It combines traditional reference skills with hardware and software know-how and an interest in applying them to curriculum development and teaching. (Read more about the movement's history and goals at the Blended Librarian Web site, which features the slogan "Blending Instructional Design, Technology, and Librarianship.")
It's a concept designed for a campus climate in which librarians are called on to do many things besides staff the reference desk. "What happens on a college campus is that our librarians are finding themselves exposed more. They’re not just inside libraries anymore," Mr. McBride says. "Things happen very quickly in our profession, and we have to be able to adjust very quickly to it."
That applies to librarians in the classroom, too. With Ken Fujiuchi, an emerging technology librarian, Mr. McBride teaches a course called Library 300. Its goal is not just to teach college students how and where to find information but how to weigh it—what counts as a reliable source and what doesn't. Although it's billed as an advanced course, Library 300 focuses on what are more and more recognized as the basics of 21st-century information literacy. The Chronicle asked Mr. McBride to lay out some of those basics.
"First you have to understand the nature of information," he said. "You have to identify what you need and be able to understand why you need it, and at the same time, if you’ve located something, understand who created it and why they created it."
Mr. McBride has noticed that many of his students consider school a process that may not be synonymous with education. "They always see that there’s a problem with—you hate to hear it—teachers," he says. "They just think the instruction is a little too formalized. One student says he prefers to learn than sit in a classroom."
So Library 300 runs more like a workshop than a sit-and-take-notes class. It doesn't rely on real or virtual library tours but on flash drives loaded with portable applications. Students are introduced to Web apps, too, and how to use them. Part of Mr. McBride and Mr. Fujiuchi's goal is to push students to think beyond the kinds of traditional software many are accustomed to using—although the instructors still encounter a number of students who haven't logged much time on computers at all.
For their final projects, students do not write research papers. They form groups to research and put together multimedia presentations on a big social or global issue of their choice—climate change, health care, education. They learn about copyright and how to vet sources as well as how to use different apps to present research.
"In our class, we try to give them control and take ownership" of the process, Mr. McBride says. "If traditional schooling isn’t your cup of tea, tell us what you want to learn and we’ll get there."
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Researchers Test Small-Dish Satellite Links for Distance Education
February 15, 2002
By FLORENCE OLSEN
Researchers at the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center-Ohio are studying ways of using small-dish satellite technology to provide cheap, fast Internet connections for distance education.
The researchers recently joined the American Distance Education Consortium's Internet-satellite project. The consortium has a $4-million grant from the National Science Foundation to experiment with advanced Internet-satellite technology.
"We're very interested in pushing this technology to the point where we can do more distance education," says Janet K. Poley, who is president and chief executive officer of the consortium and also the lead researcher for the satellite project.
Many poor and remote communities in the United States that might benefit from distance education either have no Internet access or have access that is both costly and slow, says Ms. Poley. The consortium's members are 60 state and land-grant universities, and its headquarters is at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (http://www.adec.edu).
The satellite project's goal is "digital inclusion," Ms. Poley says. "It seems to me you're better able to make progress if you're looking at digital inclusion, whereas 'digital divide' strikes me a bit like a big ditch you can't get over."
Gathering Information
Data collection for the satellite project has already begun. "We're starting to identify the problems," says Pankaj Shah, director of the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center. The center, operated by a consortium of Ohio universities, government agencies, and technology corporations, is part of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, in Columbus.
Among the technical challenges facing the researchers will be trying to make broadband Internet2 technologies such as multicast videoconferencing work within the bandwidth constraints and signal delays of small-dish satellite technology.
A related challenge, Mr. Shah says, will be to develop both an affordable satellite dish, for which colleges would pay about $5,000 or less, and 24-hour Internet satellite service, priced at about $1,200 or less a month. The research is being conducted using Internet satellite equipment and service from Tachyon Inc., in San Diego.
Ms. Poley says the research, if successful, would expand distance-education opportunities for students attending colleges in rural and remote areas, as well as tribal, historically black, and Hispanic colleges, and the communities those institutions serve. The distance-education consortium has already mounted satellite dishes atop buildings at 45 of those colleges.
On Call
Engineers for the Ohio Academic Resources Network at the Ohio Supercomputer Center will be available to field calls from colleges that need technical support. "When the sites have a problem, they will call in to us," says Mr. Shah. "Our engineers will take care of it."
The satellite experiments with small-dish systems are bringing together other technologies, including the Internet2 backbone network. "Hybrid networking" is the only way to bring high-quality Internet service to colleges in poor, rural, and remote areas, Ms. Poley says. In many places around the world, satellite systems "are critical to getting distance education to more populations."
The consortium is working with researchers and educators at each remote site, trying to get "a nice mix" of activities that require satellite access to the Internet, says Ms. Poley. "We say that technology is necessary but is not sufficient to make good things happen."
By FLORENCE OLSEN
Researchers at the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center-Ohio are studying ways of using small-dish satellite technology to provide cheap, fast Internet connections for distance education.
The researchers recently joined the American Distance Education Consortium's Internet-satellite project. The consortium has a $4-million grant from the National Science Foundation to experiment with advanced Internet-satellite technology.
"We're very interested in pushing this technology to the point where we can do more distance education," says Janet K. Poley, who is president and chief executive officer of the consortium and also the lead researcher for the satellite project.
Many poor and remote communities in the United States that might benefit from distance education either have no Internet access or have access that is both costly and slow, says Ms. Poley. The consortium's members are 60 state and land-grant universities, and its headquarters is at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (http://www.adec.edu).
The satellite project's goal is "digital inclusion," Ms. Poley says. "It seems to me you're better able to make progress if you're looking at digital inclusion, whereas 'digital divide' strikes me a bit like a big ditch you can't get over."
Gathering Information
Data collection for the satellite project has already begun. "We're starting to identify the problems," says Pankaj Shah, director of the Internet2 Technology Evaluation Center. The center, operated by a consortium of Ohio universities, government agencies, and technology corporations, is part of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, in Columbus.
Among the technical challenges facing the researchers will be trying to make broadband Internet2 technologies such as multicast videoconferencing work within the bandwidth constraints and signal delays of small-dish satellite technology.
A related challenge, Mr. Shah says, will be to develop both an affordable satellite dish, for which colleges would pay about $5,000 or less, and 24-hour Internet satellite service, priced at about $1,200 or less a month. The research is being conducted using Internet satellite equipment and service from Tachyon Inc., in San Diego.
Ms. Poley says the research, if successful, would expand distance-education opportunities for students attending colleges in rural and remote areas, as well as tribal, historically black, and Hispanic colleges, and the communities those institutions serve. The distance-education consortium has already mounted satellite dishes atop buildings at 45 of those colleges.
On Call
Engineers for the Ohio Academic Resources Network at the Ohio Supercomputer Center will be available to field calls from colleges that need technical support. "When the sites have a problem, they will call in to us," says Mr. Shah. "Our engineers will take care of it."
The satellite experiments with small-dish systems are bringing together other technologies, including the Internet2 backbone network. "Hybrid networking" is the only way to bring high-quality Internet service to colleges in poor, rural, and remote areas, Ms. Poley says. In many places around the world, satellite systems "are critical to getting distance education to more populations."
The consortium is working with researchers and educators at each remote site, trying to get "a nice mix" of activities that require satellite access to the Internet, says Ms. Poley. "We say that technology is necessary but is not sufficient to make good things happen."
One More Reason to Smile
March 7, 2008
By HURLEY GOODALL
Harvard University has taken happiness global.
"Positive Psychology," one of the university's most popular courses, is now being offered by the Harvard Extension School as a Web-based distance-learning course for the spring semester.
Students from as far away as Argentina, New Zealand, and Turkey have signed up for a dose of happiness.
First offered in the fall of 2005, the course became something of a celebrity by taking a scientific approach to what many find elusive. Students write papers, take exams, and read academic journals but come out of the course feeling good despite all that, says Tal Ben-Shahar, the author and psychology lecturer who originally designed the course.
"My goal is not to make it hard or easy," he says. "My goal is to make it rigorous and useful. The usefulness is what attracts students."
Despite what one might think, not everyone who takes the course is miserable.
"We have many people who are very happy who just want to be happier," says Mr. Ben-Shahar. "We have the whole gamut."
Send ideas to short.subjects@chronicle.com
By HURLEY GOODALL
Harvard University has taken happiness global.
"Positive Psychology," one of the university's most popular courses, is now being offered by the Harvard Extension School as a Web-based distance-learning course for the spring semester.
Students from as far away as Argentina, New Zealand, and Turkey have signed up for a dose of happiness.
First offered in the fall of 2005, the course became something of a celebrity by taking a scientific approach to what many find elusive. Students write papers, take exams, and read academic journals but come out of the course feeling good despite all that, says Tal Ben-Shahar, the author and psychology lecturer who originally designed the course.
"My goal is not to make it hard or easy," he says. "My goal is to make it rigorous and useful. The usefulness is what attracts students."
Despite what one might think, not everyone who takes the course is miserable.
"We have many people who are very happy who just want to be happier," says Mr. Ben-Shahar. "We have the whole gamut."
Send ideas to short.subjects@chronicle.com
Universities Unveil Distance-Learning Program in Nuclear Engineering
January 17, 2008, 01:58 PM ET
By Jeffrey Brainard
To help meet a growing demand for nuclear engineers, a group of universities has teamed up to sponsor online courses and swap information about the students taking them. One goal is to eliminate the hassle for students to transfer credits among the participating institutions.
Other universities have used distance learning to teach nuclear engineering, but the new effort is probably the largest such program, said John P. Gutteridge, director of university programs in nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Big 12 Nuclear Engineering Consortium will start the distance-education effort this spring using an information-sharing system, called ExpanSIS, developed by Kansas State University. The secure, Web-based system allows universities to jointly track information about course schedules, grades, student billing, and textbooks. Students can pay at their home institutions for the nuclear-engineering courses, which were developed by Kansas State, Texas A&M University at College Station, and the Universities of Missouri at Columbia and Texas at Austin.
ExpanSIS is already used by some of the Big 12 universities in a separate effort, the Great Plains Interactive Distance Educational Alliance, which offers graduate courses online in nonengineering fields.
Universities are working to expand education in nuclear engineering in response to a revival of interest in nuclear power as a way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“It’s encouraging that the online nuclear courses have drawn immediate student interest,” said Mr. Gutteridge, of the Energy Department. “The industry is clamoring for engineers who speak nuclear.” —Jeffrey Brainard
By Jeffrey Brainard
To help meet a growing demand for nuclear engineers, a group of universities has teamed up to sponsor online courses and swap information about the students taking them. One goal is to eliminate the hassle for students to transfer credits among the participating institutions.
Other universities have used distance learning to teach nuclear engineering, but the new effort is probably the largest such program, said John P. Gutteridge, director of university programs in nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Big 12 Nuclear Engineering Consortium will start the distance-education effort this spring using an information-sharing system, called ExpanSIS, developed by Kansas State University. The secure, Web-based system allows universities to jointly track information about course schedules, grades, student billing, and textbooks. Students can pay at their home institutions for the nuclear-engineering courses, which were developed by Kansas State, Texas A&M University at College Station, and the Universities of Missouri at Columbia and Texas at Austin.
ExpanSIS is already used by some of the Big 12 universities in a separate effort, the Great Plains Interactive Distance Educational Alliance, which offers graduate courses online in nonengineering fields.
Universities are working to expand education in nuclear engineering in response to a revival of interest in nuclear power as a way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
“It’s encouraging that the online nuclear courses have drawn immediate student interest,” said Mr. Gutteridge, of the Energy Department. “The industry is clamoring for engineers who speak nuclear.” —Jeffrey Brainard
Distance Learning In India - An Alternative to Traditional Education
Samantha Desouza. Published at Sooper Articles http://www.sooperarticles.com
Online and distance learning program has completely altered the mode of education today. In India, with the help of these programs, many career aspirants can increase their credentials without resigning from their job. Among the many courses available in online and distance learning programs, online MBA in India is considered an attractive option by many aspiring candidates. This program allows you to pursue MBA degree without having to attend any regular classes. The programs related to distance learning in India has gained immense popularity due to the cut-throat competition with the regular MBA courses offered by numerous colleges and universities.
The program of online MBA in India has helped many working professionals who have huge financial responsibilities to pursue MBA courses without leaving their job. This is one of the main reasons which have resulted in the huge amount of enrollments in institutes who offer distance learning in India. This mode of education has also helped many students to enroll in many foreign universities and colleges. Today, students feel that the traditional mode of education is completely of date. They believe in investing in these distance learning courses rather than in a two year full time MBA program.
There are many advantages of online MBA in India. For those individuals who have financial difficulty, these programs are ideal for them because the cost of these programs is comparatively less than the regular full time MBA programs. Since you do not have to attend regular classes with this mode of education, you get to save a lot of time. These are some factors which have made distance learning in India a craze among students as well as working professionals.
There are many private institutes and colleges who offer online MBA in India. The curriculum of these courses is not in any way inferior to the curriculum offered by the full time MBA programs. This online program offers a wide of facilities for the students such as flexible hours, virtual classrooms and online test and exams. With these facilities of distance learning in India, students can learn in their own time and pace with the help of online study materials and the virtual classes. The classes of these MBA programs are scheduled keeping in mind that most of the students who take up these courses are working professionals.
Along with the advantages of online MBA in India, there are also some drawbacks associated with it. Since, this mode of education is in the absence of face to face interaction with the instructors, the students who apply for this course do not take it seriously. They may not be able to ask queries which they are not clear about thus causing the students to loose their interest. With these courses, the student may not be compelled to study as there is no direct pressure on them. But, these can be overcome with the latest technology available today.
The program of distance learning in Indiaoffers excellent opportunities for young career aspirants to increase their credentials without resigning from their job. Instead of two years, the candidate can even attain the MBA degree in a period of one year.
Online and distance learning program has completely altered the mode of education today. In India, with the help of these programs, many career aspirants can increase their credentials without resigning from their job. Among the many courses available in online and distance learning programs, online MBA in India is considered an attractive option by many aspiring candidates. This program allows you to pursue MBA degree without having to attend any regular classes. The programs related to distance learning in India has gained immense popularity due to the cut-throat competition with the regular MBA courses offered by numerous colleges and universities.
The program of online MBA in India has helped many working professionals who have huge financial responsibilities to pursue MBA courses without leaving their job. This is one of the main reasons which have resulted in the huge amount of enrollments in institutes who offer distance learning in India. This mode of education has also helped many students to enroll in many foreign universities and colleges. Today, students feel that the traditional mode of education is completely of date. They believe in investing in these distance learning courses rather than in a two year full time MBA program.
There are many advantages of online MBA in India. For those individuals who have financial difficulty, these programs are ideal for them because the cost of these programs is comparatively less than the regular full time MBA programs. Since you do not have to attend regular classes with this mode of education, you get to save a lot of time. These are some factors which have made distance learning in India a craze among students as well as working professionals.
There are many private institutes and colleges who offer online MBA in India. The curriculum of these courses is not in any way inferior to the curriculum offered by the full time MBA programs. This online program offers a wide of facilities for the students such as flexible hours, virtual classrooms and online test and exams. With these facilities of distance learning in India, students can learn in their own time and pace with the help of online study materials and the virtual classes. The classes of these MBA programs are scheduled keeping in mind that most of the students who take up these courses are working professionals.
Along with the advantages of online MBA in India, there are also some drawbacks associated with it. Since, this mode of education is in the absence of face to face interaction with the instructors, the students who apply for this course do not take it seriously. They may not be able to ask queries which they are not clear about thus causing the students to loose their interest. With these courses, the student may not be compelled to study as there is no direct pressure on them. But, these can be overcome with the latest technology available today.
The program of distance learning in Indiaoffers excellent opportunities for young career aspirants to increase their credentials without resigning from their job. Instead of two years, the candidate can even attain the MBA degree in a period of one year.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Expanding Distance Learning Access in Prisons: A Growing Need
Nink, Carl., Olding, Rob., Jorgenson, Jo., Gilbert, Melisa. Expanding Distance Learning Access in Prisons: A Growing Need.Corrections Today; Aug2009, Vol. 71 Issue 4, p40-43, 4p
This article discusses the importance of distance learning in prisons. Distance learning has taken on added importance with the addition of the Internet and Web2.0 and the increased application of computer and Web-based resources that enhance the educational process. Because inmate access to the Internet is severely restricted, inmates lack knowledge and understanding of advances. A program at Arizona's Maricopa County Community College District that works with Arizona inmates is cited.
Today, the Internet is a part of daily life for finding directions, applying for jobs, paying bills, buying groceries, taking classes, and communicating with employers, friends and family. Access to online resources -- and the skills to use them effectively -- is an important part of surviving in an information society, as well as achieving personal goals.
There are intelligent systems that use natural language processor technologies to automate the detection of inappropriate language, statements and even images on the Internet. Such cyber monitors can alert for any overt acts and perhaps even coded ones that deviate from standard language parameters. What will be required is the engineering of such intelligent systems for use in corrections applications.
The time to pilot the Internet within prisons is now. To implement such an initiative, the profession needs to:
• Ensure the system is secure;
• Develop strategies to educate and calm the fears of administrators and public policymakers; and
• Pilot and publicize the successful application of Internet technology in prisons, developing a track record.
The nation needs all ex-offenders to join the work force. However, with most jobs requiring education beyond high school, those who are undereducated face a life of economic disadvantage. Without education and training, these ex-offenders, many of whom are minorities, will remain a huge tax burden, stressing state and federal budgets.
This article discusses the importance of distance learning in prisons. Distance learning has taken on added importance with the addition of the Internet and Web2.0 and the increased application of computer and Web-based resources that enhance the educational process. Because inmate access to the Internet is severely restricted, inmates lack knowledge and understanding of advances. A program at Arizona's Maricopa County Community College District that works with Arizona inmates is cited.
Today, the Internet is a part of daily life for finding directions, applying for jobs, paying bills, buying groceries, taking classes, and communicating with employers, friends and family. Access to online resources -- and the skills to use them effectively -- is an important part of surviving in an information society, as well as achieving personal goals.
There are intelligent systems that use natural language processor technologies to automate the detection of inappropriate language, statements and even images on the Internet. Such cyber monitors can alert for any overt acts and perhaps even coded ones that deviate from standard language parameters. What will be required is the engineering of such intelligent systems for use in corrections applications.
The time to pilot the Internet within prisons is now. To implement such an initiative, the profession needs to:
• Ensure the system is secure;
• Develop strategies to educate and calm the fears of administrators and public policymakers; and
• Pilot and publicize the successful application of Internet technology in prisons, developing a track record.
The nation needs all ex-offenders to join the work force. However, with most jobs requiring education beyond high school, those who are undereducated face a life of economic disadvantage. Without education and training, these ex-offenders, many of whom are minorities, will remain a huge tax burden, stressing state and federal budgets.
Distance Learning and Libraries
O'Leary, Mick. Distance Learning and Libraries.Online; Jul/Aug2000, Vol. 24 Issue 4, p94, 3p
This article explores the relationship established between distance learning and online libraries. Information on distance learning; Its advantages; Threat posed by distance learning to conventional educational and training institutions; Efforts made by online libraries to serve distance learners.
Distance learning is a very big trend, and is steadily and quickly growing. Distance learning--taking courses and training over the Internet and other media--is radically altering the ways in which all sorts of education are delivered. Today, a large majority of higher education institutions, from community colleges to universities, offer distance learning. There are by one estimate 6,000 courses online. In 1998, approximately 5% of college and university students took distance learning courses; by 2002, this share is expected to be 15%, and can only grow after that.
Business and corporate training is rapidly heading the same way. It's estimated that by 2003, 50% of corporate training will be distance learning, with tremendous cost implications. Corporate America spends $60 billion annually on employee training; since a distance learning course can be offered at one-half to one-third the cost of a conventional course, the potential savings represent very big bucks indeed.
Thus many of us are or will be involved in distance learning: students in college, graduate school, and professional school; knowledge workers in every private and public sector; educational institutions from the smallest college to the largest university; businesses that require or provide training, and, finally, libraries that serve any of these groups.
Distance learning has been around a long time. Mail correspondence schools--the ones you've seen on matchbooks and the back of comic books--date from the mid-19th century. Televised courses have been around for decades and are still very popular. Nevertheless, distance learning in these formats has a distinctly low-rent status. It's perceived as a last resort of dubious quality, for people who have no access to "real" education. The educational establishment itself, especially faculty, are ambivalent toward distance education, because it replaces and devalues face-to-face, classroom-based teaching.
Distance learners themselves demonstrate the ability to surmount these obstacles. Generally, their performance is not inferior to their classroom-based peers. This may be due to the character of distance learners themselves. As a rule, they are serious, disciplined, conscientious, and demanding. By necessity, they master not only the technology of their distance learning medium, but also the learning process itself.
distance learning will continue to grow. With a little tweaking, libraries can bring added value to this new class of customers, thereby helping themselves with yet another path to survival and prosperity in this digital age.
This article explores the relationship established between distance learning and online libraries. Information on distance learning; Its advantages; Threat posed by distance learning to conventional educational and training institutions; Efforts made by online libraries to serve distance learners.
Distance learning is a very big trend, and is steadily and quickly growing. Distance learning--taking courses and training over the Internet and other media--is radically altering the ways in which all sorts of education are delivered. Today, a large majority of higher education institutions, from community colleges to universities, offer distance learning. There are by one estimate 6,000 courses online. In 1998, approximately 5% of college and university students took distance learning courses; by 2002, this share is expected to be 15%, and can only grow after that.
Business and corporate training is rapidly heading the same way. It's estimated that by 2003, 50% of corporate training will be distance learning, with tremendous cost implications. Corporate America spends $60 billion annually on employee training; since a distance learning course can be offered at one-half to one-third the cost of a conventional course, the potential savings represent very big bucks indeed.
Thus many of us are or will be involved in distance learning: students in college, graduate school, and professional school; knowledge workers in every private and public sector; educational institutions from the smallest college to the largest university; businesses that require or provide training, and, finally, libraries that serve any of these groups.
Distance learning has been around a long time. Mail correspondence schools--the ones you've seen on matchbooks and the back of comic books--date from the mid-19th century. Televised courses have been around for decades and are still very popular. Nevertheless, distance learning in these formats has a distinctly low-rent status. It's perceived as a last resort of dubious quality, for people who have no access to "real" education. The educational establishment itself, especially faculty, are ambivalent toward distance education, because it replaces and devalues face-to-face, classroom-based teaching.
Distance learners themselves demonstrate the ability to surmount these obstacles. Generally, their performance is not inferior to their classroom-based peers. This may be due to the character of distance learners themselves. As a rule, they are serious, disciplined, conscientious, and demanding. By necessity, they master not only the technology of their distance learning medium, but also the learning process itself.
distance learning will continue to grow. With a little tweaking, libraries can bring added value to this new class of customers, thereby helping themselves with yet another path to survival and prosperity in this digital age.
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