FRAMEWORK FOR ONLINE TEACHING - In the most recent issue of DEOSNEWS, Morten Flate Paulsen, Assistant Professor, Department of Distance Education in NKI, Oslo, Norway presents a framework for an online teaching system. In the article, he discusses the various elements within the system environment and examines the teaching process and ways in which the elements are related. This learner-centered framework provides a guide for improving online teaching.

"... students are central in this model. The learning resources, the course content and the teachers are at their disposal. To facilitate learning, the teachers have teaching methods, teaching techniques and teaching devices at their disposal. Among the components presented in the model, the most pivotal for this article are the teacher, the teacher functions and the teacher application of methods, techniques, and devices."

The article begins with a description of the environment with its constraints, demands and choices. It continues with a discussion of learners, learning resources, teachers and their functions. The research in the article is based on Paulsen's thesis. A component of the thesis is an international survey of teachers who have online teaching experience. Interested in taking part in this survey? Go to: http://home.nettskolen.nki.no/~morten /cmcped/. Also included at the site is a Forum for Online Teachers to participate in. For the (DEOS NEWS Vol. 8 No. 7, ISSN 1062-9416)

 

CALIFORNIA SPINS OFF ITS VIRTUAL U. - The state of California has privatized its virtual university, turning it into the California Virtual University Foundation. The CVU Foundation includes the state's main university systems - the University of California, California State University and the California Community College organization - and several high-tech companies such as Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, Pacific Bell and Oracle. The Virtual University provides students a choice of 1,600 courses offered by 95 schools, all of which are available entirely online. "It's going to provide access to quality education to a larger percentage of our population," says Governor Pete Wilson. "Its accessibility is the reason it's attracting so many companies." (TechWeb 30 Jul 98)

 

WIRELESS ANDREW LINKS CARNEGIE MELLON CAMPUS - Carnegie Mellon's local area network, nicknamed "Wireless Andrew" after benefactors Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, links students to the campus network through a network of 400 base stations located around the campus, each of which can channel two megabits of data per second to each computer in their cell - about 1,000 times as much as a standard modem. Users are automatically connected to the LAN when they switch on their laptops, but if they choose to wander off campus, they can still link to the campus network via the city's mobile phone network. Designing the software to accommodate both high- and low-speed networks is the key to the system's seamless transmission. Researchers at the university now are working on a scheme to adapt video compression software to different levels of resolution, depending on the access point to the network. (The Economist Jul 18-24 98)