VIDEO-CON-FERENCING - Jim Mayers, Offender Job-Linkage Coordinator for the Correction Department in the Cleveland area, gathered employers in downtown Cleveland and used the videoconferencing system to let them interview offenders at the penitentiary in Belmont, Ohio and the Marysville Correctional Institution for women, where inmates were soon to return to their homes. The groups were connected for about 10 hours for 29 interviews. The real boon was the employers' reaction. According to Mayers, Lincoln Electric hired one ex-offender after meeting via videoconference and conducting a few more interviews after his release. Husky Industrial, had never interviewed inmates before the videoconference and it opened the door for more soon-to-be-released inmates. Since the interviews, Husky has placed 12 ex-offenders from various Ohio prisons. Mayers is now interested in doing some job-specific training with inmates and he thinks this technology might be a way to provide it. (Training, April 98, p. 96)

ON-LINE ROLE PLAY SOFTWARE - Check out a new online role playing technology available from Method Software. It adds a multi-person simulation capability to online learning. The web site is: http://www.method.com (TechLearn Trends #54, 21 July 98)