• UPFRONT - Wisconsin Distance Learning Call for Sessions
  
• A REQUEST- Pricing for International Clients
  
• LINES - Compiled from News Releases
  
• UW - UW-Madison Receives Pew Technology Grant, New TTT Issue, UW System Grant Application Forms
  
• ED ­ U of Texas May Require Digital Dissertations, Lessons for Teachers on the Net, A President Says That Universities Are too Slow to Adapt to Online Era
  
• SOME STATS ­ The Survey of Distance Learning Programs in Higher Education
  
• BIZ/ED ­ Learn at a Distance, Five Corporations Reportedly Bid to Join Universities in Distance Education
  
• TOOLS/TRENDS ­ The Intel® Play TQX3T, Racing to Convert Books to Bytes, Teleprompter Software for PCs, Race is on to Find Chips of the Future, Speech Recognition
  
• READS - Announcing Vol. 13 of the AJDE, Cyberpulse, Losing Ground Bit by Bit, Higher Education Through Open and Distance Learning, The University and the Knowledge Society
  
• RESOURCES ­ Dept. of Ed Unveils New Instructor Websites,
  Networking, Macromedia Announces Coursebuilder
• NEW ON THE LIST - Welcome to New Subscribers
  
• FYI - News, Conferences, Institutes, Events
  
• END NOTE ­ A Quote for Our Times
• FOCUS ARTICLE IN DESIEN JAN. 31 ISSUE ­ Planning and Using Distance Learning Space ­ Bruce Dewey

UPFRONT

WISCONSIN DISTANCE LEARNING CONFERENCE CALL FOR SESSIONS - The 16th
Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning is issuing a Call for Sessions, Workshops and Roundtables. The conference is scheduled to be held in Madison, WI August 2-4, 2000. Session proposals are due February 29, 2000.

Plan to join more than 1000 colleagues from around the world at this leading forum on distance education and training. Practitioners, managers and researchers from education, business and industry and government agencies will come together to exchange information and explore new developments. For more information go to: www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/

A REQUEST

DESIEN Subscriber Janice Carmichael writes:

Hello, I am looking at your good newsletter and wondered if anyone had written anything on pricing distance education to INTERNATIONAL clients; in particular, creative cost-sharing arrangements since the production costs of doing DL are high and we need to figure out how to split the costs with our clients in some honorable way. Thoughts?

Email Janice directly at: Janicec@admin.dup.gwu.edu. Also copy me at: lehman@ics.uwex.edu so that I can share the information with DESIEN subscribers.

LINES
Compiled from News Releases

According to the Consortium for School Networking the biggest event of the year was 50 percent of U.S. classrooms getting access to the Internet. This raises questions about teacher training for the best uses of technology in education. (New York Times Online 29 Dec 1999)

Lack of training is wasting school/computer outlays. Many schools now have the hardware and software, but they don't really know how to use it, according to Michaelle Fields of Futurekids. After investing in new technology, schools should devote money to maintenance and teacher training rather than viewing the investment as a one-time expense. (Houston Chronicle 29 Nov 99)

The increasing links between digital devices and PCs reflects an increasing trend that will have a definite impact on electronics and electronic sales. Sales of consumer electronics in the U.S. are
expected to reach $95 billion in 2002. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online 14 Dec 99)

Articles on disability issues and the Internet can be found on the electronic edition of the Christian Science Monitor at: www.csmonitor.com/. You'll find these articles under the "Ideas" section on the main page. There is also an audio piece that includes samples of what blind users hear from screen readers. (Jennifer Smith, OLIT, UW System Administration)

UW

UW-MADISON RECEIVES PEW TECHNOLOGY GRANT - UW-Madison was one of 10
universities nationwide to receive a Pew Technology Grant through the Center for Academic Transformation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. UW-Madison will use the funds to redesign General Chemistry to increase the level of active learning/student feedback. See:
www.center.rpi.edu/index.html for information about future grants.

NEW TTT ISSUE - The new issue of Teaching with Technology Today (TTT), an educational technology newsletter produced by UW System, is up on the web at: www.uwsa.edu/olit/ttt/. This is a special ART/DESIGN issue.

UW SYSTEM GRANT APPLICATION FORMS - A reminder that the electronic submission forms are up and available for your use in preparing your 2000-2001 grant application. To view the RFP and get access to the electronic submission forms go to: www.vital.wisconsin.edu/.

ED

U OF TEXAS MAY REQUIRE DIGITAL DISSERTATIONS - The University of Texas at Austin is considering joining the increasing number of schools that require graduate students to submit a digital copy of their dissertations. This spring the school will begin refining its digital-
dissertation policy, and might start requiring electronic submission as early as May 2001. Digital formats allow students to include multimedia such as video and audio, and can be made more widely available than paper formats. The first university to require digital copies of theses and dissertations was Virginia Tech in January of 1997. Virginia Tech allows students to limit access to their work because of concerns that online distribution could lead print publishers to turn down the
materials. The digital trend is now spreading around the globe, says Edward Fox, a Virginia Tech computer science professor who directs the Networked Digital Library of Theses and dissertations, which has over 70 members. One drawback of digital distribution is that technical
difficulties can limit preservation and access. Virginia Tech ensures that all materials are submitted online and on disk rather than tape, so they can be transferred into new formats as technology evolves. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online 4 Jan 00 - Edupage 5 Jan 00)

LESSONS FOR TEACHERS ON THE NET - The U.S. Department of Education has created the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) Web site to provide teachers with lesson plans at no charge. GEM was created by the National Library of Education and the ERIC Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. The lesson plans were culled from online sites for federal and state governments, nonprofit and commercial entities and universities. More than 7,000 items are available at the site. School teacher Mary Beth Blegen says, "GEM offers a quicker way to get at materials that are very specific lesson plans that are already done. At least there's a guide to work with, and that's better than [sorting through] pages and pages on the Web." GEM has been online since 1998, but the Education Department didn't want to promote the site until enough resources
were online to make it useful for teachers. (Wired News 16 Dec 99 - Edupage 20 Dec 99)

A PRESIDENT SAYS UNIVERSITIES ARE TOO SLOW TO ADAPT TO ONLINE ERA -
Gerald A. Heeger, president of the University of Maryland University College, advises colleges and universities to adopt businesslike practices when approaching their online education initiatives. "I would hope that people are cognizant of the advantages in being an efficient and effective organization," he says. Heeger argues that the vast and ever-changing Internet landscape requires schools to be open-minded in their approach to the market, which includes being open to adopting a businesslike attitude to education, something many school administrators have been loath to do. Universities will take different approaches to ensuring their survival in the online education market, Heeger says. An example of Heeger's willingness to meld business practice with education is NYUonline, which he helped create. NYUonline is a private subsidiary of New York University.
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online 1 Dec 99 - Edupage 3 Dec 99)

SOME STATS

THE SURVEY OF DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION - 1999 Edition (ISBN# 1-57440-022-3) based on a random sample of 61 college and university distance learning programs throughout the United States and Canada, lists the following stats:

* 93 percent of distance learning programs in North American colleges and universities use e-mail as a distance learning medium
* 57 percent use e-mail in conjunction with the WWW
* Instructor/tutor salaries account for the highest percentage of the distance learning programs' total costs and expenditures - 31.72 percent
* The programs in the sample spend a mean of $19,046.00 on marketing and advertising of distance learning.
* 86.96 percent of the programs operate at a profit, while 13.04 percent operate at a profit of greater than 50 percent
* 36.68 percent of distance learning instructors are adjunct faculty, a 34.16 percent increase over the 1998 edition
* 16 percent of the programs describe their distance learning courses as tailor-made for DL applications

For more information see: www.primaryresearch.com.

BIZ/ED

LEARN AT A DISTANCE - Online courses will most likely become the standard method of corporate training in the next few years, according to a recent InformationWeek survey. The study, which surveyed 300 IT executives, found that 55 percent of respondents rate distance learning as a top business priority for the year 2000. Distance learning has become popular because it reduces the travel costs and scheduling difficulties associated with traditional classroom-based training. A
variety of companies in different industries are now launching distance learning initiatives aimed at both employees and customers. IBM Learning Services, a division of IBM Global Services, was scheduled at the end of 1999 to offer satellite-based training to business partners, employees and eventually higher education institutions. Also implementing online training are Charles Schwab, which is establishing a learning center for its Internet brokerage unit, and Lockheed Martin, which is implementing KnowledgeNet Live, an interactive training product based on the traditional classroom model. (InformationWeek 3 Jan 00 - Edupage 5 Jan 00)

FIVE CORPORATIONS REPORTEDLY BID TO JOIN UNIVERSITIES IN DISTANCE
EDUCATION - International, Robert Murdoch's worldwide media conglomerate, is negotiating with Universitas 21, a global network of research universities that includes institutions in the U.S.,
Britain, China, Canada, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand, to deliver education over the Internet. Alan Gilbert, vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne and founder of Universitas 21, says the global network of schools adds value to the strategies corporations are developing. Murdoch says News International recently established Worldwide Learning, an offshoot dedicated to delivering distance-education programs online. "I think education is going to be a very big part of the Internet," Murdoch says. Four other corporations are said to be negotiating partnership agreements with Universitas 21. (Chronicle of Higher Education 3 Dec 99 - Edupage 1 Dec 99)

TOOLS/TRENDS

THE INTEL® PlayT QX3T ­ This computer microscope, created in conjunction with Mattel, is one of the coolest gifts. It is under $100, blows images up to 200 times and captures them in real time on the PC. You can even make time lapse photos of mold growing. Check this out. You can find it in a local computer or toy store, or go to: www.shopmattel.com. (Elliott Masie, TechLearn Trends - 21 Dec 99)

RACING TO CONVERT BOOKS TO BYTES - Although skepticism remains as to whether readers will embrace digital books, interest in the electronic format is growing, with young people leading the trend. The University of Texas at Austin plans to spend $1 million to increase its current collection of 6,000 electronic books. Students are checking out the university's digital books at astonishing rates, says librarian Dennis Dillon. "Usually a book has a one-third chance of being checked out," Dillon says. "So to have some title checked out 25 times in two months - that's shocking." Companies like Microsoft are preparing for a wave of digital reading, predicting that
electronic books will overtake print books within 10 years. Meanwhile, traditional publishers such as Random House are skeptical about the new format but are still moving to digitize all of their
titles. Startups such as netLibrary, which sells electronic books to libraries, are working to draw readers by offering a large selection of titles. However, in order to get publishers to sell titles, these
companies need to prove that sufficient demand exists for the digital format. (New York Times 9 Dec 99 - Edupage 10 Dec. 99)

TelePrompTer SOFTERWARE FOR PCs - As we move towards digital video production in-house in our organizations, the issue of teleprompters will arise. Some people are more comfortable with their notes or actual script on a TelePrompTer Renting a TelePrompTer can cost
a fortune. So, we located an easy to use, affordable piece of software that will turn a computer into a totally configurable TelePrompTer DRS-Digitrax allows you to load in a text file and display it for
the reader at any scroll rate required. You can use the mouse or mousewheel to change the speed or pause it to align with the pace of the speaker. There is a free download for demo purposes and the purchase price is $150. For a look go to: www.drs-digitrax.com. (Elliott Masie, TechLearn Trends - 21 Dec 99)

RACE IS ON TO FIND CHIPS OF THE FUTURE - Scientists worldwide are racing to redesign semiconductors to keep pace with computing innovations of the future. While semiconductors have so far adhered to Moore's Law, which states that computing power will double every 18 months, scientists fear that the limit may be reached in the next 10 to 20 years. "Unless new methods are developed, future scaling (shrinkage) of the transistor will result in a loss of total charge, an increase in resistance and a potential decrease in performance," warns Intel researcher Paul Packan. To avoid this barrier to computer innovation, IBM researchers are designing microscopic circuits that organize themselves into molecular structures under certain conditions. This technology shows promise, as scientists at IBM and elsewhere have already built organic molecules capable of forming channels for conducting electrical charge. Furthermore, molecular technology may reduce costs by eliminating the need for the expensive, dust-free manufacturing plants used today. (Financial Times, Information Technology 1 Dec 99 - Edupage 1 Dec 99)

SPEECH RECOGNITION ­ A recent edition of TechLearn Trends was written by voice. Using the new USB microphone version of Dragon Naturally, Elliott Masie, sat in a chair in his hotel in Chicago and talked to the readers of TRENDS. This technology has come a very long way in
the last year. After a 20 minute "training" period, it worked like a charm. Elliott got about a 98% accuracy rate and was talking at a conversational speed. Watch for speech recognition to hit wider
markets in 2000. Info on this system is at: www.dragonsystems.com. (TechLearn Trends 15 Dec 99)

READS

ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF Vol. 13 1999 of the American Journal of Distance Education. To order go to: www.ed.psu.edu/ACSDE/.

CYBERPULSE - is a free quarterly electronic newsletter about Internet searching and training intended for librarians, information professionals, Internet trainers and information searchers. The
newsletter is written by Rita Vine, a librarian and Internet trainer, for IMR Integrated Management Resources, Inc., a Canadian company that specializes in developing customized Internet training programs. Some issues of Cyberpulse are also published in Bibliotheca Medica Canadiana, the official journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association/Association des bibliotheques de la sante du Canada. You can get Cyberpulse delivered by email or read current and back issues on the Web at: www.imr.on.ca/cyberpulse/. (CIT INFO Dec 99 #18)

LOSING GROUND BIT BY BIT: Low-Income Communities in the Information Age ­ This most recent addition to Benton's "What's Going On" series examines the technology gap that separates America's low-income communities from the benefits of the information age. The report looks at the barriers that are slowing the spread of new technology in these communities. It identifies some of the policy issues that affect access to new communications tools and describes some promising
efforts to bring technology and skills to those who need it. The report offers an extensive, annotated resource section to link people concerned about these issues to studies and organizations that can help readers understand and address the problems facing low-income
communities in the digital age. To order call: 1-877-223-6866. The report is available in PDF format at: www.benton.org (UCEA Infocus Newsletter, November/December vol. 4 #9).

HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING: World Review of
Distance Education and Open Learning - edited by Keith Harry, 1999, Routledge provides a refreshingly global glimpse into the modern day development of distance learning. Twenty-three authors contribute papers on developments in their regions. Part I of the book covers broad themes in distance learning, including macro issues such as the internationalization of higher education and the impact of rising telecommunications structures on academia and lifelong learning. Each part of the book thereafter is devoted to papers authored by practitioners and administrators working in different regions: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Each author addresses issues that relate to the quality, cost, tasks, innovations and obstacles that distance learning has encountered since the launch of the first mega Open University in Britain in 1969. See the web site:
www.routledge.com. (Virtual U Gazette 12 99)

THE UNIVERSITY AND THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY is edited by Peter Baggen, Agnes Tellings and Wouter van Haaften. Philosophy of higher education series, no. 1. Bemmel-London-Paris: Concorde Publishing House, 1998. "The arrival of the knowledge society - a term referring to modern society's increasingly heavy dependence on information - turns out to be both a blessing and an evil for the university. On the one hand, the knowledge society needs what universities traditionally are best at, the production and dissemination of knowledge. On the other hand, the university is no longer the only or even the main producer of knowledge. Many competitors have entered the knowledge and research market, including vocational colleges, research institutes associated with high-tech companies and even the Internet. This dependence makes the university's position in society precarious. Because institutions of higher learning are forced to make the knowledge they produce fit the demands of their clients in order to retain both students and funds, these institutions find themselves at the mercy of intangible market trends." (Description from the publisher's Web page) For more information see: www.concorde-publisher.com/PHE-1.htm. (CIT INFO BITS Dec 99 #18)

RESOURCES

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION UNVEILS NEW INSTRUCTOR WEBSITES - Do you
spend hours searching for appropriate materials for your courses? Does a tight budget make your search even more frustrating? Good news, the search just got easier. This week the Department of
Education announced the availability of a new search engine designed to locate free instructional materials on the Internet. The Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) enables instructors to enter their course requirements and then click for a one-stop search of all free and appropriate educational materials: www.thegateway.org. A second new site, Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) provides a similar search capability for materials created with
federal support: www.ed.gov/free/ (E-News From UCEA 14 Dec 99).

NETWORKING - A new free electronic newsletter will deliver news in learning technologies to your desktop every two weeks. Networking is brought to you by The Node Learning Technologies Network. To subscribe send the message "subscribe networking yourfirstname
yourlastname" to editor@node.on.ca, or use the online subscription form at: thenode.org/networking/subscribe/.

MACROMEDIA ANNOUNCES COURSEBUILDER - Macromedia, Inc. recently announced Macromedia CourseBuilder for Dreamweaver, an extension application to Dreamweaver 3 for creating interactive Web-based learning applications. CourseBuilder enables professional Web
developers and subject matter experts to quickly author training content in a visual environment, without requiring programming knowledge. Information is available at: www.macromedia.com (2 Dec 99 TechLearn Trends).

NEW ON THE LIST ­ Welcome to new subscribers: Sharon LaVine, Tammy Rempel, S.J.A. Steijn, Faith Hensrud, Jutta Jerlich, Alexey Zapevalin, Anja Magnusson, Andrew Griffin, Laurence Peters, Deborah Langdeau, Rebecca Mancuso, Janice Hellyer, Stephen Twining. Karen Chisholm,
Linda Foster, Tara Crowley, Fredrick Coble and Corina Mondolfi.

FYI
News, Conferences, Institutes, Events

The International Conference on Mathematics/Science Education and Technology (M/SET) is scheduled for February 5-8, 2000 in San Diego, CA at the San Diego Marriott-Mission Valley. For more information see: www.aace.org/conf/mset/sessions.htm.

Training/Presentations 2000 is scheduled for February 21-23 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. Keynoters include: Desmond Tutu, Nicolas Negroponte and Jennifer James. To request a full conference brochure, visit: wwwrd.0mm.com/cg/rd.cgi?i=101001002.

The 15th Annual British & Irish Legal Education Technology Association (BILETA) International Conference will be held April 13 ­14, 2000 at Scarman House Conference Centre, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. The conference theme is "The Impact of Technology-led Globalization on Legal Education, Practice and Law". For more information see: www.law.warwick.ac.uk/bileta/.

The Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium will be held at the Earle Brown Center on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota, April 13-15, 2000. For more information about the conference see: www.micsymposium.org.

* VII Annual Conference of the Indian Distance Education Association, is scheduled for April 27-29, 2000. This year's theme is: "Reaching the Unreached Through Open and Distance Learning." The conference is hosted by Indira Gahdhi National Open University, New Delhi, India. For more
information email: ignou@delnet.ren.nic.in.

* Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ) Conference April 27-29, 2000 will be held at St. Margaret's College Dunedin. The conference theme is: "Supporting the Learner Through Open, Flexible and Distance Strategies: Issues for Pacific Rim Countries." Email the
programme coordinator at: c.mclachlansmith@auckland.ac.nz.

* The Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUCE) Annual Conference is scheduled for June 11-14, 2000 at Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The theme is: "Positioning Universities in the Knowledge Economy: The Business of Learning." For more information see: www.open.uoguelph.ca/cauce2000.

* You're invited to participate in the American Association of Higher Education's (AAHE) 15th Annual Assessment Conference on June 14-18, 2000, Charlotte, North Carolina. This year's theme is "Rising Expectations: Can Assessment Deliver?" The Call for Proposals is at:
AAHE's Web site: www.aahe.org/.

* The 4th International Computer Assisted Assessment (CAA) Conference has issued a Call for Papers. The conference is scheduled for June 21-22, 2000, in Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK. See: www.lboro.ac.uk/service/fli/flicaa/conf2000/index.html.

* WebNet 2000 ­ the 5th Annual World Conference on the WWW and Internet, Oct. 30-Nov. 4 will be held in San Antonio, TX at Adam's Mark Hotel, San Antonio Riverwalk. Submission deadline for proposals is Feb. 23, 2000. For more information see:
www.sanantoniocvb.com/index.htm.

END NOTE - "Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I've forgotten this before." - Steven Wright