In an attempt to look at the lack of IT knowledge among educators, Microsoft will donate $344 million in software and Intel will invest $100 million in cash equipment and other resources for training nearly 400,000 teachers in the U.S. and abroad. They will do this through a jointly designed program called Teach to the Future. This three- year program was developed to instruct teachers on how to use computers and integrate technology into class curriculum. The program is patterned after their earlier train-the-trainer model, Applying Computers in Education. Through Teach to the Future, 100 master teachers will be trained annually who will each train at least 20 additional teachers. (Government Computer News/State & Local Mar 00)

Lucent's Bell Labs have set a new record for transmitting data over fiber-optic cable by moving 3.28 terabits per second of data over 300 kilometers of Lucent's TrueWave optical fiber. At this speed, Lucent's fiber in one second could transmit three times the volume of daily Internet traffic for the whole world. Within years, fiber-optic cable could move tens of thousands of terabits per second of data. (Wired News 21 Mar 00)

An increasing number of universities are trying to find space in the corporate-dominated distance learning market through partnerships and venture startups with technology companies. Recent additions to the field are the University of Michigan Business, Columbia University, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Stanford University, Duke University, Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Critics fear this trend will sacrifice quality in favor of revenue. (RedHerring.com, 15 Mar 00)

Epylon.com will launch an e-commerce site that targets public schools, a largely ignored but potentially profitable sector of the Web market. According to the company, this will help school districts decrease administrative costs, obtain products faster and reduce the amount of time spent processing and fulfilling purchase orders, "ultimately allow(ing) the dollars to go to the classroom," claims Epylon CEO Stephen George. (Cnet, 21 Mar 00)