THE NEW SCHOOL - Andy Rosenfield founded UNext.com in the hopes that it would become an elite Internet University serving people around the world who are unable to attend conventional schools, and people who already have degrees, but need additional education to advance their careers. Experts from four elite universities - Columbia, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and the London School of Economics - are helping to develop the coursework, which will at first focus on business, and later expand to other disciplines. The courses are put together in an interactive style that can feel more like a video game than a boring lecture. Students have a variety of interactive tools at their disposal as they try to solve realistic business problems. They can also engage in live chat with classmates or professors, and view video debates between top professors and economists.

The faculty already includes three Nobel laureates and Oracle's Larry Ellison is among the major investors. UNext expects to spend $100 million before it even goes live, but when it does, its creators are hoping to have developed a whole new way of teaching online. (Newsweek, 24 Apr 00 - EduPage 24 Apr 00)

$5,000 CASH BONUSES FOR IT TEACHERS - Two initiatives are aimed at supporting technology in education. The Information Technology Act of 2000, led by Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), would provide $5,000 bonuses to teachers who acquire certification in an IT course. In this initiative, $500 million would be earmarked for the bonuses over a five-year period. In addition, $100 million would be set aside over the next fiscal year for federal matching grants for the private sector and higher education to provide IT training for veterans, senior citizens, dislocated workers and other groups that lack a strong presence in the IT field. Some Republicans say the initiative assumes too much control over the way in which states spend money and also detracts from resources for hiring new teachers. A second initiative would boost resources of two existing school technology programs through an amendment to the National Digital Empowerment Act, a program that aims to bridge the digital divide. This plan would double the resources (from $75 million to $150 million) of the Preparing Tomorrow's Teacher to Use Technology program, for training future K-12 teachers to use technology in the classroom. (eSchool News Online, 10 Apr 00)

FOUR-PART PREDICTION SERIES (cont'd) - 16 Predictions for Higher Education

9. Cities will expect colleges and universities to pay taxes or a "voluntary" equivalent for services rendered by the city.

10. The US government will continue to certify institutions for access to student financial aid. By 2010, the number of eligible institutions will jump from 7,000 at present to more than 10,000.

11. Faculty in traditional colleges and universities will revolt against technological delivery of courses and programs and against the emerging expectations for faculty. Unionization and strikes will increase as faculty fight a rearguard action to try to slow down or stop the inevitable.

12. Accreditation and program approval will be based more on educational outcomes. Testing programs will be put in place by discipline organizations, federal and state governments, corporations and testing companies. Large corporations will develop their own approval systems By 2025, there will not be one national accreditation system, although the US Department of Education will provide a basic safety net for quality.

TO BE CONTINUED...
(Samuel L. Dunn, VP for Academic Affairs and a professor of business and mathematics at Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, ID)