notHarvard's unique business model, free classes with commercial ads, has sparked the interest of barnesandnoble.com By developing a partnership, Barnes and Noble believes it can boost its book sales significantly. notHarvard recently registered 25,000 students in just two months for Metrowerks' tools unit. The course brought in ample revenues to repay the original investment. notHarvard sees itself as a hybrid between an online education company and a customer relationship management firm. (Business 2.0, 11 July 00)

According to the federal government, its E-rate program is helping to close the digital divide, and improving education standards across the country. In a new report from the Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC), the program has already helped wire some 46 U.S. communities and encouraged parents to become more technologically adept. The recent report is another confirmation that the E-rate program is a very powerful tool in leveling the playing field for everyone in the country. (Newsbytes, 00 July 10)

Three business schools will use chat rooms and videoconferencing to teach classes on the relationship between business and Internet technology. MBA students at the U of Virginia, the U of Michigan and the U of California at Berkeley, formed the partnership after observing the success of its MBA students studying via online programs abroad. While some critics charge that online classes damage interaction between professor and student, the greatest challenge is working out differences in grading policies, scheduling and transfer credits. (Wired News, 20 June 29 00)

The International Society for Technology in Education recently released national standards/recommendations for colleges that will be used in preparing teachers to use technology effectively in the classroom. The U.S. Department of Education awarded the nonprofit group a three-year, $2.2 million grant last year to develop the standards, which describe what beginning teachers should know and be able to do with technology. Teachers should be able to use technology in developing curricula, increasing professional knowledge and assessing students. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 30 June 30 00) (See related article in ED Section below)

The fastest growing age group of Internet users are women over 55, with a 98.1 percent use increase over 1999. Teens were the second-fastest growing age group on the Internet, with an 80 percent increase during the same period. The digital divide is one of the major inhibitors to greater Internet use. Some 78 percent of U.S. households with incomes greater than $75,000 have access, compared with only 21 percent of households with incomes less than $15,000. The United States dominates Web usage, with more Web users than the next 15 countries combined. (New York Times, 29 June 00)