MOOS ARE BACK! - Multiple user object oriented environments (MOOs), one of the earliest forms of online meeting spaces, are being reconsidered as viable classroom spaces by many professors. Originally developed as spaces to navigate via text commands, the new MOOs make use of icons to move from room to room and allow professors to incorporate images and video. The University of Texas at Dallas recently developed a MOO, enCore Xpress, and is offering it 'free' to those who will share any changes they make to the system. To date the software has led to 100 to 150 educational MOOs. Those who use it contend that MOOs encourage more open discussion than would take place in a regular classroom. Some say that MOOs help bring about a strong sense of community. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 24 Oct 00)

CUSTOMIZATION: THE COMING CHALLENGE FOR EDUCATORS - Generation Z is on its way, according to a new article by Alison Stein Wellner in American Demographics, and educators would be well advised to start preparing for it now. "The demographics of American schools are dramatically changing, more so than at any other time in American history," Chad R. Wollery, former superintendent of the Dallas schools, told American Demographics, and demographers believe that even more change is on the way. Between 2001 and 2010, the number of non-Hispanic white children in the nation's schools is expected to decrease by 2.1 million, while children of Hispanic, Asian and other ethnic backgrounds fill the classrooms. These children will pose serious cultural and linguistic challenges. Wellner predicts that schools will respond by using technology to achieve "mass customization." The traditional age- structured classroom is expected to remain, but students will be sitting with their classmates while learning on their own. Wellner reports that some public school systems are already using data mining to get a fix on the challenges heading their way. But children raised on eye-popping multimedia effects and live global coverage of world events may pose their own challenge to technology. Wellner anticipates that the children of Generation Z will expect to participate in scientific, historical and literary discoveries, and contribute to human knowledge while at school, not just read about past achievements in books. Read more on the American Demographics website at CLICK: http://www.americandemographics.com/publications/ad/00_ad/0009_ad/ad000902.htm (E-News From UCEA, 13 Oct 00)

COLLEGES MOVE APPLICATIONS ONLINE - Colleges are increasingly moving admissions and other applications to the Internet as a way to improve communication with students, increase efficiency and reduce costs. Online applications were available at 77% of colleges last year, up from 68% in 1998, according to a National Association for College Admission Counseling survey. West Virginia Wesleyan College in August started requiring all applicants to submit their applications online, using tools provided through the school's partnership with Embark.com Embark.com's system eliminates the time-consuming task of data entry by integrating the online application with the college's database. Although West Virginia Wesleyan says it saves $15,000 by using the new system, the school says its main reason for moving applications online is because it makes admissions easier for students and improves communication. MIT's Sloan School of Management, which began requiring prospective students to apply online two years ago, also says the true value of online applications lies not in cost- cutting, but in improving customer support and limiting data entry. (WebBusiness Magazine, Sept 00 - Edupage 4 Oct 00)