Vice president Cheryl Waldrup calls the "granular model," which can be as short as two or three minutes. Students take self-assessment tests before beginning a new course to determine what material they already know and what they need to learn. Columbia University Teachers College psychology professor Deanna Kuhn said the granular model may work well for computer-related subjects but is less than ideal for complex graduate and undergraduate courses. "If we get it down to micrograin - much shorter than a class session - you lose some of the structure," she said. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln offers some bite-sized content, although not for credit. The university's department of agronomy and horticulture provides 15- to 20-minute long online lessons to help students master individual topics. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 3 May 01 - Edupage, 7 May 01)

THE SENATE MOVES CLOSER TO A FLOOR DEBATE ON THE EDUCATION BILL - Senate Democratic leaders stated last week that they would be willing to sort out their partisan differences about education financing on the Senate floor, according to the New York Times, a move that clears the way for the education debate to begin. Democratic leader Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota told the Times he was confident that at least a few Republicans would side with them, and that Democrats were prepared to make their arguments and offer amendments to increase education financing on the floor, if agreement was not reached. Democrats want an $8.8 billion increase in the education budget this year. President Bush has proposed a $2.6 billion increase. Republicans argue that education needs reform rather than more funding. "Money is a part of the answer," majority leader Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi told the Times. "We need to put more funds, both at the local and state level, into education. But we need fundamental reform." Read more on the New York Times website at CLICK: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/26/politics/26EDUC.html (E-News From UCEA #42, 2 May 01)

EUROPE VOTES $13.3 BILLION TO CHALLENGE US SUPREMACY IN eLEARNING - The European Commission's announcement in Stockholm last month, that it intends to challenge US supremacy in eLearning, has been followed by adoption of a $13.3 billion "eLearning Action Plan" designed to bootstrap its higher education institutions and public sector workforce education providers to globally competitive status. The three-year plan targets funds to overcome Europe's IT worker shortage, to develop virtual universities, to implement lifelong learning policies and programs in participating countries and to hasten the roll-out of promising educational technologies such as digital television and the wireless campus, among other priorities. An unusual provision of the plan is equality of digital access for all European universities. Disadvantaged institutions are to be given the financial help and technical assistance they need to achieve parity. Those with advanced technology will receive research support. Read the Plan online on the European Commission website CLICK: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0172en01.pdf (E-News From UCEA # 42, 2 May 01) (Requires Adobe Reader)

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EDUCATION/TECH LEADERS JOIN TO SET IT STANDARDS - Leading education and technology organizations recently announced their support of the Managed Learning System Research and Development Lab, part of a new vendor-neutral program to set the standards for technology in education. While initially funded by Intel, Dell, Microsoft, OneNet, SAP Public Services, Inc., EdVISION and Riverdeep, the lab is now open to sponsorship and use by other education providers and vendors to ensure interoperability. The Managed Learning System (MLS) is a program of JES & Co., a non-profit developer of education technology solutions and integration. Version 1.0 of the MLS spec is the result of more than three years of integration and prototype development, including the deployment of a fully operational system for the state of Oklahoma. With version 1.0 operating in Oklahoma, the MLS Program will focus on soliciting participation from additional technology and education leaders, revising the current specification and publishing a 2.0 version in 2002. For more information, CLICK: http://www.jesandco.org (Syllabus e-News, Resources and Trends, 1 May 01)