CONTENTS

UPFRONT - Effective Practices, a Five-Part Series
FOCUS - Third in a Five-Part Series - Using Videoconferencing to Connect Courtrooms
to Classrooms in Milwaukee Public Schools by Anne Knackert
UW - UW Selects New Course Management System, Bruce Dewey Receives Award,
UW-Stout Conference, Bridging the Gaps

LINES - March News Highlights
ED - Net-based Visualization Application, FSU Med Students Given Clinical Support
Tool
BIZ/GOV/ED - Data Storage for IT Departments, Organizations Modify Learning Plans
as War Cautions Increase
COPYRIGHT - "Copyright In the Digital Age" Session Reminder, Copyright Enforcement
Heats up on Campus, Experts Find Fault with Current Copyright Legislation, A New
Approach to Copyright
ACCESSIBILITY - Certificate in Accessible Web Design
DIGITAL DIVIDE - According to Report the Digital Divide is Shrinking, Faculty Honored
for Using Technology with Under-Served Students
TECH/TOOLS - New Tech-Based Research Tools, New Assessment Tool, Net
Snippets

NEW ON THE LIST - Welcome to New Subscribers
FYI - News, Events, Conferences
ENDNOTE - The Laptop Legend
_______________________________________________________________________

APRIL DESIEN FOCUS ARTICLE - Fourth in a Five-Part Effective Practices Series -
WisLine Web: An Essential Tool For Today's Public Service Employee by Christine
Javid, Extension Senior Editor.
_______________________________________________________________________

UPFRONT - In the National Academies Press Book, How People Learn (Bransford, et
al, 2000), the authors of the chapter "Technology to Support Learning" state that we do not
fully understand that "...technologies can be powerful pedagogical tools - not just rich
resources of information, but also extensions of human capabilities and contexts for social
interactions supporting learning." (pp 229-230) Like any cultural object, technologies operate
in a social context, mediated by teachers, students, and peers. This month's Effective Practice,
the third in our series, is an excellent example of using technology to do just this. Join Anne
Knackert and her students as she describes "connecting courtrooms to classrooms" via
videoconferencing to help students better understand the role that the court system plays
in their lives and the lives of the citizens in their community. (Rosemary Lehman)
_______________________________________________________________________

FOCUS

Using Videoconferencing to Connect Courtrooms to Classrooms in
Milwaukee Public Schools
by

Anne Knackert, Milwaukee Public Schools Division of School Technology
Support E2T2 and Connecting Courtrooms to Classrooms Project Coordinator

Abstract
Connecting Courtrooms to Classrooms is an educational partnership between the
Milwaukee County Court System and the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). Its
purpose is to help middle school students understand the role that the court system
plays in the lives of the citizens of Milwaukee. Thirteen judges have adopted students
from seven Milwaukee schools to build a relationship through face-to-face meetings,
email, videoconferencing, and online discussion. Students will master social studies
standards through: their course of study in the traditional classroom, real life contact
with the judge as a resource, the courtroom as their virtual classroom, and the teacher
as a guide. Outcomes will include a concrete understanding of the judicial branch of
government and the law for the students, a personal relationship between the judges
and the schools they are connected to, and a mentoring partnership between the judges
and the students themselves.

Introduction
The current school year, 2002-2003, has been a pilot year for this project. Seven
schools and thirteen judges have begun the process of building relationships, creating a
course of study, and collaborating in a unique way to support the achievement of the
middle school students. This partnership between the county court system and the
school system in Milwaukee is a creative way to connect community members - the
judges, and real life environments - the courtrooms, in the educational process of
teaching students about the judicial branch of government, and the process of law.

Description of Process
During the 2001-2002 school year, Susan Simkowski, Instructional Technology
Specialist for MPS, experienced a day in the courtroom shadowing a judge at
the Milwaukee County Courthouse. From that experience, an idea was born that
students would be more motivated to learn about the judicial system if they were able
to experience it firsthand as a learning environment. Judges Jeffrey Wagner and Carl
Ashley were immediately interested in the project as a way to create positive interaction
between adolescent aged students and the court system. With approval from Chief
Judge Michael Skwierawski, and the MPS administration, the project began its
planning phases.

Seven interested schools met with the two lead judges during the spring of 2002 to
determine the best way to implement the plan. It was decided that students would
need some type of overview to introduce them to the court system. The production
of a video was selected to introduce the Milwaukee County Court System to
student peers. Seventh and eighth grade students used four digital video cameras
to gather about nine hours of film. The students worked to edit and produce the
16-minute video focused on introducing the partnership between MPS and the
courts, while highlighting the many career opportunities available in the justice
system. Meanwhile, judges from both the Circuit Courts in downtown Milwaukee
and the Children's Court Center were recruited to participate in this project.

By fall of 2002, the project had been defined and the pilot year began. Schools
participating include Audubon Middle School, Bell Middle School, Hartford
University School, Milwaukee Education Center, Muir Middle School, Steuben
Middle School, and Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning. Judges
Ashley, Butler, Donald, Kremers, Kuhnmuench, Lamelas, Malmstadt, Martens,
Sankovitz, Wagner, and White all agreed to participate by creating a relationship
with a specific school.

Students viewed the introductory video to kick off the project and then began to
study monthly topics related to the judicial system. The emphasis on relationship
building between the students and the judges pushed participants to think outside
of the box regarding the way that learning would take place. Judges made their
first contact by visiting the schools and meeting the students in their own
environment.

To allow for more continuous contact that takes into account the busy schedule of
the judges, students have viewed the courtroom in action by connecting via
videoconferencing from their classrooms to their judge's courtroom. The students
experience the real life lessons of the courtroom and have the opportunity during
court recess to have real time conversations with the judge, asking questions
about what they observed and clarifying both process and human consequences of
the law.

The technical piece of making this happen is simple. The Milwaukee County
Courthouse uses ISDN for its video connections. MPS uses video over IP.
Normally, these two types of video technology cannot speak directly to each other.
A Polycom Accord MCU/Bridge at the School Technology Support Center
performs the transcoding necessary to allow the two sites to see and hear each
other. Schools preschedule the time frame set aside for the conference. The video
contact at the courthouse, Mike Pook, calls into the MPS bridge; the school
connects to the bridge via IP, and without having to leave their classroom, students
are viewing the law at work. The real time connection also allows the judge and the
students to have discussions before and/or after watching the court proceedings.

Another form of contact is provided in the UW System's Dot.edu web course
management system, Prometheus. On this web site, students and judges connect
virtually to explore topics such as "Juveniles Tried as Adults," "DNA, the Death
Penalty and State's Rights," and "Ask the Judge." Through asynchronous chatting,
students tap into the expertise of their judge when and where it is convenient for each
of them. Because the site is available from any computer connected to the World
Wide Web, students can log on to discuss the law from home, school, or even the
public library. Some students have even personally emailed their judge to ask
questions about legal issues they are studying or cases that involve their friends and
family. Students have also inquired about how they too could become a judge,
receiving information about years of college and experience needed to prepare for this
role.

Lessons Learned
One of the court system's objectives was to help students understand that the courts
are really a place of service to the citizens. Many possibilities beyond punitive
consequences are offered by the courts. As students have built a connection, both
electronically and personally, with the judges, their opinions and perceptions about the
work of the courts has matured and expanded. After viewing the court proceedings via
videoconference, a group of students wrote to the two judges connected to their class,
"Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us before court this morning, and
for allowing us to observe court proceedings. We were impressed with the amount of
respect shown to all defendants by every member of the court." Judge Kuhnmuench
responded, "I'm glad that all of you recognized that Judge Kremers and I are respectful
to everyone who comes into our courtroom. Being respectful and kind to everyone who
uses our courts is one of the most important jobs a judge must do. A judge must be
respectful to everyone, including the defendants that appear before us, because respect
is a two-way street and if we want to be respected for the important work that we do,
we must also remember to be respectful to the people that appear before us."

Another lesson we learned is that it is easy to plan the glitzy portion of the project, such
as the use of videoconferencing, email, chatting, and field trips. Much of our current
effort is focused on writing strong, age appropriate curriculum that makes the connection
between the state standards and the lessons learned from this exciting connection. The
excitement of the personal contact with the reality of the system provides strong
motivation and enthusiasm from students whose natural curiosity pushes them to learn
more about what they are experiencing. The ultimate goal is for these experiential
lessons to translate to greater understanding of higher level concepts of government,
higher achievement scores, and a better chance for our students to become successful
and involved citizens.

Conclusions
The access to new and convenient forms of technology has broken down the barriers
that prevented a project like this from succeeding in the past. Formerly, courthouse
outreach was limited to an occasional visit from a group of students to the courtroom to
observe and if they were lucky, have a discussion with the judge over lunch. This project
opens up the concepts of time and space to allow the judges to interact with students
from their home at any time of the day or night via their modem. It eases the cost of
buses and the time involved in a field trip by allowing the students to turn to the
television in their classroom to watch a trial or have a discussion with a judge in his
chambers. It creates an ongoing educational opportunity that allows the time needed
to make these concepts real by connecting them to current events, to the course of
study in the classroom, and to the actual experiences of the students. Viewing the justice
system at work and interacting with the judges far exceeds the lessons that could be
taught in any textbook series alone. Connecting "courtrooms to classrooms" has
become a shining example of how technology integrated where appropriate into a
challenging curriculum can blur the division between the school and the community to
create education for life, unobstructed by walls, clocks, or miles.
______________________________________________________________________

UW

UW SELECTS NEW COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - After a year of
careful study and evaluation, the Course Management System (CMS) Task Force
has recommended that the UW System enter into negotiations with Desire2Learn
(D2L) to provide their Enterprise System Course Management product. Representatives
from all campuses were included in the evaluation process. The final four systems were
demonstrated on each campus and comments from participants considered by a task
force. The task force is confident that D2L will be the best fit for the UW System over
the next five years. When negotiations are complete, an implementation plan will be
developed. Faculty and staff will be assisted in converting their courses from Blackboard
and/or Web CT to D2L, will receive training and support, and may continue to use the
Webcamps templates rather than D2L, if they choose. Full implementation of D2L is
planned for the summer of 2004. As more information about D2L becomes available, it
will be shared across the System. (UW System Information Release)

BRUCE DEWEY RECEIVES AWARD - Bruce Dewey, Instructional Communications
Systems, UW-Extension Distance Education Specialist has received a Collaboration/
Partnership Award for his assistance in training the participants in the 4H Youth
Development videoconferencing program "Wisconsin County Fair Judges Training."
Bruce along with other team members will be honored at the awards banquet of
the Wisconsin Association of Extension 4-H and Youth Development Programmers
(WAE4-HYDP) on April 9, 2003 in Madison.

UW-STOUT CONFERENCE - The Stout Technical Education Conference is
accepting proposals for its 50th annual event scheduled for Friday, October 10,
2003 on the UW-Stout campus. Technology Education and related teachers are
encouraged to share expertise in the field of technology education and highlight
innovative and creative classroom ideas, strategies, and curriculum with
colleagues throughout the state and nation. Call for proposal applications are
due on April 20, 2003. Contact: applehansd@uwstout.edu (Delivering Stout
Solutions Newsletter, Mar 03)

BRIDGING THE GAPS - UW-Madison will host a two-day Technology Symposium,
"Bridging the Gaps," May 20 and 21, 2003 at Grainger Hall. This Teaching and
Learning Symposium is free and open to UW faculty, academic staff, and teaching
assistants. (Alan Wolf, DoIT)
______________________________________________________________________

LINES - March News Highlights

- This year, academic-computing expenses will account for a larger portion of overall IT
spending than administrative computing, returning to the previous pattern of academic
departments outspending administrative ones. The report also noted that roughly 80%
of institutions in the survey have standardized on a single brand of computer in an effort
to control maintenance and training, and to simplify ordering costs -
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/03/2003032601t.htm (Chronicle of Higher Education,
26 Mar 03)

- A new spam-blocking service was announced by software designer Phil Goldman,
who is self-financing the Los Altos-based company Mailblocks. Customers will pay
an annual fee for the service, which intercepts messages from unknown senders and
automatically returns the message with a seven-digit number and a form to fill out.
The completed form, demonstrates that the message was not sent by an automated
mass-mailing machine, and the system forwards the email to the intended recipient -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/technology/24PHIL.html (New York Times,
24 Mar 03)

- According to the article "Technology Companies Take Hope in Charity" by Susan
Reed, Hewlett-Packard has been working with the United Nations on ways to
standardize and computerize the small-loan industry in the developing world. This
is part of a trend on the part of the technology industry where corporate collaboration
with non-profits and foreign governments is becoming a new way of doing business.
Another factor that enters into the small-loans idea is the company's new goals to
counter anti-Americanism and encourage the concept of global citizenship - http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/business/23PHIL.html?th (New York Times,
23 Mar 03)
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ED

NET-BASED VISUALIZATION APPLICATION - The Texas Advanced Computing
Center (TACC) at the U of Texas-Austin deployed a network-based visualization
application at two of its advanced computing centers to facilitate real-time collaborative
visualization between them. Installations at TACC's advanced visualization laboratory
of its main campus and in the main computing facility at its research campus, separated
by approximately eight miles, will enable researchers on both campuses to work
together to analyze the results of computational simulations. For example, researchers
in the UT Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences will be able to
collaboratively analyze data from high performance computing simulations with their
colleagues in the UT Institute for Geophysics at the research campus. The university is
using Wide Area Visualization Solution from TeraBurst Networks Inc. as the collaboration
platform. The company designed the solution to provide real-time connectivity between
geographically separate centers that use high-resolution, 3-D stereoscopic graphics and
video for visualization applications. (Syllabus News, Resources, and Trends, 25 Mar 03)

FSU MED STUDENTS GIVEN CLINICAL SUPPORT TOOL - Florida State
U (FSU) is providing its medical students and clinical faculty with access to a multi-
platform, decision-support tool, which links physicians at the point and time of care
with information on more than 450 medical conditions, 350 chief complaints, and
400 patient information sheets. The system, PDxMD, made by Elsevier, is designed
to be accessible via a desktop or handheld computer and will be used this year by
about 70 medical students and 80 faculty members across the FSU system. PDxMD
also links users with an online clinical information service called MDConsult, a
diagnostic support tool now used by more than 250,000 physicians when more in-
depth information is needed. (Syllabus News, Resources, and Trends, 4 Mar 03)
______________________________________________________________________

BIZ/ED/GOV

DATA STORAGE FOR IT DEPARTMENTS - For many organizations, storage needs
have doubled or tripled annually for the past few years. Increasingly, stored data must
be available to thousands or even millions of users on a 24/7 basis. And with much of
that storage directly attached to tens or hundreds of individual distributed servers,
configuration, backup, and other management tasks have become more expensive,
time-consuming, and staff intensive. There's now a Storage Area Network (SAN) that
offers the consolidation, scalability, and management advantages of Fibre Channel
without the unfamiliarity, complexity, and expense - Internet SCSI (iSCSI). iSCSI
combines three technologies most familiar to anyone running a typical corporate
network: Ethernet, IP and SCSI. iSCSI is a fairly new technology, but it holds great
promise as a SAN architecture. For more information see:
http://www.webseminarslive.com (eSeminars, 21 Mar 03)

ORGANIZATIONS MODIFY LEARNING PLANS AS WAR CAUTIONS
INCREASE - During the past weeks, the Masie Institute has been contacting
senior learning officers in organizations around the world, to see how they're
coping with the current war situation. Here are some of the comments and
strategies:

International Travel: Most of the organizations have implemented a short term halt
on non-critical international travel. In several organizations, all international travel
and learning events have been cancelled.
Domestic Travel: Most organizations are proceeding with domestic travel-based
learning events. However, they are adding online, videoconference, or asynchronous
attendance alternatives.
Use of Webconferencing: Serious increased use of webconferencing and
audioconferencing are planned in the coming weeks.
Conferences: Those hosting conferences during the next weeks are anticipating
decreased attendance based on location and also on travel requirements of attendees.
eLearning options are being added for those that cannot attend.
Distraction Levels: A number of been rescheduled in
order to cope with higher levels of distractions among attendees.
Corporate Communications: Ever since 9/11, many organizations have implemented
emergency communications strategies, to be able to use both email and web-based
applications to keep information and culture links in emergency situations. In the
US, many organizations have implemented "what if" plans, dependent on Homeland
Security Crisis Levels. (TechLearn Trends #255, 20 Mar 03)
____________________________________________________________________

COPYRIGHT

"COPYRIGHT IN THE DIGITAL AGE" SESSION REMINDER - Plan now to
register for "Copyright in the Digital Age: Challenges Facing the Academy,"April 3-4,
2003 in Greenbelt Marriott, Maryland (Washington, DC Metro Area.) Higher education
institutions are facing an increasing number of issues in an attempt to comply with
copyright law and also maintain an atmosphere that promotes learning and academic
freedom. Seminar participants, panelists, and presenters will explore in-depth some of the
most pressing issues facing intellectual property policy and higher education today. These
issues include the:
- application of the TEACH Act and compliance issues for higher education
- rise in demands for universities to crackdown on using university networks for
person-to-person file sharing
- development of alternatives to scholarly publishing models to expand the public
domain
- impact of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) on academic freedom
- impact of recently proposed IP legislation on the higher education community
For more information about speakers and the seminar agenda review:
Speakers: http://www.umuc.edu/odell/cip/seminar/speakers.html
Agenda: http://www.umuc.edu/odell/cip/seminar/agenda.html
Register online or call: 1-800-283-6832, Extension 7777. (UMUC)

COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT HEATS UP ON CAMPUS - Universal Studios has
stepped up efforts to control copyright infringement by sending an unspecified number
of complaints to colleges and universities across the country. On Friday, the UW-
Madison received complaints about 127 computers on its campus, and the U of
Maryland at College Park received 155. Rodney J. Petersen of the U of Maryland
said his institution receives about two or three notices on an average day. Officials
from both universities said the notices represent an enormous amount of work; a
representative of the UW said that by the end of the day his institution had only
tracked and contacted 12 of the 127 violators identified in the complaints. The
flurry of notices has so far not been repeated, but university administrators see the
need to have policies and procedures in place to deal with the potentially large
number of complaints that could come from other studios. The problem of movie
piracy may become as significant as that of music piracy, according to one university
official. For complete information see:
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/03/2003030501t.htm (Chronicle of Higher Education,
5 Mar 03 - Edupage 5 Mar 03)

EXPERTS FIND FAULT WITH CURRENT COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION - Experts
speaking at a U of California at Berkeley conference were in general agreement that
copyright law is currently being applied inappropriately. The event featured speakers
from a range of companies and institutions, representing a variety of perspectives on the
issue of copyright. Most speakers faulted the DMCA and its application, saying the
interests of the majority of persons involved are not being served. Notable DMCA
opponents Larry Lessig and Edward Felten spoke out against the current state of
copyright enforcement. Alex Alben stated that "What is happening is not what we
intended when we created the DMCA." Go to:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-990689.html (CNET, 1 Mar 03)

A NEW APPROACH TO COPYRIGHT - A new approach to copyright was recently
offered by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) He suggested that the answer to ongoing
wrangling over copyright is a policy of full disclosure, with content producers required to
explain clearly to consumers how and under what conditions a copyrighted work can be
used or copied. Users could then easily decide whether they would buy it. Wyden said
his approach is a market-based one. Although the government would have to specify and
enforce provisions of disclosure, market forces could compel media companies to retain
consumers. Wyden argued that the current influence of media companies on Congress
will prevent any legislative alteration of copyright law from passing any time soon. For
the full article see: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/5298641.htm
(San Jose Mercury News, 2 Mar 03)
____________________________________________________________________

ACCESSIBILITY

CERTIFICATE IN ACCESSIBLE WEB DESIGN - An estimated 50 million people
in the US have functional limitations that can affect their ability to use the web.
Recognizing this, Georgia Tech now offers a certificate program tailored to help web
designers and managers meet federal rules for providing access to public computer
systems for people with disabilities. "Section 508" applies to all federal departments
and entities, and to all contracts and grants that they sponsor. Many states are passing
similar legislation. Upon finishing the three-part course, students receive Georgia
Tech's Wesley Center for New Media Certificate in Creating Accessible Web Sites.
See: http://www.newmedia.gatech.edu (infocus Newsletter of UCEA, vol 8 no 2, Feb
03)
____________________________________________________________________

DIGITAL DIVIDE

ACCORDING TO REPORT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IS SHRINKING - A recent
report by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting indicates that the digital divide in
the United States is shrinking as children from all ethnic groups and income levels
increasingly use the Internet. The report states that children under 17 spend nearly as
much time using computers as watching television, with use of the Internet among
minority and low-income children surging over the past two years. More than two-
thirds of low-income households now have a computer at home, compared to fewer
than half two years ago. Gaps still persist, however, particularly with respect to
high-speed Internet access at home. See:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53259-2003Mar19.html
(Washington Post, 19 Mar 03)

FACULTY HONORED FOR USING TECHNOLOGY WITH UNDER-SERVED
STUDENTS - The American Association of Community Colleges awarded its annual IT
Faculty Technology Awards to Susan Gaer, a professor of English as a Second Language
(ESL) at Santa Ana College, and Joyce Hawkins, who teaches Wake Technical
Community College's information systems diploma program at the North Carolina
Correctional Institution for Women. The $5,000 awards, which are supported by
Microsoft Corp, are made to those who have helped their students succeed with the help
of IT. Gaer taught beginning ESL students how to use the Internet to comparison shop
and to develop video stories using family photos. Hawkins put together a program for
prison inmates to solve typical business problems using spreadsheet analysis, database
management, and other computer basics. (Syllabus News, Resources, and Trends, 11
Mar 03)
______________________________________________________________________

TECH/TOOLS

NEW TECH-BASED RESEARCH TOOL - McGraw-Hill Higher Education recently
unveiled Catalyst, a technology-based writing and research tool that is integrated with
"A Writer's Resource," the student-centered text resource for achieving excellence in
writing and learning. This powerful teaching and learning tool includes resources in
PDA downloadable format, online, and on CD-ROM, including tools for learning,
researching, writing, and editing. The PDA version of the software provides students
a pocket-sized, "always on" connection to the tools. The software also contains
more than 3,000 editing exercises and tutorials on conducting effective searches of
online and print resources to guidelines for avoiding plagiarism. (Syllabus News,
Resources, and Trends, 28 Mar 03)

NEW ASSESSMENT TOOL - Questionmark recently released Perception to Go
(P2G), which enables remote test takers to synchronize from their PCs to their Web
servers. Test takers can access new assessments scheduled by an administrator,
disconnect from the network and then answer questions, receive feedback offline,
and merge results back to their Web servers when they reconnect. Many universities
already deliver examinations via the Internet. This synchronization module will enable
users to download data in advance, only going back online to upload results, which
will reduce the load on the Web server. The tool will enable schools to conduct large
assessments without having to run servers that would lie idle at other times, saving on
transmission costs, and eliminating network latency that might affect the timing of
high-stakes exams. (Syllabus, News, Resources, and Trends, 21 Mar 03)

NET SNIPPETS - Net Snippets gives faculty a way to document online research and
students a way to avoid "laziness" plagiarism. This innovative Internet research and
information management platform provides a unique way to save and manage Internet-
based research. Net Snippets' simple, intuitive application replaces printing material,
bookmarking, and crude copy and paste. It provides a powerful platform for the
ongoing management of materials from editing, annotating, and indexing capabilities to
automated generation of formatted bibliographies, as well as the sharing of research
information, in support of collaborative projects. For more information go to:
http://www.netsnippets.com (Bentley College Sunnyvale, CA, 4 Mar 03)
______________________________________________________________________

NEW ON THE LIST - Welcome to new subscibers: Andy Thomas, Brenda Mallinson,
Colleen Keirn, David Strainick, Don Clapp, Trevor Longworth, Edie Saffron-Howell,
James Willoby, Jacqualine Downer-Lawrence, Freddi Brendemihl, Karen Baldwin and
Azri Alamad.
_______________________________________________________________________

FYI - News, Events, Conferences

* LERN SUMMER INSTITUTES - June 9-13, 2003 are the dates for the LERN
Institutes in Seattle, WA. This summer's institute sessions include: Successful Certificate
Programs, Strategic Planning of Online Courses, Successful Needs Assessment,
Marketing, Program Management, and Contract Training. For registration information
go to: http://www.lern.org

* AACE - The World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia, and
Telecommunications June 23-28, 2003, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA at the Sheraton Waikiki
Beach Resort, is hosted by the University of Hawaii and organized by the Association for
the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Full information is at:
http://www.aace.org

* SYLLABUS 2003 - The10th annual summer conference for education technology
professionals, Syllabus 2003, is a five-day event beginning July 28. The July 28
sessions will be at Stanford U; the following four days will take place at the San Jose
Marriott, featuring five new tracks on topics of strategic importance. Early Bird
registration is in effect until June 27 - Save up to $200 on the Gold Package and
attend all five days - For details go to: http://info.101com.com/default.asp?id=828.

* MERLOT 2003 - The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online
Teaching (MERLOT) announces its International Conference 2003 "Meeting Today's
Challenges through Collaboration, Community, and Concrete Approaches to Academic
Technology." The conference will be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, at the Hyatt
Regency Hotel, August 5-8, 2003. The call for participation deadline is April 18, with
information at: http://conference.merlot.org/conference/2003/call_for_submissions.php
General conference information is at: http://conference.merlot.org/conference/2003/

* 9th SLOAN-C INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - Attend the 9th Sloan-C
International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks, scheduled for
November 14-16, 2003 at the Rosen Centre Hotel, Orlando, FL This year's theme
is "The Power of Online Learning: Implications for Teaching and Learning." Deadline
for proposals is April 18. Program tracks include: the power of online learning,
implications for teaching and learning, implications for faculty and faculty support,
implications for learner satisfaction and support, learning effectiveness and outcomes,
institutional mainstreaming, and enhancing access and inclusion. Submit online at:
http://:www.aln.ucf.edu
_____________________________________________________________________

ENDNOTE - THE LAPTOP LEGEND

What would we do without our laptops? For many of us they are our constant companion
at work, at home, and on our travels.. So - it was interesting to read about the first laptop
and its creator and to discover that the laptop is celebrating its 22nd birthday this year..

The idea for the laptop came from Adam Osborne, a British technical writer, now one of
Silicon Valley's legends. Osborne introduced the first portable personal computer, the
Osborne 1, in 1981. The Osborne 1 weighed 24 pounds, had a five-inch screen and
came with a large library of software. It was a startling innovation at the time. Orders
for the Osborne 1 totaled 80,000 in 1981 and jumped to 110,000 in 1982. At one
point the company claimed it had a 250,000 backlog of orders. Then, a premature
announcement for the second-generation Osborne, the Executive, along with a failure
to jump quickly to a 16-bit processor and IBM compatibility, and increased competition,
led to bankrupcy for Osborne's company. He tried to rebound with another innovation,
Paperback Software International, which was an initial success but lost a legal battle to
LOTUS. With that disappointment, Osborne retired to his native India until his recent
death at age 64 - http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/26/obituaries/26OSBO.html?th
(New York Times, 26 Mar 03)
______________________________________________________________________

APRIL DESIEN FOCUS ARTICLE - Fourth in a Five-Part Effective Practices Series -
WisLine Web: An Essential Tool For Today's Public Service Employee by Christine
Javid, Extension Senior Editor.