- According to a new report from the Department of Education, enrollment in for-credit distance education courses at US institutions more than doubled from the 1997-1998 academic year to the 2000-2001 academic year. The report, based on a survey of about 1,500 institutions, showed a similar rise in the number of distance education courses offered and indicated that the % of institutions offering such courses rose from 44% to 56%. The survey highlighted the prevalence of Internet technologies videoconferencing and one- and two-way audio. Distance education is not replacing traditional education but has become an important alternative for many students who otherwise would not be able to participate -
http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/07/2003072102t.htm (Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 July 03)

- A new study asks "...is unregulated Internet usage addiction, habit, or deficient self-regulation?" The study of the online habits of 465 students in two Midwestern colleges, indicates that excessive Internet usage is linked to depression. Praised as a thoughtful inquiry into the origins of compulsive Internet use, the study asserts that the inability to regulate usage (deficient self-regulation) can intensify depressive moods and lead to further isolation. The study's findings are consistent with those for excessive use of conventional media, such as immoderate TV watching or reading too
many trashy novels - http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/07/2003070201t.htm (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2 July 03)

- Bullfighter: Stripping the Bull Out of Business is one of the funniest and on-target free pieces of software on the market. Just released by Deloitte Touche, Bullfighter scans documents for business "BS". It keeps businesses honest and a whole lot more down to earth in writing and thinking. It will have a field day on these types of comments:

"A value-added, leverageable global knowledge repository."
"A future-proof asset that seamlessly empowers your mission critical
enterprise communications."

The Masie Institute is using Bullfighter to scan all of its TechLearn 2003 sessions. (Masie Institute, 18 June 03)

- A new journal published by the Ethics and Public Policy Center hopes to narrow what its publishers see as a gap of understanding between technologists and lawmakers. According to Eric Cohen, editor of New Atlantis, "policymakers know too little about science, and scientists think too little about the ethical and social consequences of their research." Many new technologies open the door to privacy threats, a situation that calls for greater understanding of the social implications of technology. Article topics in the first issue of Atlantis include military technology and DNA databases -
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21794.htm (NewsFactor Network, 25 June 03)