If you often feel lost in the sea of acronyms that continue to surface in
distance education, let me assure you that you're not alone. Even those of us who
have been in this field for years sometimes feel as though we've barely caught our
breath before the next big wave washes over us. This new series of FOCUS articles
is designed to offer you a life preserver in four acronym areas.

Last month, Will Richardson, Supervisor of Instructional Technology, Hunterdon
Central Regional High School in New Jersey discussed BLOGs (Weblogs), a new
way to journal on the Web, as an individual or in groups. (Maybe you've tried it since
you read his article. Our Instructional Design Team is about to see how it might
work for us.) This month, Michele Jacques, Information Resources Manager
at Instructional Communications Systems, University of Wisconsin-Extension
(UW-Extension) tells you all about DAMs, Digital Asset Management. Michele is
on the Digital Asset Management Team, at UW-Extension and knows whereof she
speaks. You'll find her article not only informational, but fun to read. Don't miss the
complete article at: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/desien/2003/0309/jacques.htm

Next month the focus will be on Wi Fi and it's impact on learning spaces. In
November we'll complete the series with an article on Internet Protocol (IP) video.
After you've read these articles, plan to toss away your life preserver for awhile -
until you see the next wave coming.