The Intel Ministry of Education.

This post comes from the New York Times. There’s been a lot of activity on the technology-and-education front this week. First, One Laptop Per Child, the nonprofit project to bring computers to the developing world’s child, announced an innovative campaign to jumpstart its program.

Today, Intel announced a new initiative to rapidly broaden the reach of its program, Intel Teach. The Intel effort, started in 2000, focuses on training teachers around the world to use personal computers as a tool in classrooms. The company announced at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York that its program, up to now based on face-to-face instruction for teachers, would add a hybrid online program. In the past, Intel Teach involved 40 hours of in-class training for teachers. The new online offering will include eight to 12 hours of face-to-face instruction, and the rest over the Internet, at the teacher’s convenience. Click here to read the rest of this article.

Leading Education Industry Solution Providers to Offer Wimba Collaboration Suite Express to K-12 Community.

This post comes from CNNMoney. Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) and Wimba today announced a definitive agreement to distribute Wimba Collaboration Suite Express(TM) to Blackboard® K-12 schools and districts in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This strategic alliance will provide new and existing Blackboard Learning System(TM) clients (including Blackboard Learning System -- Basic Edition clients) access to the Wimba Collaboration Suite Express, at no additional cost.

The Wimba Collaboration Suite Express facilitates online access to voice, video and instant messaging tools (among other tools for today's 21st Century learners) for instructors and students to enhance teaching and learning.

Under terms of the agreement, Blackboard will distribute the Wimba Collaboration Suite Express, which includes limited versions of Wimba Classroom(TM), Wimba Voice(TM), and Wimba Pronto(TM) to its K-12 clients. The new partnership provides a unique benefit to members of the Blackboard K-12 community who will gain easy, free access to the industry's leading multi-modal solution for virtual and blended classes, professional development, and intercession and tutoring. Click here to read the rest of this article.

The Not-So-Great Fire Wall of China.

This post comes from the Chronicle's Wired Campus Blog.

China’s attempts to filter Web surfing might well be keeping citizens away from sites about Falun Gong and the Tiananmen Square incident. But even if the Web blockades are working, that doesn’t mean they’re especially staunch.

In fact, researchers at the University of New Mexico argue in a new study that China’s fire wall is surprisingly sievelike. Instead of simply blocking certain Web pages, the nation watches data passing through the Internet and filters out banned words and Web addresses on a case-by-case basis. According to the New Mexico researchers, that system allows Chinese Web surfers to browse freely, at least on occasion, and it causes the fire wall to become “particularly erratic” when a lot of people are online.

Still, there’s little doubt that the online surveillance restricts the flow of information: As the researchers told BBC News, many Web users censor their own searches for fear of the government’s prying eyes. —Brock Read

Get ready for the $40 school computer.

This post comes from eSchoolNews. One way or another, the idea of ubiquitous, low-cost computer access for schoolchildren, both in the United States and abroad, is fast approaching the point where goals turn into realities. Major technology players, including several large companies and a nonprofit group that is focusing on developing countries, have been working in different ways to advance the cause.

Things are moving along so quickly, in fact, that Stephen Dukker, chairman and CEO of the small, California-based company NComputing, predicts that by 2009 many schools will be able to provide their students with portable, online capabilities for as little as $100 each--and perhaps as little as $30 or $40 per user for non-mobile devices. Wireless capacity, says Dukker, should be a relatively inexpensive bonus by then.

NComputing has just broken new ground with an announcement that the Republic of Macedonia will become the first nation in the world to provide computer workstations for every elementary and secondary school student. Macedonia's Ministry of Education and Science selected NComputing over four other bidders and will use the company's "multi-user virtual desktop software," along with inexpensive terminals, to provide computing for some 400,000 students, most of whom attend school in half-day sessions.

The first 770 student "seats" were installed in three of Macadonia's high schools in August, with about 100,000 more scheduled to be deployed by the end of this year and another 80,000 expected to be ready by the end of 2008. Click here to read the rest of this article.

Military education: Online Education "Mythbusters"

This post comes from Military.com.

Learn to separate the myths from realities when it comes to online coursework.

Military education counselors have noticed an increasing number of their students signing up for online distance learning courses. A recent report by The Sloan Consortium confirms the rising popularity in online education. The report shows the following substantial increases in online enrollments over the last few years:

• 2002 = 1.6 million enrollments*
• 2004 = 2.3 million enrollments*
• 2005 Fall term = 3.1 million enrollments*

Although the number of students enrolling in online education is growing, some servicemembers and veterans still fear going "online" for their education. One possible cause for student wariness may be the number of "urban myths" that circulate about the online education experience. The following is a list of urban myths regarding online education:

Myth: Students are not as satisfied with online education.

Busted: At least 97 percent of students surveyed said they were "at least as satisfied." According to the Sloan Consortium — this is true for all types and sizes of institutions.

Myth: Online Education is a flash in the pan — It won't be around for the long term.

Busted: According to the number of enrollments noted above the rate of growth has increased. In addition — chief academic officers believe in it. Online education isn't going away anytime soon.

Myth: An online degree is not real.

Busted: An online degree from an accredited school is just as real as a degree you would earn by traditional means. In fact, many traditional education programs allow students to take online or hybrid courses — courses that combine online and classroom time. In most cases your diploma will not even reflect that it was earned online.

Myth: All online courses require students to log-on at the same time every week.

Busted: Most online courses are now offered in an asynchronous format, which allows students to log on when they are able, not all at the same time.

Of the many online education myths at least one has been substantiated:

Myth: Online students need self-discipline.

Confirmed: Online students need to be focused on their goals and need to have self-discipline to do well. Think of online education as a trade-off; what is gained in flexibility must be made up for in personal drive and determination.

In the digital universe of Second Life, classroom instruction also takes on a new personality.

This post comes from The Chronicle. Despite its image as an all-American city, downtown Peoria, Ill., home of Bradley University, is also a place of strip clubs and violent crime. For undergraduates, it's a risky environment in which to conduct field research. Edward L. Lamoureux, an associate professor in Bradley's multimedia program, saw a better place in the virtual world Second Life.

This fall he is teaching his second ethnography class online in a computer-created environment featuring buildings, lakes, and avatars — digital characters who fly from place to place, chat, and form communities. The program is Bradley's first foray into using Second Life as a platform for education. Students have analyzed, among other topics, online hackers (known as "griefers" in Second Life) and avatar fans of musicians who perform in Second Life. Click here to read the rest of this article.

Online-learning patent dispute with Blackboard heats up!

This post comes from eSchoolNews. With a lot of intricate back-and-forth on the legal front lately, online-learning enthusiasts might be forgiven for wondering whether a high-stakes patent dispute between Blackboard Inc. and Desire2Learn Inc. (D2L)--two companies that make enterprise software for web-based course management--will be resolved anytime soon.

In a recent development, a magistrate judge in a federal district court in Texas challenged terminology involved in Blackboard's claims in a patent-infringement lawsuit against D2L--invalidating some of the claims, at least for the time being. Some observers saw the magistrate's opinion, which was issued in early August after a hearing and arguments by both sides, as a major setback for Blackboard, but the company disagreed with that interpretation.

In a separate action, the federal agency that originally granted the patent has agreed to re-examine it--a process that takes an average of about two years to complete. Meanwhile, it is far from clear which party, Blackboard or D2L, might hold the upper hand if and when the lawsuit ultimately goes to a jury. A trial is currently slated for February, and the discovery process has begun. Click here to read the rest of this article.

Why many Universities are saying "NO" to Microsoft Vista.

This post comes from the Greentree Gazette. More often than Microsoft would prefer, universities are simply refusing to upgrade to its new Vista operating system, fearing the switch offers little more than a headache.Margaret McFee, a senior systems administrator for Harvard University’s Physics Computer Services, typifies university IT administrators who are saying ‘thanks, but no thanks.’

”Our bottom line is, 'Do we need this? Is this worth the effort?'” McFee says. “The answer continues to be 'No' each time we re-visit it.”

Such anti-Vista backlash is also in full swing at Princeton, where its Desktop Systems Council has posted a notice on the university website urging its computing community to hold off upgrading to Vista until 2008. Oregon State, Miami University and the University of Pennsylvania, among others, have published similar ‘wait-and-see’ cautions online.

Like many businesses, these and other institutions have given Vista’s initial release a test drive, and have discovered that much of their hardware – as well as many of their software apps – simply don’t work with Vista. Click here to read the rest of this article.

Chief Learning Officers Link Training and Business Goals.

This post comes from Workforce Magazine. Earlier this year, the medical device company Guidant Corporation decided to promote a longtime employee to the title of vice president, employee development, the equivalent of a chief learning officer, or CLO. The Indianapolis company’s executive staff thought that the time was right to better organize training and developmental opportunities and match them more closely with the business goals of the organization, as well as offer employees a map for reaching their own career aspirations.

"We felt we could be better at telling employees, when they start here, how they can grow and develop professionally," says Barbara Reindl, vice president of the St. Paul-based Cardiac Rhythm Management Group, Guidant’s largest division.

"We get many employees who just got out of college and want to have an idea of what kind of career they can have at Guidant," she says. "We want to be able to say, ‘This is the curriculum if you want to be a manager.’ We’d really love to create a feeling among new hires that they’re joining a learning organization, but it’s not as well marketed here as it is at Motorola and other learning organizations."

Susan Norton, who became head of employee development in August, has begun talking to divisional vice presidents about their training and development needs and how they should be strategically organized to meet business challenges.

One of Norton’s discussions resulted in the creation of a three-day workshop where Guidant managers from around the world had an opportunity to hear senior executives address leadership issues, network among themselves, and spend their evenings informally talking with other managers from all levels of the company. Guidant has held the workshops in Brussels, St. Paul, and California, and has received positive comments from managers about the program. Click here to read the rest of this article.

Smart continuing education produces ROI.

This article comes from the Business Times.

Question:

I recently read an article about the return on investment (ROI) of continuing education. It was refreshing to see some people talking about learning within the context of business, that learning can be a business driver. What are your views on the relationship between learning and business? What can be done to demonstrate that a positive relationship exists?

Answer:

One of the biggest issues facing human resources professionals today is the need to train and develop the organization’s employees. The development of a skilled and educated workforce is seen as an ongoing priority that is being woven into many organization’s strategic plans.

Let’s be clear on this point from the beginning: training and development is big business today. It has been estimated that more than $60 billion is spent annually on training for approximately 50 million employees in the United States. A confluence of events, including global competition, an infusion of information, and rapidly changing technology, has fueled the need for continuous learning in organizations. Many experts have come to believe that learning and competitiveness are now interdependent in this information age. After all, companies are facing more competitive challenges with fewer people, and those people must learn how to work harder, smarter, faster, and better. Click here to read the rest of this article.

New York Times Develops Online Course Content.

This post comes from the Chronicle's Wired Campus blog.

The New York Times today began to pair its articles, multimedia offerings, and even its reporters with faculty-created course material from about a dozen institutions, letting professors use the new resource for both credit-bearing and continuing-education courses.

The project puts the newspaper’s Knowledge Network on an interactive Web platform called Epsilen Environment, developed at Purdue and Indiana Universities. Epsilen works like an academic version of Facebook, says Felice Nudelman, director of education at the newspaper. “Faculty members can put up profiles, including résumés and important papers, and work they would like reviewed by their peers,” she says. “They can form working groups around topics of common interest.”

They can also develop courses around those topics, and students at different universities will have the chance to participate. Mount Holyoke College, for instance, is developing course work around the art and craft of film; Northern Kentucky University is creating a series of studies on women and entrepeneurship.

The cost for universities to participate varies, Ms. Nudelman says, but can be as low as $1 per student per year.­—Josh Fischman

Why Facebook has 40,000,000 users already and growing!

This article is from the L.A. Times. Mark Pincus may hold a winning hand with his latest Internet venture.

More than 130,000 Facebook users a day play an online version of Texas Hold 'Em that the San Francisco entrepreneur created at his kitchen table while his American bulldog, Zinga, slept at his feet.

This is not the poker of smoky backrooms or illicit gambling sites but a free, friendly game at one of the Internet's hottest hangouts, Facebook. Chips serve as social currency: The more you win, the bigger the swagger. Run low and you can earn more by inviting chums to join.

Welcome to the emerging Facebook economy.

Software developers have built more than 3,000 programs to run on the social networking site in the last three months. The uses range from the practical, such as buying music or scouting vacation spots, to the quirky, including sending virtual gifts or biting your friends to turn them into zombies.

About 80% of Facebook's 40 million users have added at least one feature to their profiles. The most successful applications claim millions of users. Click here to read the rest of this article.

America's 10 Most-Wanted Workers (in demand careers).

This post comes from Career Builder. A number of the in-demand careers mentioned have online training programs offered by Gatlin Education Services.

As more workers from the baby boomer generation retire, millions of jobs are opening up across a variety of industries; unfortunately, hiring managers are having trouble filling these vacant positions.

The reason? In some instances, there is simply a lack of interest in certain industries, such as manufacturing. Many of today's young professionals are focusing on jobs that require computer and analytical thinking skills, rather than ones that require working with their hands. In many cases, however, especially for hiring managers looking to fill management positions, the problem isn't a lack of candidates, but a lack of qualified candidates.

In order to resolve this problem, some employers are offering incentives to older workers who are willing to delay retirement for a few years. Others are offering hiring bonuses to attract new, more-qualified workers. Still, other companies are going right to the source of the problem, setting up courses with colleges and universities that train skilled workers or to pay students' tuition to prepare them for specialized work. Companies like Exelon and General Electric are providing research grants and scholarships for power engineering programs at four-year colleges. And the Natural Association of Manufacturers recently established the "Dream It. Do It." program to train young professionals and garner interest in manufacturing careers among students. To read the rest of this article click here.

Filipino farmers turning to government sponsored online learning.

This article comes from the Inquirer.net. GONE ARE the days when Filipino farmers just went about their work with bare feet, looking scrawny in stained, tattered clothes.

As today's farmer starts to ride on the technology wave, he now tinkers with modern equipment and is slowly acquiring knowledge through the information-rich cyberspace.

Various farming technologies have already been made available.

This is evident in some of the 4.8 million farms around the country, covering about 9.7 million hectares of land.

Farmers can also freely make use of the Department of Agriculture's "Open Academy for Philippine Agriculture." Click here to read the rest of this article.

Online courses click with busy students.

This post comes from the Tucson Citizen. The digital era is helping remove the need for college students to show up on campus. It's become more common for students to log on to the Web to apply for college, register, pay tuition, get tutorials and chat with faculty and advisers.

And more students complete entire programs online.

"There is a lot more interaction going on online," said Pima Community College Chancellor Roy Flores. Just think: No more long lines, scheduling around family and work, prowling for on-campus parking or sweat-breaking attempts to get to class on time.

PCC, as is the University of Arizona, is not only adding online classes, but is also increasing the number of programs entirely on the Web.

"People communicate online now as comfortably as we used to communicate face to face," Flores said. "We're obviously gearing up for online, but we're not making superhuman efforts to increase those enrollments. People just want them." Click here to read the rest of this article.

View on career-focused education

This post comes from the Opinion section of USA Today's blog. As thousands of eighth- and ninth-graders in Florida, South Carolina and Mississippi head back to school, they are being asked to make a choice that was once reserved for higher education: declare "majors" to pursue during their high school years.

How, you might wonder, can kids who can barely choose their favorite pizza possibly lay out their life paths? After all, many college students — and graduates — struggle with that decision. On closer examination, however, what sounds like an outlandish idea actually makes some sense, as long as it's flexible and doesn't detract from basic studies.

One reason so many students drop out of high school is that they don't see a connection between their school work and life beyond high school. Early matching of talents and interests can strengthen that connection.

Moreover, careers have changed. Many traditional blue-collar jobs, such as mechanic or chef, now require post-high school training. That takes preparation. Many high-level white-collar jobs require students to take algebra as early as eighth grade. That takes planning. Click here to read the rest of this piece.

America's Workforce: Healthy, Competitive and Growing.

This posts comes from the United States Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor today released America's Dynamic Workforce 2007, a new report highlighting major trends in the American labor market and the importance of education and skills training to maintaining the competitiveness of America's workforce.

"America's workforce is the envy of the world! Despite some recent market uncertainties, the fundamentals of the American economy are strong,
unemployment is near record lows, overall compensation continues to increase, and more than 8.3 million new jobs have been created since August
2003," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "What our country does face is a 'skills gap.' In a worldwide economy, the competitive strength of
America's workforce lies in its productivity, innovation, creativity and knowledge base. The majority of new jobs created over the next decade will
require more skills, higher education and pay above average wages, so it is important to ensure that workers are able to get the education and training
they need to access these growing opportunities."

Here are some of the current trends that illustrate the state of the economy and importance of education and job training: Many of these figures
were compiled from the newly released "America's Dynamic Workforce 2007,"
which is available online at http://www.dol.gov/asp/media/reports/workforce2007.
        
Highlights of America's Workforce:  Labor Day 2007

• In the first half of 2007, the national unemployment rate ranged between 4.4 percent and 4.6 percent. That is a full point lower than the average 5.7 percent unemployment rate of the 1990s.
• As of June 2007, more than 8.3 million net new jobs had been created in the United States since August 2003.
• Job growth in 2006 alone netted 2.3 million new jobs.
• By June 2007, total jobs reached an all-time high of 138.0 million nearly 5.5 million more jobs than the pre-recession high of February 2001.
• Through June 2007, the United States experienced 46 consecutive months of job growth.
• Unfilled job openings have increased by one million since 2003 and averaged 4.2 million vacancies at the end of May 2007.
• Between 2001 and 2006, non-farm labor productivity increased 15.3 percent and real compensation per hour increased 7.2 percent.
• Between 2001 and 2006, much employment growth was in industries with above average hourly earnings. Employment in professional and business
• services, construction and financial activities (all paying above average) increased 2.5 million.
• Between 2001 and 2006, employment in jobs associated with bachelor's degree or higher educational attainment increased 18.8 percent -- faster than any other category.
• In 2006, employer-paid benefits such as health insurance, paid leave, retirement savings, life insurance, workers' compensation insurance,
• 
  
• Social Security contributions and unemployment insurance amounted to 30 percent of average total compensation.
• The United States leads the world in manufacturing, accounting for 21 percent of worldwide manufacturing value-added, followed by Japan (13 percent), China (12 percent) and Germany (eight percent).
• With gross domestic product per hour worked at $48.30 in 2005, American workers are among the most productive in the world.
• Between 1970 and 2006, the proportion of persons age 25 to 64 with a bachelor's degree or higher more than doubled.

U.S. Department of Labor releases are accessible on the Internet at http://www.dol.gov.
regulations. 

Interview with the Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco.

This podcast comes from The Chronicle. In this podcast Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco discusses the challenges of rebuilding the Louisiana education system after Hurricane Katrina. Click here to listen to this interesting interview.