Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera: ISU News, Interesting Links and So Forth
ISU Position Opening for Temporary Instructional Designer:
A temporary instructional designer position is open for application.
The prospective instructional designer will join Sharon Guan and
Christine Salmon on the course design team to support distance
course development. Since Sharon Guan is taking additional
responsibilities as Interim Manager of the Faculty Computing
Resource Center, a new person added to the design team will help
maintain the services provided to faculty members by the Office
of Distance Education and Faculty Development. The job will
be advertised in the Tribune-Star on Sunday, December 3. The
interviewing process will start January 3, 2001.
The Supreme Court has "upgraded" its web site to include
banners to announce recent rulings and, more importantly,
faster posting of information. Theory has it that recent
upgrades are the result of the Florida election cases, which
are currently featured via a banner on the home page at
www.supremecourtus.gov
Source: New York Times (Dec 1, 2000)
Visit "Magic Book" for a preview of 3D textbooks of the future.
A MagicBook looks like a typical book. However, when readers
view the pages holding a lightweight head-mounted display (HMD),
"...pictures pop off the page and come to life as three-dimensional,
animated virtual scenes. By touching a switch on the HMD, readers
can fly into the virtual scene and freely explore the immersive
environment." Possible applications? In anatomical textbooks of
the future, readers may be able to "...see virtual 3D animated
models of the heart floating above the page with text that describes
how the heart works. If they want to understand further, they can
fly into the heart model and experience it from the perspective of
a blood corpuscle." Magic Book is the creation of Mark Billinghurst,
a doctoral student at the University of Washington.
www.hitl.washington.edu/magicbook
Faculty are learning to leverage the power of the Internet.
One example is The Writers in Electronic Residence Program,
which enables students to receive critical feedback on their
writing from writer participants. This program began when
Trevor Owen, English instructor at Toronto's Riverdale Collegiate
Institute, linked his students with poet Lionel Kearns. The project
has grown to offer over 25,000 students the opportunity to receive
feedback from 50 writer participants.
Source: Toronto Globe and Mail (October 2000)
Faster connection via two-way satellite? Yes! This month
StarBand announced two-way service promising download speeds
of up to 500 kilobits per second, which is "...approximately
10 times faster than a 56K modem, slightly slower than
DSL or cable modem service. Uploading will be at about
150 kpbs." Service from StarBand requires the installation
of a 24-inch dish antenna and a satellite modem at a cost
of approximately $400 plus $199 for installation. Monthly fees
start at $60. Other companies, including Hughes Network Systems
and Wildblue, plan to offer similar services in the future.
Source: NY Times (Nov 23, 2000)
The Global Wireless Education Consortium was formed by 14
wireless companies, including Lucent, Motorola and Agilent, in
an attempt to prepare college graduates for careers in the
wireless industry. Over 40 college and universities have
joined the GWEC program which assists schools with curriculum
development in wireless technology and internships for students.
Each school pays $30,000 a year to join. Wireless companies
state that GWEC is an effort to produce workers who are current
with the latest technology and ready to begin work.
Source: Investor's Business Daily
Thought for December:
I hear I forget.
I see I remember.
I do I understand.
- Confucius
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teaching, learning, course design and educational technologies, and
events pertaining to distance education at Indiana State University.
We invite your comments, articles, and suggestions. Please contact
Interaction at interact@web.indstate.edu
Interaction is published by the Office of Continuing
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