CIT Infobits - July, 2000
Issue 25
ISSN 1521-9275
About INFOBITS
Infobits is an electronic service of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ITS Teaching and Learning's Center for Instructional Technology. Each month the CIT's Information Resources Consultant monitors and selects from a number of information and instructional technology sources that come to her attention and provides brief notes for electronic dissemination to educators.
Distance Education from Plato to the Web
Distance Learning and Faculty Compensation
Who Owns Faculty-Developed Software?
Technology and Higher Education Books
Distance Learning and Traditional-Aged Students
Models for Distance Education
Editor's Note
DISTANCE EDUCATION FROM PLATO TO THE WEB
"The rapid proliferation of Internet distance education technology, courses and programs has led to both optimistic predictions of revolutionary change and dire expressions of concern over what the Internet portends for both the quality of student learning and economic status of the American professorate. Digital entrepreneurs and doom-sayer luddites both forecast far reaching changes for the American university, changes as substantial as those that followed the triumph of capitalism over feudalism, and involving many of the same forces of good and evil, cunning, and ineptitude." In his paper, "Plato as Distance Education Pioneer: Status and Quality Threats of Internet Education" [First Monday, vol. 5, no. 7, July 2000], Gary Klass (associate professor of political science at Illinois State University) traces the changes technology has played in distance education from Plato (with the introduction of the written word) to the current commercial development of Web-based "courselets" that supplement or replace traditional classroom instruction. You can read the paper at http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue5_7/klass/index.html
For more information, contact Gary Klass, Department of Political Science, Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4600 USA; tel: 309-438-7852; email: gmklass@ilstu.edu; Web: http://lilt.ilstu.edu/gmklass/
First Monday [ISSN: 1396-0466] is an online, peer-reviewed journal whose aim is to publish original articles about the Internet and the global information infrastructure. It is published in cooperation with the University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago. For more information, contact: First Monday, c/o Edward Valauskas, Chief Editor, PO Box 87636, Chicago IL 60680-0636 USA; email: ejv@uic.edu; Web: http://firstmonday.dk/
DISTANCE LEARNING AND FACULTY COMPENSATION
"What are the current policies and practices in higher education for compensating faculty who develop and teach distance learning format courses? Will the increased use of distance learning format courses alter overall labor conditions for American faculty? If so, how?" In "Early Patterns of Faculty Compensation for Developing and Teaching Distance Learning Courses" (Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, vol. 4, issue 1, June 2000), Gary Berg, Director of Extended Education at Chapman University, investigates compensation practices for faculty developing and teaching distance learning courses and the long-term implications for faculty and higher education as a whole. The article is available on the Web at http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/Vol4_issue1/berg.htm
For more information, contact: Gary A. Berg , Director of Extended Education, Chapman University and Claremont Graduate University, 16811 Vincennes Street, North Hills, CA 91343 USA; tel: 714-532-6049; fax: 714-997-6641; email: gberg@chapman.edu; Web: http://www.chapman.edu/cll/exed/index.html
The Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks (JALN) [ISSN 1092-8235 ] is published online twice a year by Vanderbilt University for the Asynchronous Learning Networks Web (http://www.aln.org/). Back issues are available at http://www.aln.org/alnweb/journal/jaln.htm
WHO OWNS FACULTY-DEVELOPED SOFTWARE?
"Is software traditional scholarly publishing, and thus owned by the professor? Or is it more like an invention, a work for hire, and thus owned by the university?" Scott Carlson explores these questions in "When Professors Create Software, Do They Own It, or Do Their Colleges?" (The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 21, 2000, p. A29). According to Trotter Hardy, professor of law at the College of William and Mary, "We're in a transition period between a time when no faculty member was expected to write software to a time in the future when it's likely that faculty will be expected to produce software in the form of course materials and teaching aids. . . . And if it's expected, then it will be more like everything else that professors do. Right now, no one expects faculty to write software, but they are beginning to. So it's pretty uncertain, and that makes it all the more important to have a policy." Read the article online at http://chronicle.com/free/v46/i46/46a02901.htm
The Chronicle of Higher Education [ISSN 0009-5982] is published weekly by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc., 1255 Twenty-third Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 USA; tel: 202-466-1000; fax: 202-452-1033; Web: http://chronicle.com/
Annual subscriptions, which include full access to the Chronicle's Web site and news updates by email, are available for $79 (U.S.); $123.05 (Canada); $150.00 (all other countries). To subscribe contact: Circulation Department, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1255 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037 USA; tel: 202-466-1032; email: circulation@chronicle.com; Web: http://chronicle.com/subscribe/
TECHNOLOGY AND HIGHER EDUCATION BOOKS
The "Breakthrough Books" column in the current issue of Lingua Franca (vol. 10, no. 5, July/August 2000) features the recommendations of six scholars and writers for the best recent books on digital technology and higher education. The article is available on the Web at http://www.linguafranca.com/0007/brbooks.html
Here are some of the recommended books, along with links to online portions of the texts:
The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age by National Research Council Committee on Intellectual Property Rights and the Emerging Information Infrastructure (National Academy Press, 2000. ISBN: 0-309-06499-6)
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309064996/html/
Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders by Anthony W. Bates (Jossey-Bass, 1999. ISBN: 0-7879-4681-8)
http://www.JosseyBass.com/catalog/isbn/0-7879-4681-8/
Electronic Collaborators: Learner-Centered Technologies for Literacy, Apprenticeship, and Discourse by Curtis Jay Bonk and Kira S. King (Erlbaum, 1998. ISBN: 0-8058-2797-8)
Table of contents: http://www.erlbaum.com/Books/searchintro/BookDetailscvr.cfm?ISBN=0-8058-2797-8
Dancing With the Devil: Information Technology and the New Competition in Higher Education by Richard N. Katz (Jossey-Bass, 1999. ISBN: 0-7879-4695-8)
Table of contents: http://www.JosseyBass.com/catalog/isbn/0-7879-4695-8/
Digital Diploma Mills by David Noble http://www.communication.ucsd.edu/dl/
Lingua Franca: The Review of Academic Life [ISSN: 1051-3310] is published nine times a year by Lingua Franca, Inc., 135 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 USA; tel: 212-684-9884; fax: 212-684-9686; email: web@linguafranca.com; Web: http://www.linguafranca.com/
Annual individual subscriptions are available $29.95 (US), $40.95 (other countries).
DISTANCE LEARNING AND TRADITIONAL-AGED STUDENTS
In "If We Build It, Will They Come? The Effects of Experience and Attitude on Traditional-Aged Students' Views of Distance Education" (International Journal of Educational Technology, July 2000), Professor Tracy Irani (Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, University of Florida) reports on findings that "provide support for the argument that, for traditional aged students, intent to take a distance education course may be directly related to direct experience of distance education as well as the attitude and perceptions of the peer groups to which they belong." The article is available on the Web at http://www.outreach.uiuc.edu/ijet/v2n1/irani/index.html
For more information, contact: Tracy Irani, Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110540, Gainesville, FL 32611-0540 USA; tel: 352-392-0502; email: irani@ufl.edu; Web: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~aecweb/
The International Journal of Educational Technology (IJET) [ISSN 1327-7308] is a refereed journal in the field of educational technology, sponsored by faculty, staff, and students at The Graduate School of Education at the University of Western Australia and the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. IJET is published online twice each year and is available without an access charge at http://www.outreach.uiuc.edu/ijet/
For more information, contact: James Levin, Editor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, 1310 S. 6th Street, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61820 USA; tel: 217-244-0537; fax: 217-333-6662; email: j-levin@uiuc.edu; Web: http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/j-levin/
The traditional technology model of higher education has been based on print-on-paper and lecture-based teaching. Digital technologies and site-independent learning requires a different model. In "Distance Learning: Are We Being Realistic?" (EDUCAUSE Review, May/June 2000), Diana Oblinger and Jill Kidwell discuss the distance education "market" and present some alternative models for distance education. The article (in PDF format) is available on the Web at http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm00/articles003/oblinger.pdf
Diana Oblinger is Vice President for Information Resources and Chief Information Officer for the sixteen-campus University of North Carolina system. She is co-author of What Business Wants from Higher Education (Oryx Press, 1998. ISBN: 1573562068) and The Learning Revolution: The Challenge of Information Technology in the Academy (Anker Publishing, 1997. ISBN: 1882982177).
Jill Kidwell is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP with over ten years' consulting experience in higher education restructuring. She is co-author of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report "The Transformation of Higher Education in the Digital Age."
EDUCAUSE Review [ISSN 1527-6619] (formerly Educom Review) is a bimonthly print magazine which explores developments in information technology and education. EDUCAUSE Review is published by EDUCAUSE, 4772 Walnut St., Suite 206, Boulder, CO 80301-2538 USA; tel: 303-449-4430; fax: 303-440-0461; email: info@educause.edu; Web: http://www.educause.edu/
Annual subscriptions to EDUCAUSE Review are $24 (USA/Canada/Mexico) and $48 (all other countries). Articles from back issues are available on the Web at http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm.html
EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The current membership comprises more than 1,900 colleges, universities, and educational organizations, including 200 corporations, with 15,000 active members. EDUCAUSE has offices in Boulder, CO, and Washington, DC. Learn more about EDUCAUSE at http://www.educause.edu/.
July 2000 marks the seventh anniversary of Infobits. I'd like to thank all the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty and staff who have supported me in this project over the years, first at the Institute for Academic Technology, and currently at UNC-Chapel Hill Academic Technology and Networks and its Center for Instructional Technology. I also want to express my appreciation to all the Infobits readers from all over the world for your suggestions and encouragement. I have enjoyed sharing Infobits with all of you and hope to continue for many more years.
-- Carolyn Kotlas, CIT Infobits Editor
