IAT Infobits - May, 1997
No. 47
ISSN 1071-5223
About INFOBITS
Infobits is an electronic service of the Institute for Academic Technology's Information Resources Group. Each month we monitor and select from a number of information technology and instruction technology sources that come to our attention and provide brief notes for electronic dissemination to educators.
Faculty Perspective on Computing and Scholarship
Information Technology at Smaller Institutions
Schoolhouse Tech
The Next Fifty Years of Computing
Internet Education Project
Samples of Market Research on the Web
Publication for Technology Leaders
The Chronicle of Higher Education's Web Services
FACULTY PERSPECTIVE ON COMPUTING AND SCHOLARSHIP
In "Top-Down Meets Bottom-Up: Making Ends Meet: A Faculty Perspective on Computing & Scholarship" (Educom Review, vol. 32, no. 3, May/June 1997, pp. 38-43), James Noblitt, IAT Academic Chair, explores the relationship between administrators (the "top-downs") and faculty (the "bottom-ups") in the use of information technology for teaching and research. Both points of view have validity, and both must reconcile their differences to assure success in the institution. To advance this cause, Noblitt provides a set of questions for bottom-up innovators who are trying to gain administrative support for technology solutions, and he gives advice to top-down people to help them open a dialogue with their faculty. The article is available on the Web at http://www.iat.unc.edu/publications/monitor/issue7/index.html
James S. Noblitt is Institute for Academic Technology Academic Chair and Research Professor of Romance Languages at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; email: jim_noblitt@unc.edu; Web: http://www.iat.unc.edu/publications/noblitt/noblitt.html
His article will appear in a longer version in The Future Compatible Campus, edited by D. G. Oblinger and S. Rush (Anker Publishing Co., Bolton, MA, 1997).
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT SMALLER INSTITUTIONS
While big research universities have more resources to invest in information technology, that doesn't mean that smaller liberal arts institutions aren't making strides in using technology to enhance the learning environment. In 1996, Grace Johnson-Page (Assistant Professor of Management and Accounting, Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio) took sabbatical leave to identify and interview a collection of liberal arts college faculty using information technology in the hopes that their stories would "inform and ignite a spark in those faculty interested in using computers but not sure how or where to begin." She shares what she discovered in her conversations and formal interviews with over 125 people at 26 colleges and universities in "Rethinking Teaching and Learning: A Reformation of Liberal Arts Education With Information Technology." Her report includes examples of specific projects and techniques that administrators, faculty, and librarians are using to adopt and adapt information technology on their campuses. Johnson-Page's report and all the interviews are available on the Web at http://www.marietta.edu/~johnsong/reform/
For more information, contact Grace F. Johnson-Page, Dept. of Economics, Management and Accounting, Marietta College, Marietta, OH 45750 USA; tel: 614-376-4631; fax: 614-376-7501; email: johnsong@mcnet.marietta.edu; Web: http://www.marietta.edu/~johnsong/
"Schoolhouse Tech" is a three part online dialog on high-tech education published in the electronic magazine Feed. The debate panel includes David Niguidula, from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform; Judah Schwartz, Emeritus Professor of Engineering Science and Education at MIT and Professor of Education and Co-Director of the Educational Technology Center at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; Luther Williams, Assistant Director of Education and Human Resources at the National Science Foundation; Eileen Barton, an English teacher at Sullivan High School in Chicago; and Mardell Raney, the editor of Technos Quarterly and manager of Technos Press.
The debate begins with projections of what the panelists think constitutes an ideal digital school. Part two tackles the question of how schools can make the most of new technologies and presents several examples of projects that are attempting to integrate technology into schools. The final part explores the value of edutainment-style software and the question of what well-designed software can do better than a teacher. Readers are encouraged to add their own comments and converse with the panelists in an online discussion forum. "Schoolhouse Tech" is available on the Web at http://www.feedmag.com/html/97.04dialog1_master.html
Feed is published weekly by Feed, Inc., email: feed@feedmag.com; Web: http://www.feedmag.com/
THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS OF COMPUTING
Beyond Calculation: The Next Fifty Years of Computing [New York: Copernicus, 1997, ISBN: 0-387-94932-1], edited by Peter J. Denning and Robert M. Metcalfe with a foreword by James Burke, was commissioned by the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) to commemorate the next 50 years of computing. The essays predict the scientific, social, and economic impacts of computers, written by people who not only are predicting the future of computing, but are also shaping that future.
Contributors include Vinton Cerf, Paul Abraham (co-author of UNIX for the Impatient), Sherry Turkle (author of The Second Self and Life on the Screen [see also "Simulations in the Curriculum," IAT Infobits, March 1997, http://www.unc.edu/cit/infobits/bitmar97.html#5]), David Gelernter (author of The Muse in the Machine and Mirror Worlds), Terry Winograd, (editor of Bringing Design to Software), Donald Norman (author of The Design of Everyday Things and Things That Make Us Smart), and Edsger W. Dijkstra.
For more information on the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.), the first society in computing, visit their Web site at http://www.acm.org/
The Emerging Technologies in Instruction Committee of the Association of College and Research Libraries Instruction Section (a division of the American Library Association), in conjunction with the Coalition for Networked Information, is sponsoring a Web site which identifies exemplary user education and training materials supporting use of the Internet and other networked information resources. The primary goal of the project is to provide a common focal point for librarians and others involved in the instruction and delivery of networked information to display and share model evaluated instructional materials. Examples of accepted projects, along with information for submitting your instructional materials, are available at http://www.cwru.edu/orgs/cni/base/acrlcni.html
For more information, contact Keith Morgan, The NCSU Libraries, Research & Information Services Department, Box 7111, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7111 USA; tel: 919-515-2936; fax: 919-515-7098; email: kamorgan@unity.ncsu.edu; Web: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/staff/kamorgan/etech.html
SAMPLES OF MARKET RESEARCH ON THE WEB
The expense of customized trends and market research newsletters and reports covering information technology and other markets generally limit such publications to an audience of corporations and others who can pass the costs on to their customers. That leaves out most academics who are studying new technology markets and whose libraries cannot afford to stock such expensive items with a limited audience. However, many of the companies performing and selling this information are now making samples of their reports and services available at no charge on the World Wide Web as a way of marketing their services to potential buyers. Using these sample sites, you can read many of the same market intelligence reports that someone may originally have paid hundreds or thousands of dollars for. Below are some samples of sites to explore.
IDC (International Data Corporation)
http://www.idcresearch.com/
Covers information/computer technology industries.
Forrester Research, Inc.
http://www.forrester.com/
Covers impact of technology change on large companies, consumers, and society.
Gartner Group
http://www.gartner.com/
Covers information technology industries.
Giga Information Group
http://www.gigaweb.com/
Covers information technology industries.
Dataquest
http://www.dataquest.com/
Covers information technology industries.
Frost & Sullivan
http://www.frost.com/
Covers healthcare, industrial, and information technology fields.
AC Nielson
http://acnielsen.com/
Covers consumer products and service industries.
Nielsen Media Research
http://www.nielsenmedia.com/
Media measurement across the United States and Canada.
Links to other market research companies' Web sites can be found by browsing Yahoo! at http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Marketing/Market_Research/
There are some drawbacks to using these resources: the samples may not be the most current information (although still useful for an historical perspective), some samples are only a subset of the complete report, and you are usually not permitted to print and distribute copies of the reports. Also keep in mind that while many of these companies conduct extensive surveys and polls and incorporate this proprietary information into their products, they also use government and other data that is available at no charge to you from other sources. Check with your campus library reference staff to see if the same data is available from other resources.
For information on using the Web to do your own market research, see "Brewing Up: A Web Approach to Industry Research," by Jan Davis Tudor. (Online, vol. 20, no. 1, July/August 1996, pp. 12-14, 16-18, 20-21, http://www.onlineinc.com/onlinemag/JulyOL/tudor7.html).
PUBLICATION FOR TECHNOLOGY LEADERS
Computerworld's Leadership Series is a monthly publication on management trends, case studies of leading-edge organizations, and new ways of directing technology in the workplace. Although its declared audience is senior-level IS management in the private sector, the issues are also useful for anyone involved in leading the technology advances in educational institutions.
The focus of the May 19, 1997 issue, "Leadership from the Inside," by Bart Bolton, is on the importance of having leaders throughout information systems organizations, not just at the top of the organization. Campuses are not immune to the changes occurring in the private sector: reinvention and restructuring of the organization, increased emphasis on the Internet, providing customer-focused services, and economic accountability. Bolton contends that all these changes require leadership at every level of an organization and that technical skills alone are not enough. In addition, management is not the same as leadership. Many of the traits that he says are needed to meet the challenges of these changes are also valued in academe: flexibility, concern for excellence, learning, and self-confidence. Read the entire issue on the Web at http://www.computerworld.com/leadership/
Contact Bart Bolton (facilitator at Lifetime Learning, Upton, MA, and at the Society for Information Management's Northeast Regional Learning Forum) by email: bartbolton@aol.com.
Computerworld [ISSN 0010-4841] is published weekly by Computerworld, Inc., 500 Old Connecticut Path, Box 9171, Framingham, MA 01701-9171 USA; tel: 800-552-4431 (for subscriptions); email: circulation@cw.com (for subscriptions); Web: http://www.computerworld.com/
Annual subscriptions are $48 (U.S.), $110 (Canada), $150 (Central & South America), $295 (all other countries).
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION'S WEB SERVICES
Academe Today is a service of The Chronicle of Higher Education, a publication for college and university faculty members and administrators. A subscription to The Chronicle includes free access to the Academe Today World Wide Web site and daily email updates. Non-subscribers can access Academe This Week, which summarizes the daily reports. Both Web sites include the week's top education news; news on information technology, finances, and conferences; discussion forums on educational issues; and a list of job announcements from The Chronicle. Academe Today also includes the full text of the current issue of The Chronicle and a fully searchable archive of more than six years of The Chronicle. Academe This Week is available at http://chronicle.merit.edu/.index.html
The Chronicle of Higher Education [ISSN 0009-5982] is published weekly by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc., 1255 23rd St. NW, Washington, DC 20037 USA; tel: 800-347-6969; fax: 202-223-6292; Web: http://chronicle.merit.edu/
Annual subscriptions (which include access to Academe Today) are $75 (U.S.), $123.05 (Canada), $150 (all other countries).
IAT Infobits was featured this month as one of Academe Today's "Sites of the Day." Their article on Infobits is available in the May 23, 1997, issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education on page A24.
URL: http://www.unc.edu/cit/infobits/bitmay97.html
Infobits editor: Carolyn Kotlas
© Copyright 1997, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All rights reserved.
May be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes.
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