TL Infobits - October, 2006
Issue 4
ISSN: 1931-3144
Open Source in Higher Education
Adaptive Hypermedia
How Faculty Search for Electronic Publications
What Do Video Games Teach?
New Journal on IT and Organizations
Halloween Link: IT Horror Stories
Recommended Reading
OPEN SOURCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
The October/November 2006 issue (vol. 3, issue 1) of Innovate is devoted to open source and the "potential of open source software and related trends to transform educational practice." Papers include:
"Getting Open Source Software into Schools: Strategies and Challenges" by Gary Hepburn and Jan Buley
"Looking Toward the Future: A Case Study of Open Source Software in the Humanities" by Harvey Quamen
"Harnessing Open Technologies to Promote Open Educational Knowledge Sharing" by Toru Iiyoshi, Cheryl Richardson, and Owen McGrath
The complete issue is available at http://www.innovateonline.info/.
Innovate [ISSN 1552-3233] is a bimonthly, peer-reviewed online periodical published by the Fischler School of Education and Human Services at Nova Southeastern University. The journal focuses on the creative use of information technology (IT) to enhance educational processes in academic, commercial, and government settings. Readers can comment on articles, share material with colleagues and friends, and participate in open forums. For more information, contact: James L. Morrison, Editor-in-Chief, Innovate; email: innovate@nova.edu; Web: http://www.innovateonline.info/.
ADAPTIVE HYPERMEDIA
The Journal of Digital Information has recently published a special issue focusing on adaptive hypermedia. "Adaptive hypermedia systems are those that build a profile of the user and then deliver content that is appropriate for these needs, rather than the more traditional 'one-size-fits-all' approach of the web." These systems have the potential for tailoring online learning experiences to the individual student.
The complete issue (vol. 7, no. 1, 2006) is available at http://journals.tdl.org/jodi/issue/view/29.
The Journal of Digital Information (JoDI) [ISSN: 1368-7506] is a peer-reviewed Web journal, supported by Texas A&M University Libraries. Current and past issues are available at http://journals.tdl.org/jodi.
See also:
"Adaptive Hypermedia: A New Paradigm for Educational Software"
By H. Spallek
Advances in Dental Research, vol. 17, December 2003, pp. 38-42
http://adr.iadrjournals.org/cgi/reprint/17/1/38
[Note: online access available via a subscription by your institution.]
Although this paper discusses how adaptive hypermedia was used in dental education courses, it's findings can be applied to other disciplines.
HOW FACULTY SEARCH FOR ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS
Is the increasing availability of documents diminishing our reliance on colleagues for resource information? In 2004, Pertti Vakkari and Sanna Talja surveyed 900 faculty members and PhD students in Finnish universities to answer the question, "How are academic status and discipline associated with the patterning of search methods used by university scholars for finding materials for teaching, research, and keeping up to date in their field?" They report their findings in "Searching for Electronic Journal Articles to Support Academic Tasks. A Case Study of the Use of the Finnish National Electronic Library (FinELib)" (Information Research, vol. 12 no. 1, October 2006). One interesting discovery was that, in contradiction to earlier studies, colleagues were considered "unimportant sources for discovering needed [electronic] materials." However, the authors believe that, while this role for colleagues is diminishing, their role as "discussion partners concerning matters of research is considerably more important than their role as providers of information about literature."
The paper is available online at http://informationr.net/ir/12-1/paper285.html.
Information Research [ISSN 1368-1613] is a freely available, international, scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of research across a wide range of information-related disciplines. It is privately published by Professor T.D. Wilson, Professor Emeritus of the University of Sheffield, with in-kind support from the University and its Department of Information Studies. For more information, contact: Tom Wilson, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; tel: +44 (0)114-222-2642; fax: +44 (0)114-278-0300; email: t.d.wilson@shef.ac.uk; Web: http://informationr.net/ir/.
WHAT DO VIDEO GAMES TEACH?
"The important thing to find out about video games isn't whether they are teachers. The question is . . . what do they teach?" In "Are Video Games Evil?" (The Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2006), Chris Suellentrop looks at the range of ideas and beliefs associated with video games and those who play them. A prevailing opinion is that the games teach violence and other anti-social behaviors. However, he points out that even the U.S. military is "fashioning games that impart specific skills, such as parachuting and critical thinking," as well as games that teach traditional combat skills. Because of the inflexibility built into the structure of video games, the more important lesson that they teach players is "that the best course of action is always to accept the system and work to succeed within it." In that respect, Suellentrop writes that they may teach conforming to the rules than practicing innovative behaviors.
The essay is available online at http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=193155.
The Wilson Quarterly [ISSN 0363-3276] is published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It covers "issues in politics and policy, culture, religion, science, and other fields that bear upon our public life." For more information, contact: Wilson Quarterly, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20004-3027 USA; tel: 202-691-4200; email: wq@wilsoncenter.org; Web: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.welcome.
NEW JOURNAL ON IT AND ORGANIZATIONS
The purpose of the Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations is "to encourage authors to develop and publish quality papers that address in a balanced manner all three entities signified in its title: information, information technology (IT), and the organizational context." The online version [ISSN 1557-1327] is available free of charge at http://www.jiito.org/.
The peer-reviewed journal is published by the Informing Science Institute. For more information contact: Informing Science Institute, 131 Brookhill Court, Santa Rosa, California 95409 USA; tel: 707-531-4925; fax: 480-247-5724; Web: http://informingscience.org/.
HALLOWEEN LINK: IT HORROR STORIES
"Not for the squeamish." This year's annual Halloween link revisits some recent major IT catastrophes. They're more frightening than a horror movie or a ghost story because they really happened.
"25 Terrifying Information Technology Horror Stories"
CIO Special Report, October 31, 2006
http://www.cio.com/specialreports/horror.html
Recommended Reading
"Recommended Reading" lists items that have been recommended to me or that Infobits readers have found particularly interesting and/or useful, including books, articles, and websites published by Infobits subscribers. Send your recommendations to kotlas@email.unc.edu for possible inclusion in this column.
"Emerging Leadership Roles in Distance Education: Current State of Affairs and Forecasting Future Trends"
By Lisa Marie Portugal
Academic Leadership, vol. 4, issue 3, Summer 2006
"This paper discusses the enormous impact distance learning has had on traditional higher education and leadership roles within those constructs. . . . [It focuses] on transformational leadership qualities that are necessary for current and future successful distance education programs."
