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.
Directory of Educational Technology Dissertations
International Journal of Educational Technology
A Virtual Tour of ERIC
Ancient World Atlas Projects Links
More Atlases on the Web
How to Proctor from a Distance
Teaching and Learning Journal
Occasional Papers in Open and Distance Learning
Editor's Note
DIRECTORY OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DISSERTATIONS
"Doctoral Research in Educational Technology: A Directory of Dissertations, 1977-1998," compiled by Edward P. Caffarella, Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Northern Colorado, includes listings from fifty major U.S. universities of each student's name, graduation year, dissertation title, institution, and chairperson. This list is cross indexed so that the information can be retrieved in a variety of ways. The directory will be updated annually with listings for dissertations completed during the previous year.
The directory is available online in two versions:
Searchable version:
http://www.edtech.univnorthco.edu/disswww/dissdir2.htm
Text-only version:
http://www.edtech.univnorthco.edu/disswww/displai2.htm
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
The International Journal of Educational Technology (IJET) is a new 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 [ISSN 1327-7308] is published online twice each year and is available without an access charge. The journal is available on the Web at http://www.outreach.uiuc.edu/ijet/
Articles in the first issue include:
"Technology in Education: Who, Where, When, What, & Why?"
"Can Computer-Based Testing Achieve Quality and Efficiency in
Assessment?"
"Opportunities and Options for Web-Enabled Databases: Comparing in
Choosing the Right Software for Virtual Courses and
Communities"
IJET welcomes contributions from scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers in the area of computer-based educational technologies. Authors may submit research articles or book and software reviews. The subject matter should be concerned with theory and/or practice within the area of computer-based educational technologies. Email articles to ijet@lists.ed.uiuc.edu
For more information, contact the editors: Roger G. Hacker, Senior
Lecturer in Education, The Graduate School of Education, University of
Western Australia, NEDLANDS, Western Australia WA 6009; email:
ijet@lists.ed.uiuc.edu; Web: http://www.ecel.uwa.edu.au/~rhacker/
or
James Levin, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College
of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 210 Education
Building, 1310 S. 6th St., Champaign, IL 61820 USA; email:
ijet@lists.ed.uiuc.edu; Web: http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/People/Jim-Levin/
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) provides users with ready access to education literature. ACCESS ERIC has created a slide show, "A Virtual Tour of ERIC," as an introduction to the ERIC database and ERIC's other extensive publications, products, and services. The Tour can be viewed online in HTML or plain text formats. A PowerPoint version can be downloaded for use in presentations and workshops. Handouts to accompany the slide show can be ordered by calling ACCESS ERIC at 1-800-538-3742 or by sending an e-mail to accesseric@accesseric.org
The Virtual Tour is available at http://www.accesseric.org/resources/eric_train.html
ERIC's homepage is at http://ericir.syr.edu/
ERIC is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's National
Library of Education (NLE). For more information about the NLE, link to
http://www.ed.gov/NLE/index.html
ANCIENT WORLD ATLAS PROJECTS LINKS
On November 3rd, Richard Talbert and Thomas Elliot gave a presentation on Ancient World Atlas Projects for the UNC-Chapel Hill Scholarly Communication Working Group. Here are the URLs for the projects that were discussed.
Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World
The Barrington Atlas (to be published by Princeton University Press in
September 2000) traces ancient Greeks and Romans, the lands they
penetrated, and the peoples and cultures they encountered in Europe,
North Africa and Western Asia.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/cl_atlas/
Interactive Ancient Mediterranean
IAM is an online atlas of the ancient Mediterranean world designed to
serve the needs and interests of students and teachers in high school,
community college and university courses in classics, ancient history,
geography, archaeology and related fields.
http://iam.classics.unc.edu/
The Apollo Project
The Apollo Project site provides a large, searchable, online library of
images relating to Classical Antiquity. The purpose of this site is to
collect and catalog imagery useful in the Ancient Studies' classroom.
http://apollo.classics.unc.edu/
Register of Ancient Geographic Entities
The Register of Ancient Geographic Entities (RAGE) is intended to serve
as a clearinghouse where users can identify geographic features covered
in a variety of projects. It does not duplicate the functionality of
those projects, nor does it duplicate their data, except for names of
features that the projects have registered. For end users, it provides
a means of identifying complementary material from multiple sources;
for collaborators, it isolates and frees them from the problem of
interpreting multiple names for a single object.
http://perseus.holycross.edu/RAGE/
The Stoa Waypoint Database
The Stoa Waypoint Database is a repository of geographic coordinates
for sites, features, objects, routes, etc. of the ancient world. The
goal of the database is to facilitate the sharing of geographic
information among a wide audience for study and research purposes.
http://www.stoa.org/cgi-bin/gnd.cgi
Perseus Project
The Perseus Project is an evolving digital library of resources for the
study of the ancient world and beyond. Collaborators initially formed
the project to construct a large, heterogeneous collection of
materials, textual and visual, on the Archaic and Classical Greek
world.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
Perseus Atlas Index
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/atlas/
For more information about the UNC-Chapel Hill Scholarly Communication Working Group, see their website at http://ils.unc.edu/schol-com/
Mappa.Mundi Magazine focuses on "representations not just of geographical knowledge but also of the realms of spirit, of myth, and of imagination." The publication is a rich resource for map enthusiasts, webmasters trying to map complex websites, and researchers trying to visualize complex masses of data.
Articles and links from the November 1999 issue include:
"The Atlas of Cyberspaces," created by Martin Dodge, a Researcher in the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College London, is an "atlas of maps and graphic representations of the geographies of the new electronic territories of the Internet, the World-Wide Web and other emerging Cyberspaces." The atlas includes examples of how people try to visualize and represent link structures of the Web, the social patterns of an electronic community, and site maps of complex Web sites.
"Imaginary Places," by Stephanie Faul, director of public relations for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, provides links on geography in fictional works by Daniel Defoe, Thomas Hardy, J. R. R. Tolkien, James Thurber, and others.
Mappa.Mundi is available on the Web at no cost at http://mappa.mundi.net/
Mappa.Mundi Magazine is published by Invisible Worlds, Inc., 660 York Street, San Francisco CA 94110 USA. For more information, contact: Marty Lucas, Editor; tel: 219-896-4952; fax: 219-896-3013; email: marty@mappa.mundi.net
HOW TO PROCTOR FROM A DISTANCE
According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education ["How to Proctor From a Distance," by Dan Carnevale, vol. 46, issue 12, November 12, 1999, p. A47],"technology is offering students new and easier ways to cheat, especially in on-line courses. But the same technology is also giving professors easier ways to catch cheaters." The article contains a variety of methods that faculty can use to detect plagiarism and cheating in online assignments and tests.
However, detection technology alone cannot eliminate the isolation and anonymity that might incline a student to cheat. According to Jeanne M. Wilson, president of the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University, "online education only worsens that sense of isolation and anonymity. 'It's kind of like the difference between living in a big city and living in a small town where everyone knows your folks and would tell them if you did something wrong.'" To address this isolation, professors will also need to use communication technology, such as online chats and discussion forums, to get to know their online students better and to establish closer relationships with them.
The complete article is on the Web at http://chronicle.com/free/v46/i12/12a04701.htm
Overview is an online journal published by the Centre for Educational Development and Interactive Resources (CEDIR) at the Australian University of Wollongong. The publication includes essays and reviews on teaching and learning, short practical articles on specific teaching techniques, and information about conferences, networks, and special interest groups.
Articles in the current issue include:
"Using an Electronic Discussion List for Teaching"
"Using the World Wide Web in the Classroom"
"Promotion of New Educational Delivery Technologies"
Overview is on the Web at http://cedir.uow.edu.au/CEDIR/overview/
For more information about CEDIR, link to http://cedir.uow.edu.au/CEDIR/
OCCASIONAL PAPERS IN OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING
The Open Learning Institute at Charles Sturt University publishes Occasional Papers in OPen and Distance Learning [ISSN 1038-8958] primarily as an in-house journal for CSU teaching staff. The publication is available at no charge in electronic form on the Web. Issue numbers from 17 on are currently available online at http://www.csu.edu.au/division/oli/pubs/
For more information, contact: Peter Donnan, Editor; email: pdonnan@csu.edu.au; Web: http://www.csu.edu.au/division/oli/
Jim Morrison, editor of On the Horizon (OTH) and professor in the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education, has received news that OTH's publisher, Jossey-Bass Publishers, intends to sell On the Horizon. According to Jossey-Bass, this "decision is not based on editorial focus or material--we truly believe that the writing has been of the highest quality, that the issues have been well-designed and edited, and that the journal overall is one we are proud to publish. The low response rate from our promotional efforts over four years has simply not resulted in a solid return on investment in a reasonable amount of time." The final issue that Jossey-Bass will publish is the March/April 2000 (8-2) issue.
Morrison has been asked to assist Jossey-Bass in selling OTH. One scenario that he is pursuing is that OTH would be jointly published by several professional associations, with the costs of publication being borne by corporate sponsors, and made available as a free online publication. Several associations are considering this scenario. If you know of an association that would be interested in jointly publishing OTH with corporate sponsorship, please let Morrison know as soon as possible.
Contact information: James L. Morrison, Professor of Educational Leadership, CB 3500, Peabody Hall, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA; tel 919-962-2517; email: morrison@unc.edu
You can view OTH issues on the Web at http://horizon.unc.edu/horizon/