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.
Multimedia Matrix for Distance Learning
Distance Education and Development
Current IT Issues in Higher Ed
Papers on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World
Information Design Blog
The More Things Change, the More They . . .
New Journal and a Call for Manuscripts
Recommended Reading
MULTIMEDIA MATRIX FOR DISTANCE LEARNING
In "Managing the Matrix: Using Multimedia in Distance Learning Projects" (SideBars, May 2004) Tanya Schecter and Bryan Fair examine the "benefits and drawbacks of including high, medium, and low level interactive media elements into a distributed learning program." They provide a matrix of interactivity levels that includes descriptions of the learning impacts and examples of software tools that support each level. The paper is available online at http://online.bcit.ca/sidebars/04may/inside-out-1.htm.
SideBars is distributed by email and on the Web at no cost and is published by the Learning Resources Unit of the British Columbia Institute of Technology [http://www.lru.bcit.ca/] to provide "useful information and news items for instructors, course developers, educational technologists and anyone else who has an interest in distributed learning in its various manifestations." For more information, contact the editors at email: sidebars@listserv.bcit.ca. Subscription information: http://online.bcit.ca/sidebars/subcribe.html.
DISTANCE EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
The focus of the latest issue of International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (vol. 5, no. 1, Spring 2004) is Distance Education and Development. Articles include:
"Open-Distance Education as a Mechanism for Sustainable Development: Reflections on the Nigerian Experience" by Rashid Aderinoye and Kester Ojokheta, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
"Tutoring Large Numbers: An Unmet Challenge" by Helen Lentell and Jennifer O’Rourke, Commonwealth of Learning
"Best Practices in Online Conference Moderation" by Adrienne De Schutter, Patricia Fahrni, and Jim Rudolph, Athabasca University
"Educational Wikis: Features and Selection Criteria" by Linda Schwartz, Sharon Clark, Mary Cossarin, and Jim Rudolph, Athabasca University
The complete issue is available online at http://www.irrodl.org/content/v5.1/index.html.
International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) [ISSN 1492-3831] is a free, refereed ejournal published by Athabasca University - Canada's Open University. For more information, contact Paula Smith, IRRODL Managing Editor; tel: 780-675-6810; fax: 780-675-672; email: irrodl@athabascau.ca; Web: http://www.irrodl.org/.
CURRENT IT ISSUES IN HIGHER ED
This is the fifth year that EDUCAUSE has conducted its Current Issues Survey which "identifies the issues that leaders in higher education information technology see as their most critical IT challenges." "Current IT Issues 2004" (EDUCAUSE Review, vol. 39, no. 3, May/June 2004, pp. 12-26) by Donald Z. Spicer and Peter B. DeBlois summarizes the survey's findings. Topping the list of major issues for the second year in a row is funding IT. Other concerns that leaders expressed include administrative information systems, security and identity management, faculty development, and e-learning. The article is online at http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0430.asp.
EDUCAUSE Review [ISSN 1527-6619], a bimonthly print magazine that explores developments in information technology and education, is published by EDUCAUSE, 1150 18th Street, NW, Suite 1010, Washington, DC 20036 USA; tel: 202-872-4200; fax: 202-872-4318; email: info@educause.edu; Web: http://www.educause.edu/. Articles from current and back issues of EDUCAUSE Review are available on the Web at http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/.
PAPERS ON LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD
The May 2004 issue of First Monday (vol. 9, no. 5) is devoted to selected papers from the Fifth Annual Conference on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World, which was sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and the University of Illinois at Chicago on March 3-5 2004. Some of the papers of interest to educators include:
"The Role of Museums in Online Teaching, Learning, and Research" by Kenneth Hamma, J. Paul Getty Museum
"Can Technology Make the Recommendations of Learning Science Practical and Affordable?" by Henry Kelly, Federation of American Scientists
"Building on Success, Forging New Ground: The Question of Sustainability" by Don Waters, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The papers are available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_5/.
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/.
The "InfoDesign: Understanding by Design" weblog provides a wide variety of resources for people designing websites and other online information repositories. The non-profit site was launched this year and is maintained by information designer and architect Peter J. Bogaards. The site links to papers, news items, conference announcements, and other resources pertinent to improving information design.
For more information, contact Peter J. Bogaards; email: pjb@bogieland.com; Web: http://www.informationdesign.org/index.php.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY . . .
Published three years ago, Mark Y. Herring's article, "10 Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library" (American Libraries, April 2001, pp. 76–78), is uncomfortably relevant today. Many of the Internet problems Herring addressed still trouble us: poor quality control, the absence older materials, incompleteness of so-called full-text sites, and search engine insufficiencies. The article is available online at http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/selectedarticles/10reasonswhy.htm.
American Libraries [ISSN 0002-9769] is published eleven times a year by the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611 USA; tel: 800-545-2433; Web: http://www.ala.org/. Subscriptions are included with membership to the ALA.
NEW JOURNAL AND A CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS
James L. Morrison, Infobits subscriber and Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership at UNC-Chapel Hill, is the Editor-in-Chief of Innovate: Journal of Online Education, a new peer-reviewed, online periodical that will begin publication in July 2004. Morrison is seeking manuscripts for publication consideration. Innovate will focuses on the creative use of information technology to enhance educational processes in all sectors (K-12, college and university, corporate, government). For each article, the journal will provide an online discussion forum, an interactive webcast that connects authors and readers, and a "read-related" feature that links visitors to articles on similar topics.
For more information about Innovate and to view the manuscript submission guidelines, go to http://horizon.unc.edu/innovate/guidelines/.
To receive periodic summaries of the contents of Innovate, sign up for the mailing list at http://horizon.unc.edu/innovate/.
Innovate: Journal of Online Education is published bimonthly by Nova Southeastern University. For more information, contact James L. Morrison, Editor-in-Chief; email: morrison@unc.edu.
"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.
Jason D. Baker, Infobits subscriber and professor in the Regent University School of Education, and Ken W. White, professor at Everett Community College in Washington State, have co-edited:
The Student Guide to Successful Online Learning: A Handbook of Tips, Strategies, and Techniques
Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2004
ISBN: 0-205-34104-7
"The Student Guide to Successful Online Learning brings together active online instructors and learners to share their experiences and recommendations on selecting an online program, types of online courses, communication in the online classroom, taking charge of your online learning, understanding the instructor's point of view, tips for online reading, writing, and discussing, online learning communities, online group work, dealing with online conflict, online mathematics courses, using the online library, and what to do after you get your online degree. The book offers novice online students a highly effective introduction and serves as a useful reference source for those more experienced in online learning."
More details and ordering information: http://vig.pearsoned.com/store/product/1,1207,store-6861_isbn-0205341047,00.html.
Infobits subscriber Christine Nelson recommends "Stephen's Web," a blog described as "a digital research laboratory for innovation in the use of online media in education." The site is run by Stephen Downes, a senior research officer with the National Research Council of Canada in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, where he works with the E-Learning Research Group. "Stephen's Web" is available at http://www.downes.ca/.