From zita at ISI.EDU Thu Oct 20 18:40:45 2005 From: zita at ISI.EDU (Zita Wenzel) Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2005 15:40:45 -1000 Subject: [APRU-DLI] APRUNet Newsletter (V.4, n.9) Message-ID: <4358471D.1030905@isi.edu> ====================================================== APRUNET NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2005 (V.4, n.9) Current web issue and archived copies: To subscribe to the APRUNet Newsletter, see: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. APRU ?Distance Learning and the Internet Conference? 2. Upping the Ante for Videoconferencing 3. Katrina Boosts Online Education 4. Sloan Online Distance Education Workshops 5. Comments and Suggestions APRUNet Online Distance Learning Discussion List Register now at 1. APRU ?DISTANCE LEARNING AND THE INTERNET CONFERENCE? The 6th APRU Distance Learning and the Internet (DLI) Conference was held at Far Eastern National University (FENU), Vladivostok, Russia, from 4-7 October 2005. There were 108 participants, 88 of them physical and 20 remote (videoconferences and web presentations). A total of 43 universities from 11 countries were represented including 11 APRU member universities. The sixth in its series, the conference aims to bring together leading, international distance learning experts from academia, business and public sectors. The theme for this year was "Linking People through Information Technology Education". The sub-themes for the Conference were: 1. Content development in distance and blended learning 2. Infrastructure, technology trends and challenges 3. Cultural exchanges through distance learning 4. Student issues in distance learning and the Internet Issues addressed at the Conference included e-learning content and quality assurance, credit transfers, online degree recognition, aspects of infrastructure such as video-conferencing, technology-enabled learning, technology trends and challenges. Special interest topics for this year's conference included student experiences and presentations in distance learning, including the in-person graduation of a group of students who had received their bachelor?s degrees by distance learning between FENU and University of Maryland. The keynote address by Dr. Diana Oblinger, Educause, was delivered by videoconference. ?The Seventh Annual "Distance Learning and the Internet" Conference will be hosted by University of Tokyo from 8-10 November 2006. Presentations from this year?s conference, and information on next year?s conference, are available on the APRUNet web site at http://www.apru.org/activities/aprunet/. 2. UPPING THE ANTE FOR VIDEOCONFERENCING New York Times, 26 September 2005 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/26/business/26video.html ?Researchers are set to test a videoconferencing system that will significantly raise the bar for such technology. A demonstration of the new system will link speakers between the University of California, San Diego, and Keio University in Tokyo--a distance of roughly 9,000 miles--with video images at 4K resolution, or about 4,000 pixels wide. Attendees at the iGrid 2005 conference will be able to witness the demonstration on special displays made by Sony. Movie studios see 4K technology as the next step toward digital projection. They are about to introduce 2K digital video in some theaters in the United States and Japan. Many observers, however, argue that the higher-resolution standard will be necessary to replace the existing 35-millimeter film format and to legitimately compete with HDTV. Scientific research also stands to benefit from the new standard. Many fields now depend on complex imaging, and an optical infrastructure that can support extremely high-resolution images promises to expand the bounds of scientific research.? 3. KATRINA BOOSTS ONLINE EDUCATION Wall Street Journal, 9 September 2005 http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112622247296335918,00.html ?Educators at all levels--from elementary through college--are trying to figure out how to accommodate the estimated 200,000 students from the Gulf states who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and some see the circumstances as a prime opportunity for online education to prove its worth. Advocates of online learning are working to get federal authorities to relax rules governing things ranging from obtaining teacher certification to using public funds to support online schools. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has committed $1.1 million to the Sloan Consortium, an organization that works to improve the quality of online instruction, to provide space for 10,000 students in its program. A number of online programs for elementary and secondary students are hoping to persuade government officials to allow public funds to be used by displaced students in online programs. Julie Young, chief executive of the Florida Virtual School, one of the nation's largest online public schools, said, "It's going to be an opportunity to show the power of online learning." Critics said online programs are a poor substitute for in-class learning. Nat LaCour, secretary general of the American Federation of Teachers, said displaced students "need to be in classrooms with teachers who can provide nurturing experiences."? 4. SLOAN ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATION WORKSHOPS Please mark your calendars for the 11th Sloan-C International Conference on Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17-19 November 2005: This conference, which will provide the latest information on asynchronous learning programs, processes, packages, and protocols, is geared to both experienced professionals and interested newcomers to online learning who hail from a variety of work sectors, including higher education, continuing education, business, government, health care, professional associations, and nonprofit organizations. For more information, or to register online please visit: >. 5. COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS This is the networking activities newsletter of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). It is designed as a tool to assist in the development of advanced Internet capabilities among APRU universities and APEC economies. The key goal is to develop teaching and research applications that utilize advanced Internet technologies, e.g., distance learning, virtual conferences, telemedicine, etc. by sharing, networking, partnerships, and collaborations. This newsletter may be used to give or receive information on a project or to look for partners or collaborators. Comments or suggestions are encouraged and welcomed. For online current and past copies of the APRUNet Newsletter, see . Please send your news to . If you do not wish to be subscribed, or wish to add your name to the mailing list, please see http://mailman.isi.edu/mailman/listinfo/apru-dli. Zita Wenzel APRUNet Coordinator Please email Copyright (c) 2005 Association of Pacific Rim Universities. ======================================================