Archive for October, 2009
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Saturday, October 17th, 2009Special Collections as Laboratories
Washington–Don’t lock your special collections away in neglected corners of the library — use them to teach students about the possibilities and principles of research. Such collections should be put to use as laboratories where students work hands-on with primary documents, incorporate them into original research projects, and even publish the results [...]
Researchers Find Way to Reduce Energy Used by Computer Processors
Saturday, October 17th, 2009Researchers Find Way to Reduce Energy Used by Computer Processors
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a structure that would allow computers to process large amounts of information using less electrical energy. The new research could eventually reduce energy costs for colleges, universities, and other institutions that must process and store large amounts of information.
The [...]
Open Access to Research Is Inevitable, Libraries Are Told
Friday, October 16th, 2009Open Access to Research Is Inevitable, Libraries Are Told
WASHINGTON, D.C. Public access to research is “inevitable,” but it will be a slog to get to it. That was the takeaway message of a panel on the role libraries can play in supporting current and future public-access moves. The panel was part of the program at [...]
Open-Course Fan From ‘Chronicle’ Story Gets Layoff Reprieve
Friday, October 16th, 2009Open-Course Fan From ‘Chronicle’ Story Gets Layoff Reprieve
Steven T. Ziegler won’t be losing his job after all. At least not yet.
Mr. Ziegler figured prominently in a Chronicle article and video this week about the future of the open-course movement. The story recounted how the 39-year-old high-school dropout discovered free online lecture videos while recovering from [...]
New iPhone Application Takes On Traditional College Tours
Friday, October 16th, 2009New iPhone Application Takes On Traditional College Tours
Forget tour guides. A new iPhone application may be able to replicate the quintessential college tour, minus the huge crowds and backward walking.
The application, created by a Yale University student and two high-school students, provides information on about 100 different locations on the campuses of four universities — [...]
Vancouver Exercises Intellectual Muscle for the 2010 Olympics
Friday, October 16th, 2009Vancouver Exercises Intellectual Muscle for the 2010 Olympics
With the Winter Olympics less than five months away, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games has become preoccupied with building muscle — intellectual muscle.
The committee, in collaboration with more than 20 Canadian universities and The Globe and Mail, has created a series [...]
As Online Education Grows, National Providers Struggle With State Regulations
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009As Online Education Grows, National Providers Struggle With State Regulations
Washington — In the 1980s, higher-education leaders convened to study the emerging issue of regulating distance-learning programs that cross state borders. As technology became more accepted, they predicted, the inevitable result would be a more coordinated, national approach to regulation.
Not quite. Distance-learning technology has changed, with [...]
A Year Later, a Texas University Says Giving Students iPhones Is an Academic Success
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009A Year Later, a Texas University Says Giving Students iPhones Is an Academic Success
Abilene Christian University says handing out iPhones to its entire first-year class in 2008 has improved interaction between students and faculty members. That students use the devices so much for academic purposes, the university says, proves that the move was not just [...]
At One English College, Facebook Serves as a Retention Tool
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009At One English College, Facebook Serves as a Retention Tool
According to Gloucestershire College, in England, Facebook and other social-networking Web sites can do more than provide a platform for vacation photos, favorite quotes, and status updates; they can help reduce dropout rates, the BBC reports.
The media-curriculum manager at the college, Perry Perrott, says that with [...]
Research Bits: Computer Security Inspired by Ants
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009Research Bits: Computer Security Inspired by Ants
Research Bits is an occasional roundup of technology research. This week’s topics deal with digital ants, seeing the world from an animal’s point of view, and collages of the future.
Ants: an Inspiration
Ants. We’ve watched them march around their eponymous farms, we’ve seen them finish our picnic leftovers, and we’ve [...]