The creation of an aggregation point in New Mexico has opened multiple avenues for government, education, research, health care and emergency providers, and economic development by providing alternative options for high-speed data needs and substantial cost savings to members. As a nonprofit organization, Albuquerque Gigapop (ABQG) is dedicated to providing more connectivity options in a large land-area state with a vastly disproportionate population by developing mutually beneficial partnerships. Long-range benefits have been identified that can potentially change the current data delivery model.

The purpose of the following policy guidelines provide guidance for the appropriate use of bulk e-mail at Northwestern University, and when necessary, the approval to send bulk e-mail through the enterprise NU Bulk E-mail system.

At UNC Chapel Hill, an electronic mass email request system, Mass Email System is available to support requesting, approving and scheduling official mass emails.

Notes from the ITCOMM Constituent Group Meeting
EDUCAUSE Annual Meeting
November 5, 2009
Someone please organize an Educause panel discussion on IT Communications that Failed (and what we learned) for next year! Maybe OU? They talked about rolling out a new Exchange version when the customers didn't think the old one was broken (failure to secure customer buy in or broadcast critical need for additional storage space which was solved by new version).
Resources that came out of the meeting discussion:
1) Society for Technical Communications Don't be scared off by the name of the group, there are a lot of non-techie and techie-translated resources here.
http://stc.org/
2) IT Communicators mailing list and constituent group (CG) http://www.educause.edu/groups/ITCOMM

 
 
 
 
 
 
Notes from the ITCOMM Constituent Group Meeting
EDUCAUSE Annual Meeting
November 5, 2009
 
 
Someone please organize an Educause panel discussion on IT Communications that Failed (and what we learned) for next year! Maybe OU? They talked about rolling out a new Exchange version when the customers didn't think the old one was broken (failure to secure customer buy in or broadcast critical need for additional storage space which was solved by new version).
--------
Resources that came out of the meeting discussion:
1) Society for Technical Communications
Don't be scared off by the name of the group, there are a lot of non-techie and techie-translated resources here.

I hit a bit of a brick wall today - not always a bad thing - which makes me rethink the state of software. Could there ever be a seat-of-your-pants startup, like Facebook or Twitter or Flickr? I'm thinking not. The internet has evolved to the point where you need quite an infrastructure to create any sort of popular application, and existing applications have closed most of the niches, creating a large 'reinventing the wheel' hurdle to any new development. This will be the case for the new graphical software discussed in this post, especially as the applications favoured even by largish university projects are insufficient for the new environment.

It's hard to explain what I mean (which is the story of my day today) but I've been thinking of it like this: there was a time when you were inventing a new car where all you had to build was the car, but by the 60s or 70s you had to design not just the car but production lines, supply networks, dealerships, and a whole lot more; and moreover, the cars, with electronics and braking systems and the rest became a lot more complex. You can't just invent a new car today; it can only be done by an existing major player. The same, largely, with software.

Or - could you just build small simple things that interact? Do you have to build an enterprise system every time you want to build an application? Doug Holton, EdTechDev, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Twitter, Books, Networks, Project Based Learning, Flickr] [Link] [Comment]

Making the rounds today is this classroom parody of The Office (which itself is parody). Not only does the classroom ring true, in more ways than once, it's also a great example of students exercising their own creativity (in a manner exactly opposite to the classroom portrayed in The Class). Note how one act of creativity uses a prior act as a frame. This is common, and fundamental to creativity. Also, it wouldn't be a YouTube hit unless it was inspired by something people already know. Michael Wesch, Digital Ethnography, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Video, YouTube] [Link] [Comment]

What I like about this is that it's e-learning having nothing to do with screen or keyboard. Rather, it's a laser scanner and a 3D printer, and what it produces is a series of models of an onion growing, so you can see for yourself the stages of growth. If a garden is slow music, as Michael L Umphrey says, then this is the score. Wayne Hodgins, Off Course On Target, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Online Learning, Project Based Learning] [Link] [Comment]

I'm looking forward to a wealth of new reading material available for free online. This time, it's courtesy of the British Library (though of course there are some obligatory sponsorship spots built in). We'll see if it's a case of books really being available free, or whether it's a case of them being free if you buy someone else's hardware. Rocjard Brooks, The Times, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Great Britain, Books] [Link] [Comment]

I admit it - I monitor what people have to say about me online. I need to do this for Twitter, otherwise I'd never get messages. It's also pretty useful if I want to be able to respond to blog comments. But most of all, I do it to find new stuff - if someone's linking to or talking about me, then probably they also link to or talk to things that I'm interested in, which makes them a pretty good source for me. So the techniques mentioned in this post? Yes, I use them. Tina, MakeUseOf, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Twitter, Linking and Deep Linking, Web Logs] [Link] [Comment]

Because everybody loves these 'list' posts - so much easier to read than posts with sentences. Jane Hart, Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Video] [Link] [Comment]

Historically, IT spending has been viewed—fairly or unfairly—as little more than a cost of doing business. Productivity and even profitability gains accrue from IT, to be sure. But because no comprehensive, credible system has been in place to accurately capture and analyze IT costs against the IT services they provide, I believe it’s difficult for CIOs and their staffs to uncover the insights that support wise decision-making aligned with business goals. I am curious to know how you feel about the importance of having IT financial information at your fingertips. Please read the article and get back to me with your input. Copy the link to view and comment.

Chaouki Regoui talks about what puts the "p" in PLE. "What information to have about the learner (simply called learner profile)? Which information is provided by the learner and which is collected about him/her (through his/her learning patterns, from external sources etc. )?" Chaouki Regoui, Plearn Blog, February 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

Michael Weinberg writes in a Public Knowledge blog, "Being able to watch videos on your own time is a great boon to students. There is no practical reason that a student has to be in a certain place at a certain time to watch a video for class. In a world of DVRs, being forced to take two hours in the middle of the day to hike down to the media lab seems like a waste of everyone¹s time. However, because UCLA is skittish about copyright liability, a single threat of suit is enough to shut down the entire Video Furnace system. Even if AIME¹s claim is completely valid, that does not mean that every video on UCLA¹s system is infringing. In fact, considering the discussion above, it is highly likely that most of the videos are not infringing. After all, the original article mentioned film students watching films for their film class."

Awwww. I love XKCD too. Elaine Doyle & Olga Nunes, Weblog, February 8, 2010 [Tags: none] [Link] [Comment]

Insert Carlyn's notes here.

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The way music works, you use one song as a frame from which to create a new song. You need to do this - derive from existing archetypes - because otherwise you just end up reinventing songs that have already been written, and get sued, like George Harrison did, even if you did no wrong (thanks to musician Don Belliveau for explaining all this to me). So anyhow, Lady Gaga and Elton John performed a duet at the Grammys, and as this item explains, they "went meta" - "'How wonderful life is with Gaga in the world,' John sang." But it's not just that the lyrics were self-referential. Gaga's Speechless uses Elton John's Your Song as its frame, something that was evident by the way they merged, so when Gaga sings "this is your song, I hope you don't mind" she's acknowledging the song's origins. Which is why it's nice that Elton sings back, "You can tell everyone this is your song." That's how creativity and innovation works, and that's what our intellectual; property system is in the process of wrecking, and be fairly warned, once you break that chain of innovation, you can't get it back; you have to start from scratch again. Which is why the dark ages were so, um, dark. Merrill Perlman, Columbia Journalism Review, February 8, 2010 [Tags: Patents] [Link] [Comment]

• Google Working on Speech-to-Speech Phone Translation [Google]

The former co-owners of a New Jersey computer services provider each have been sentenced to 27 months in prison on charges of conspiracy to defraud the federal e-Rate program, which helps bring internet access to schools and libraries, PC World reports.

A bill to increase restrictions on online public schools was approved by a key committee in the Oregon Legislature on Feb. 3, despite pleas from parents for exceptions to the proposal, reports the Statesman Journal.

Who has time to read a whole book anymore? That’s the thinking behind a new publishing venture by the FT Press, a unit of Pearson, which has introduced two series of short, digital-only titles for professionals who want quick snippets of advice for $2.99 or less, reports the New York Times.

Most students still prefer print to digital textbooks, and even if they didn't, college campuses so far have made very few titles available online, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Obama administration will begin a drive this week to expel Pepsi, French fries, and Snickers bars from the nation’s schools in hopes of reducing the number of children who get fat during their school years, reports the New York Times.

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