Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58063
"I CAN PRESENT STUDENTS WITH A CASE AND ASK THEM TO ETCH OUT A SOLUTION. THEN, AS AN INSTRUCTOR, I CAN SEE EVERYONE'S TABLETS AND SELECTIVELY TOSS THEM UP ON THE BIG SCREEN." —Rex Cutshall, The Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington and Dan Greiner, clinical professor of finance, to evaluate and report on the impact that this deployment has on the learning process. "We know from the literature that the millennial generation requires individualized attention, interactive technology, and equal opportunity for participation," says Cutshall. Technologies like Tablet PCs and interactive features, he adds, may be what it takes to reach these students effectively. Kelley isn't the only school experi- menting with Tablet PCs. David Kopcso and William Rybolt, profes- sors at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, were also recently NEWSBYTES ■ SMITH TRANSLATES TO CHINESE The University of Maryland's Smith School of Business recently launched its online resource of business infor- mation, Smith Business Intelligence, in English, Mandarin, and simplified Chinese. Chinese-speaking execu- tives can access video and audio clips via iPods and MP3 players, as well as access downloads from Smith part- ner sites such as Yahoo!China and Chinalecture.com. ■ ATTENDING iTUNES U Several California State University campuses—including Fresno State, Cal State East Bay, San Jose State, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and Sac- ramento State—have adopted iTunes U, a software program that makes it easier for students to download podcasts of lectures, campus news, class notes, and other content into their portable digital audio players. Students may also upload content to share with professors or the class. All content is stored in Apple's hosted repository, which can be browsed, searched, and configured to provide open or secure access. ■ .EU DOMAINS SUSPENDED The European Registry of Inter- net Domain Names (EURID) has suspended more than 74,000 .eu Web addresses and is suing 400 registrars for breach of contract. The IDG News Service reports that EURID took these actions after it found that a number of registrars had acquired domain names with the intent of selling them. The pro- cess, known as "warehousing," is not permitted under the EURID's regulations. All 74,000 domains are actually registered to individuals related to three companies based in the United Kingdom. awarded a Hewlett Packard Tech- nology for Teaching Grant for their project, "Transforming Teaching and Learning with Tablet PCs." The project will evaluate the educational effectiveness of Tablet PCs, which allow users to convert their hand- writing, written directly onscreen, into digital form. The professors will compare a course using Tablets with a course where only laptops are used. For business schools, experiments like those at Butler, Kelley, and Bab- son promise to provide more infor- mation about the effectiveness of the latest technologies—and how the millennial generation chooses and uses these technologies to learn. More Students Choosing Online Ed A recent study has found that the popular- ity of online education is definitely on the rise. The Sloan Survey of Online Learning, "Making the Grade: Online Education in the United States, 2006" shows tre- mendous growth in online learning in America. The annual study, now in its fourth year, is a collabora- tion between the College Board, a nonprofit that connects students to college opportunities, and the Sloan Consortium, an association commit- ted to online education. The study, which was based on responses from 2,200 U.S. col- leges and universities, suggests that "online learning is growing without any sign of a plateau," says Jeff Sea- man, chief information officer and survey director of the Sloan Consor- tium. "There were nearly 3.2 million students taking at least one course online this past fall, up from 2.3 mil- lion just last year," he says. The survey also finds that 62 per- cent of chief academic officers agree the learning outcomes in online edu- cation are now often as good as or superior to face-to-face instruction. Fifty-seven percent say it is critical to their institution's long-term strategy. In addition, 73 percent agree online education reaches students not served by face-to-face programs. "Offering courses online increases enrollment particularly among popu- lations like working adults and oth- ers who traditionally have not been able to access higher education," says Frank Mayadas, program direc- tor, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The complete survey is available at www.sloan-c.org/publications/ survey/index.asp. BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2007 59 iU