STRATEGIC PLANNING
(THINKING)
FOR THE DIGITAL ERA

Volume 8, Number 2                                       October 2001


 
HIGHER EDUCATION: A NEW COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

The September issue of Syllabus contained excellent articles and columns:
http://www.syllabus.com/

"Higher Education in the Digital Age: Planning for an Uncertain Future." See page 2.

"Distance Learning: Electronic Learning Generations."

"Scholarly Publishing in the 21" Century." See "Online Electronic Journals" on page 3.

"Highlights of the Syllabus 2001 Conference." 
(Will be in the Boston area. Nov. 29 - Dec. 2)

"Are e-Books Ready for the Classroom?" See "Are e-Books Ready...?" on page 4.

"An Experiment with Student-Centered Learning."

"God and Shakespear in Cyberspace." A guide to humanities resources on the Web.

"Trends: Harvesting Computer Cycles - for Better or Worse"

Technology Implementation -- "Staying Afloat: Open Source Professional Development."
 

THE VOICE WEB

"Imagine a world where `ask and you shall receive' can be interpreted literally. Here, when you pick up the phone and ask for a weather report, a friendly voice might tell you its partly sunny and 75 degree. Or you might find out whether your stock portfolio's .... In June AT&T Wireless launched its first voice portal and introduced customers to .... `In the past year, we've handled several voice portal deployments overseas - in Austria, Germany, and Italy'."

Pepe, Michele. "The Voice Web: Hear the Future of Information." CRN, August 27, 2001, 81 2.
http://www.crn.com/
See "Annova" in STRATEGIC PLANNING, June 2000.

FUTURE DOCTORS GO DIGITAL

"The Stanford University School of Medicine ... is a world-class training ground for future leaders in biomedical research and medical practice. Students benefit from close working relationships with more than 200 basic science faculty and 400 clinical faculty members who are engaged in .... The Lane Medical Library's mission is to provide the most effective, responsive and up-to-date..."

Lustig, David. "Future Doctors Go Digital." Field Force Automation., September 2001, 38-44.
http://www.destinationcrm.com/ff/dcrm_ff_%20index.asp
http://www.ffamag.com/
 

HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

"The explosion of the Internet and associated technologies in the later half of the 1990s has made combining production and delivery technologies with interactive communication technologies relatively simple. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) encompass many modalities and are underpinned by a plethora of new hardware and software. N-way video streaming, digital library and museum database management, simulations, teleconferencing, telephony, and wireless communications are just a few examples. Each modality has particular characteristics that contribute to its strength or weakness as an effective tool for ...."

Harley, Diane. "Higher Education in the Digital Age: Planning for an Uncertain Future." Syllabus. 15(2), September 2001, 10-12. 
http://www.syllabus.com/

Check the Higher Education in the Digital Age Project at the Center for Studies in Higher Education, University of California, Berkeley.  http://ishi.lib.berkeley.edu/cshe/projects/university/
 

CHALLENGES IN THE DIGITAL ERA AND A CALL FOR COLLABORATION

VISION

All scholarly and research publications (including university, governmental, research, and Museum sites) should be universally available on the Internet in perpetuity.

Brian L. Hawkins, President of EDUCAUSE, elaborates on aspects of the Vision statement as a prelude to comments about Knowledge Management (KM). He states "...in the digital era, this term has taken on nuances that point to the need to rethink the old paradigms - to reconsider who the new knowledge management players ... might be."

Brian L. Hawkins. "Information Access in the Digital Era: Challenges and a Call for
Collaboration." EDUCAUSE. 36(5), September/October 2001, 50-57.
http://www.educause.edu/
http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm.html
 

THE FUTURE TRAINING ROOM

"Advancing research into virtual environment applications like tele-immersion, for example, would make it possible for anyone to create a holographic `training room' right in his or her office or cubicle with virtual participants beamed in from geographically dispersed locations."

Barbian, Jeff. "The Future Training Room." Training, 38(9), September 2001, 40-45.
http://www.trainingmag.com/
 

ONLINE LEARNING

Online Learning 2001, will be held in Los Angeles on October 1-3. Richness of the conference can be seen in information from advertisers and exhibitors: http://www.onlinelearningmag.com/

Pathlore
http://www.pathlore.com/

LearnKey, Inc. 
http://www.learnkey.com/

Element K 
http://www.elementk.com/

And many more.
 

ONLINE ELECTRONIC JOURNALS

Berkeley Electronic Press 
http://www.bepress.com/
  Theoretical Economics
  Macroeconomics
  Economic Analysis and Policy

BioOne 
http://www.bioone.org/
  Biological Science
  Ecology
  Environmental Science

Highwire 
http://highwire.stanford.edu/
Check Bioinformatics Online
http://www.bioinformatics.oupjournals.org/  
Life Sciences 
  Medicine and Medical Research
  Physical Sciences
  Social Sciences
  Non-Journal Sites

Project Muse 
http://www.muse.jhu.edu/
  Arts and Humanities
  Social Sciences
  Mathematics

Project Euclid 
http://www.projecteuclid.org/

Theoretical and Applied Mathematics and Statistics

Hermalin, Benjamin E. "Scholarly Journal Publishing in the 218" Century." Syllabus, 15(2), September 2001, 16, 18, and 32. 
http://www.syllabus.com/
 

ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTERS (ENS) from INFOWORLD +++

Mention has often been made about Electronic Newsletters (ENs) in previous issues of the SP newsletter, including those available at the "Asia Society" bulletin board page. An InfoWorld renewal invitation led to a review of newsletters, special reports, ALERTS, and other services. ENs can include as many as 28 different streams of information delivered to you e-mail address such as The InfoWorld Scoop twice daily; E-Business Daily; Test Center Report on Mondays; E-Business Pulse on Tuesdays; Application Development Report, Security Advisor, Wireless World, Web Technolov, Small-Medium Business Report, & E-Business Secrets on Thursdays; and Professional Edge and Networking Report on Fridays. Ethics Matters and Week's Greatest Hits will be coming soon on Fridays. 

Individuals can also receive e-mail messages about 19 topics on E-Business, IT Careers, International News, Mobile Commerce, etc.  To access, go to 
http://www.iwpriority.com/ and enter Priority Code D81881A by Oct. 19, 2001. Furthermore, other Ziff Davis award winning publications can be obtained by accessing that site. 

CIO Insight 
http://www.%20omeda.%20com/ziff/ist/ist.cgi?radio&p=ewk

Interactive Week 
http://www.omeda.com/ziff/iaw/iaw.cgi?&p=iw10

The Net Economy 
http://www.omeda.com/ziff/nec/nec.cgi?&p=SCE02

Smart Partner 
http://www.omeda.com/ziff/smr/smr.cmi-&P=TCE02

eWEEK 
http://www.omeda.com/ziff/ewk/ewk.cgi?&t=whback&p=confirm
 

ARE e-BOOKS READY FOR THE CLASSROOM?

A Simon article contains a "Future Prospects for e-books" plus the following "References."

Simon, Eric J. "Are e-Books Ready for the Classroom? Syllabus. 15(2), September 2001, 28-29. 
http://www.syllabus.com/

Fidler, R. "Elecrtonic Books: A Good Idea Waiting For the Right Technology." Future of Print Media, Fall, 1998. http://www.futureprint.kent.edu/articles/fidler02.htm

Simon, E.J. "Electronic Textbooks: A Pilot Study of Student E-Reading Habits." Future of Print Media. Winter 2001. http://www.futureprint.kent.edu/articles/simon01.htm

Simon, E.J. "An Experiment Using Electronic Books in the College Classroom." Journal of Computers in Math and Science Teaching, 2001, 20(4).

Wearden, S. `Tlectronic Books: A Study of Potenail Features and Their Perceived Value." Future of Print Media. Fall, 1998. http://www.futureprint.kent.edu/articles/wearden02.htm

Wilkinson, S. "E-Books Emerge." Chemical and Engineering News. August 21, 2000, 49-54.
 

LEARNING IN THE INFORMATION HAILSTORM

"Virtual universities are here to stay. The issue isn't whether or not they will happen, it's how many students will be attending corporate `classrooms,' how many courses will be delivered by distance learning and how successful will the new and existing virtual universities be?" This is the opening statement of a book review by Vic Ward in On The Horizon, 9(3), May/June 2001, 13-4.

Ryan, Steve, Scott, Bernard, Freeman, Howard, and Patel, Daxa. The Virtual University: The Internet and Resource Based Learning. London: Kogan Page, 2000, 192 pages, $24.95.

Past volumes of On The Horizon (OTH) are available at http://camfordpublishing.com/oth
Volumes 8 and 9 of OTH are available online to subscribers who have paid for access. Go to
http://www.catchword.com/titles/10748121.htm
to register.
 

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM) FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT (CD) FOR PEACE AND IMPROVED QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) AS WELL AS SECURITY

The March issue of the newsletter began with many links about Knowledge Management (KM) and mobile workforces using handheld devices. The April issue began with "Preparing for the New World Geography Bee" followed by "Career Development" - awareness, exploration, and specialization. The September issue contained information about the Central Intelligence Agent and U. S. Department of State. Events of September 11th are part of a 911 call about an extended family of Information Technology (IT) needs associated with free market globalized economies driven by advances in technology. How Career Development be included in curriculum during INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK, NOVEMBER 12-16, 2001?
 

CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOR PEACE, QUALITY OF LIFE, AND SECURITY

The September issue of the STRATEGIC PLANNING newsletter contained the following goal :  "It is our goal to design and perfect a CAREER DEVELOPMENT system that can be modeled in AAL and traditional formats that will be qualitatively superior to ad hoc services currently in use."

The newsletter also contained a basic conceptual framework for phases of Career Development :  Awareness in early years, Exploration in middle years, and Specializations with Concentrations - articulated 4+4 secondary plus postsecondary years for emerging digital era roles in e-business (B2B, B2C, MC), Health Informatics, the Genome Project, and KM in AAL e-paradigm formats.

How can we form learning communities to browse and mine ideas for inclusion in curriculum standards and then create developmentally appropriate learning units in multiple online formats? How can Electronic Learning Communities (ELCs) comprised of professionals and technicians engaged in the above?mentioned emerging roles plus education and training service providers collaborate in specifying competencies and skills necessary now in these roles followed by educator teams to create developmentally appropriate learning units, have them reviewed by economy sector providers, and advance them through a curriculum development sequence from design to testing? How could PT3 and/or NSF funded projects include CD ideas into their funded project designs?
 

2001-2002  2002-2003   2003-2004   2004-2005
Awareness in Early Years - focus on Culture, Diversity, Peace, and Quality Of Life (QOL). Awareness of development of the PC, applications in education, and future potential (see page 6). Awareness about biometric, card, voice, wireless technologies plus graphic arts and printing. (See Career Development e-Paradigms available at 
http://www.blackboard.com/courses/webcom/
- instructions on page 8). Awareness about applications of technologies to commerce (B2B, B2C, M-Commerce). Awareness about the Genome Project and Health Informatics - introduction to emerging careers. Awareness about Embassies and conditions in health disparity and technology. About 1/6th of the world's population has access to the Internet.

Exploration in Middle Years - build a base for career specialization and concentration options.

Specializations & Concentrations - continuing with improving QOL plus adding Security roles. Critical thinking competencies and problem solving skills for an extended family of IT type roles. Access, browse, and mine U.S. Public Affairs Program. 
http://www.usembassy.state.gov/

How can children and youth acquire initial competencies and skills plus then expand upon them? What are the specifications of a Professional Support Portal (PSP) to assist all education and training service providers to achieve awareness and understanding as well as reach proficiency? What are the specifications of a Student Technology Support (STS) service so cybergenerations can reach desired outcomes? An STS Aide, especially for challenged learners and adults, provides breadth and depth of applications and understanding of basic research and development processes. (See "Vision Quest Thinking for Creating Career Development e-Paradigms via Electronic Networked Communities" and "Career Development Through Knowledge Management" on p. 8).
 

ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

"The IBM PC was introduced to the world 20 years ago at a press conference in New York on August 12, 1981. Evolving from the MITS Altair hobbyist computer and taking cues from early PCs such as the Apple II, the IBM PC - and the story behind its development - provided a foretaste of how the whole industry took shape. The IBM PC originated not in Big Blue's Armonk, N.Y., headquarters but at its small Entry Systems Division in Boca Raton, Fla., which was headed by Bill Lowe. It was Lowe who proposed to IBM's top brass that they build a personal computer made of components provided by outsiders, bucking IBM's longstanding practice of using its own hardware and software."

A Brief History of the Personal Computer 

1971: The first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, is introduced. 
1972: Xerox PARC begins development offhe Palo Alto, Calif, workstation. 
1975: MITS delivers the Altair 8800 microcomputer. 
1977: Apple Computer introduces the Apple II; Commodore..., and Radio Shack...
1981: IBM PC is introduced. 
1984: Apple introduces the Macintosh. 
2000: PCs reach penetration in U. S. households. (Equality? and Quality?) 
In 2010, your desktop PC will have eyes and ears. Read more about the future. http://www.infoworld.com/articles/fe/xml/01/08/06/010806fepc.xml

Battey, Jim. "It was 20 years ago today..." InfoWorld. 32, August 3, 2001, 28-30. http://www.infoworld.com/
 

ULTRAFAST WIRELESS TECHNOLOGY SET TO LIFE OFF

"Later this year, the Federal Communications Commission will decide whether to give the green light to so-called ultra-wideband (UWB) transmission. UWB is almost two decades old, but is used mainly in limited radar or position-location devices. Only recently has UWB been applied to business communications. It's a different type of transmission that will lead ...."

Cox. John. "Ultrafast Wireless Technology Set to Lift Off: NetworkWorld. 18(35), August 27, 2001, 22. 
http://www.nwfusion.com/
 

10 THINGS WE KNOW FOR SURE ABOUT LEARNING ONLINE

"... as the industry scales its own learning curve, 10 guiding principles have emerged." They are:

1. Know your own business. 
2. Marketing is your friend.
6. Blending is about creating greater impact. 
8. Games and simulations hook learners quickly.
9. Chunking appeals to learners. 
10. The Web can ....

Delahoussaye, Martin, and Zemke, Ron. "10 Things We Know For Sure About Learning Online." True. 38(9), September 2001, 48-59. http://www.trainingmag.com/
 

RESOURCES

The Office of Global Educational Programs of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the Department of State announced open competitions for (a) the NIS Community College Partnership Program and (b) the NIS College and University Partnership Program. 
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/rfgps/

The U. S. Government supports 600+ Federal Laboratories - NTH, NIMH, NASA, many more. Information can be accessed at 
http://www.federallabs.org/
and Web sites for many programs like "National Commercialization Conference" in Mobile, AL on Dec 2-5  
http://www.oletc.org/
NewsLink provides a continuous flow about activities of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. The Nov/Dec 2001 NewsLink will be the last paper copy education and will be replaced with NewsLinkONLINE, expanded and improved service. To subscribe, send an e-mail to 
mailto:%20flcnews@utrsmail.com
with "Subscribe ONLINE" in the subject line.

An East - West Center was established by the United States Congress in 1960 "to promote better relations and understanding between the United States and the nations of Asia and the Pacific through cooperative study, training and research." Access: 
http://www.ewc.hawaii.edu/
 

WORLD TRADE

An October issue of World Trade contains many articles useful in International Studies programs. Sowinski, Lara L. "Top 100 Movers & Shakers." World Trade, 14(10), October 2001, 30-40. The article also included the top 25 companies in Canada, the top 25 European companies, and the top 25 Asian companies. http://www.worldtrademag.com/
Sowinski, Lara L. "The New Kind On The Block." World Trade, 14(10), October 2001, 56-59. Orton, Charles Wesley. "An Olympian Task in Salt Lake City."World Trade, 14(10), October 2001, 60-62. 

Imagine the logistics and supply chain management needed for the 6,000 athletes from 82 countries and 10,000 media personnel for the Olympic Winter Games, Feb 8-24, 2002. "Foreign Exchange Policy and Procedure Development," "ASPs Are Rockin' the E-commerce World," "A Fine Kettle of Fish" on marketing soup in Japan, and "NAFTA: Past, Present, and Future." Be sure to browse http://www.taipeitradeshows.com.tw/

 
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What diplomatic, economic, political, social, and technological forces are shaping education content and delivery, with accountability, in the digital era? Within the category of technology, what content about technology should be required at various levels of education - elementary, middle, secondary, undergraduate, first graduate, etc? How can awareness about biometric, card, voice, wireless technologies be integrated into curriculum in discipline-centered formats, in multidisciplinary formats, and in online formats? How can critical thinking competencies and problem solving skills be enhanced in all formats? How could dislocated professional and technical workforces, as well as retired SCORE and others, share the breadth and depth of their experiences in Career Development e-paradigms?  See COLLEGE@HOME in Modern Maturity. July/August, http://www.modernmaturity.org/
 

NEWSLETTERS (with Links) and OTHER RESOURCES (with Links)

Access: 
http://www.blackboard.com/courses/webcom/
and enter as a guest. Click on "Announcements," "Course Documents," "Warren Groff's Newsletters" and resources listed below. All of this information contains many Web sites to which individuals can link. Topics in May 2000 through February 2001 were listed in the March 2001 issue of SP.

The March 2001 issue included the following partial list of topics with links to Web sites. The face of Knowledge Management (KM). Consumer-centric Knowledge Management (KM). Knowledge Managers. Optimizing mobile workforces. Agencies queue up for KM. Information hits the road. Digital dashboards. The new banking smart card. Planning for digital dividends. The struggle for e-quality. Logistics and transportation. Global markets. Globalization and digital era dividends. A program plan for Directed Study.

The April 2001 issue focused on Career Development: Awareness, Exploration, & Specialization. Each of the above-mentioned phases contained examples used in papers written for the Preparing Tomorrow Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) federal program in USDE. 
http://www.pt3.org/

A second paper was presented to the Vision Quest team. Both are available at http://www.blackboard.com/courses/webcom

Between April and September, Career Development was the focus of research and writing. See "Career Development e-Paradigms for Digital Dividends" (will be published by the PT3 program). "Vision Quest Thinking for Creating Career Development e-Paradigms via Electronic Networked Communities: Building Competencies & Skills at the Rate of Imagination for Global Leadership." "Career Development Through Knowledge Management (KM): Be a Chief Information Officer (CIO) For Your Digital Dividend Destiny." Each individual must create a vision and action plan. Students can use Directed Study (DS) to raise awareness and understanding about topics.

The September 2001 issue included comments about the following topics:
Countries best positioned in the e-business race. Getting down to business in Asia. A supply chain prescription for healthcare savings. eMC - bringing online communities together. Knowledge Management and e-learning. Speech technology award winners E-commerce and e-diplomacy digital era resources. E-business leaders. Globalization resources. Adaptive and assistive technology. Exterminate the mouse. Advances in science and technology. Planning for digital dividends with Africa and Latin America. "Preparing Educators..." listed
listed projects and Web sites on Technology Literacy, Technology Leadership, and Technology Standards for School Administrators. A conceptual framework is presented to assist with STRATEGIC THINKING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY USE FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT.
 

After the newsletters, click on "External Links," "The Friendly Forum," "The Friendly Forum: Class Discussion." Browse Asia Society, Globalization and the Family of IT Careers, Taiwan, Korea, etc. Access a few of the links. Consider requesting one the Asia Society Electronic Newsletters. Analyze competencies and skills from some of the "Family of IT Careers" links. Analyze "Taiwan" and critique the educational goals for the Ministry of Education (MOE).

Warren H.Groff, 3408 N. 49th St., Milwaukee, WI 53216-3208, (414) 871-1127