_ _ _ | | ( ) (_) _ _ _ _____| |_|/ ___ _____ _ _ _____ _ _ _ _____ _ _ _ | | | | ___ | _ /___) | ___ | | | | ___ | | | | | | ___ | | | | | | | | ____| |_) )___ | | ____| |_| | ____| V /| | ____| | | | ___/|_____)____/(___/ |_____)__ |_____) _/ |_|_____)___/ (____/ ..................................................................... March 14, 2000 Maricopa Center for Learning & Instruction http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/ ..................................................................... The freshest bag of URLs is ready for pickup at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/curr.html Help us refill by dropping interesting sites into: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/eye/bag/drop.html Google It! ========= I am very much liking Google more and more as a reliable search site (http://www.google.com/) whihc is free of the clutter of AltaVista and other ad-driven "portals" Now Google offer some functional "buttons" you can drag to your browser's personal web toolbar- one I like will allow you to highlight any selection of text and when you click the "Google Search" button on your web browser, it runs a search on that phrase. For more, see this review from ZDNet: http://www.zdnet.com/devhead/stories/articles/0,4413,2458661,00.html Remember- Searching is still an art. Use multiple search tools before you give up. Quite often I do not find the information I seek as a direct result, but oftem you will locate tangential links from sites that come up from a web search. Maricopa Diversity Newsletter ============================= "Expressions", a newsletter on diversity, features news and events from all the Maricopa colleges. http://www.rio.maricopa.edu/presentations/expressions/2000_03/ Buzzing with ResearchBuzz ========================= We get a number of our "Bagged" sites from ResearchBuzz: http://www.researchbuzz.com/ which provides email/web site news on new research oriented sites. AlertBox asks if the net is a lonely place ========================================== The Alertbox for February 20 is now online at: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000220.html Studies of the social impact of the Internet must consider the changing lifestyle of the new economy and not relate solely to industrial-age concepts. Usability Matters ================= New columnist Claire Rowland starts a new Web Rebview (http://webreview.com/) column on web design and usability: "From confusing search engine results to obscure iconic navigation buttons, there are a million and one examples on the Web of, 'Things That Users Don't Understand...' To create things that users understand, we in turn have to understand the users and how they think. Good "usability" is about designing things so that they make sense to the people who use them. The interaction that users have with an object or system should meet their needs and wants as elegantly as possible -- whether it's a web site or a left-handed potato peeler. If it doesn't, they won't want to use it." More... http://webreview.com/pub/2000/03/10/feature/index3.html News from EDUPAGE ================= THE DOT-COM WORLD OPENS NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN TO LEAD The Internet explosion has created a new business culture in which women can more easily climb the corporate ladder. Research firm VentureOne found that the number of women in senior management positions at venture-capital financed Internet startups rose from 21 percent in 1998 to 45 percent in 1999. The proportion of women CEOs at these Web companies also rose, from 4 percent in 1998 to 6 percent in 1999. In contrast, research conducted by Catalyst revealed that in 1998 fewer than 1 percent of women held the title of CEO at Fortune 500 companies. Factors contributing to this shift away from a male-dominated e-commerce world include the enormous demand by Internet companies for knowledgeable, talented employees and the less hierarchical structure of Internet businesses. Web companies, especially the smaller ones, are under great pressure to achieve quick success and face stiff competition in finding the people who will make that happen. As President Gayle Crowell of e.piphany.net phrases it, "The Internet is a new game, the old rules don't apply." (New York Times, 9 March 2000) A VIRTUAL REVOLUTION IN TEACHING Educators are struggling to find their place in an increasingly online world. Internet-based education programs, which are attracting growing numbers of supporters, offer convenience and relieve overcrowding in classrooms. Hoping to attract everyone from teenagers getting an early start on their college careers to older workers balancing education with jobs and families, many schools are beginning to offer online courses. One in three U.S. colleges now offer an accredited degree online, more than twice the rate last year. Yet the flurry of activity in online education has raised many issues, such as whether prestigious universities will maintain their elite reputations--and offer the same challenging coursework--as they join the hordes of schools mass-marketing their courses online. Similarly, critics are debating whether an online degree will have the same value as its traditional counterpart. Furthermore, many public universities are partnering with Internet startups to market their courses, raising a debate over the ethical implications of mixing education with business. Universities say that they are still trying to find the right system for offering online education, including prices and enrollment limits. (Los Angeles Times, 3 March 2000) see: http://www1.pcworld.com/pcwtoday/article/0,1510,14494,00.html