EDUCATION NEWS DIGEST #12

LESSONS OF A VIRTUAL TIMETABLE
The market for online education continues to increase. In the
United States alone, total education spending last year reached
$800 billion. Now that 95 percent of U.S. public schools have
Internet connections, the amount spent on online education could
skyrocket. However, many colleges, where the push for
Internet-assisted learning really began, claim to have achieved
only modest results. Furthermore, many commercial online
education efforts have failed to generate much profit, and many
schools are afraid to link their names to such efforts, even
when they are the primary backers, for fear of diminishing the
value of their brand name. Although many of these efforts are
supported by third-party companies, companies unaffiliated with
any college are seeking to create their own online education
programs. However these efforts can lead to complications, as
many colleges are loathe to let professors lend their talent
to outside ventures. Online education, analysts say, may cause
numerous battles over intellectual property.
(Economist, 17 February 2001)

A WAY TO MASTER TOMORROW'S IT
MBA students from Duke University's Fuqua school contributed to
the design of IBM's new ThinkPad TransNote laptop. The Technology
Advisory Council (TAC), a select group of Fuqua MBA students,
has worked with IBM on the laptop's design since initial planning
began two years ago. IBM's Tom Grimes is enthusiastic about the
involvement of the students. The IBM partnership is part of a
larger Fuqua effort known as the Next Generation Client Computing
(NGCC) project. Since 1999, NGCC has worked with firms such as
IBM, Arthur Andersen, and Fujitsu to develop tech products for
the classroom. The project seeks products that are mobile, have
full computing power, include a method of data input other than a
traditional keyboard, and will not disrupt the learning
environment. This last criterion is the hardest for most products
to pass, as Fuqua considers even traditional laptops disruptive.
The new TransNote laptop seeks to avoid this problem by allowing
users to input hand-written notes.
(Financial Times, 19 February 2001)

DATA STORAGE: FINDING ROOM AT THE UNIVERSITY
A late-1990s initiative to incorporate better technologies at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, entailed rebuilding
its data storage system. When describing the school's problems
with its third-generation UNIX-based server, director of UNC-CH's
Academic Technology and Networks Computer Center Judson Knott
said, "In addition to...bugs, file retrieval times were slow and
the software could not handle a data pool as large and complex
as [UNC-CH's]." The university faced the daunting challenge of
migrating 3.5 terabytes of data from one format to another while
simultaneously granting users immediate access using the
proprietary format. The solution would also have to furnish
automated security; automated and flexible policy management;
scalable, high-capacity deployment; and file system/application
transparency. The new system enables the university to implement
distance learning programs, expand computer research, and widen
the spectrum of in-class devices for multimedia presentations.
UNC-CH's Digital Library project, which will be one of the country's
biggest virtual libraries, will also benefit from the new storage
system. The system is a hard disk/tape storage hierarchical
configuration that relegates new and frequently used files to the
hard disk cache and archives older files in the tape library.
(Electronic Commerce World, 1 February 2001)

SOFTWARE TRIES 'CONCEPT MAPPING'
New concept mapping software is available for free download from
the University of Florida's Institute for Human and Machine
Cognition. Researchers at the institute are working to make
computers easier to use, exactly the theory behind concept
mapping, which links information in a direct and understandable
way. The researchers expect that concept maps, or Cmaps, will
help change the information navigation on Web sites by providing
a graphical depiction of how that information is linked and
organized rather than by following the traditional method of
organizing information page by page. Funded by NASA and the Navy
as part of a larger project to create similar learning tools, the
software is among the best Cmap programs available, claims Barry
Brosch of Cincom, a commercial firm negotiating a software
license from the University of Florida. Having already made the
software available for nonprofit use, the institute is in the
process of determining how it will offer the software for
commercial application. (Associated Press, 19 February 2001)


THE WEB, WITHOUT WIRES, WHEREVER
Travelers at the airport, customers lounging at coffee shops,
and people waiting at the laundromat soon will be able to
access a high-speed Internet connection using a notebook with
a wireless card. A number of companies are working to build
a national network of wireless Internet access points with the
idea of charging people for an unprecedented level of Web
convenience. MobileStar CEO Mark Goode envisions a pervasive
network that includes 5,000 Starbucks shops by January 2003.
Besides the Starbucks deal, his company already covers more than
150 hotel and airport locations. The market is still growing,
with standard fees and technologies yet to emerge. So far, most
carriers charge a few dollars for each use or about $50 for
monthly service. However, roaming agreements among the providers
could greatly increase the value of their services, as well as
change the dynamics of the emerging sector. The most commonly
used wireless protocol is IEEE 802.11b, a radio transmission
standard that operates similar to a 2.4 GHz cordless phone.
Apple Computer has wholly embraced 802.11b. Other contenders
include Bluetooth and HomeRF.
(New York Times, 22 February 2001)

PROFESSOR SAYS COLLEGES SHOULD ESCHEW COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE
In a recent interview, Brian Donohue-Lynch, the founder of the
World Association for Online Education and an associate professor
of anthropology and sociology at Quinebaug Valley Community
College in Connecticut, argued that IT in the education sector
should move toward open source software. He said the open source
movement has an affinity of purpose with community colleges,
because open source seeks to make software accessible, just as
community colleges aim to make higher education accessible. He
noted that "appropriate technology" theories, which argue for
technology development based on the needs of a particular group
of people, also apply to an educational setting because each
institution has to make sure that software fits its needs. Open
source allows for this level of customized attention,
Donohue-Lynch argued, and can also be a big cost saver. As an
example of a successful open source collaboration, he pointed to
Nicenet, a program in which educators can set up an online course.
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 20 February 2001)

NCSA CREATES FASTEST IBM LINUX SUPERCOMPUTER IN ACADEMIA
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has built the fastest
Linux supercomputer for academia out of a IBM Linux cluster.
The computer will be used to aid in fundamental scientific
research. NCSA director Dan Reed said, "The explosion of the open
source community, the maturity of clustering software, and the
enthusiasm of the scientific community all tell us that Linux
clusters are the future of high-performance computing." Each
cluster combines two teraflops of computing power with a single
computing interface for systems ranging from single-user desktop
workstations to terascale systems. IBM has installed the first
cluster, which features IBM eServer x330 thin servers running Red
Hat Linux on 1 GHz Intel Pentium III chips. A second cluster will
be built this summer to operate TurboLinux on Intel's next-
generation Itanium processor. Altogether, both clusters will
consist of more than 600 IBM eServer eSeries running Linux and
Myrinet cluster information network software from Myricom.
(Mainframe Computing, March 2001)

COLLEGE STUDENTS' GADGETS A FAR CRY FROM TEN YEARS AGO
Today's college students have taken to computer technology and
consumer electronics more than their counterparts of recent
decades. Although most colleges require or recommend computers,
students are embracing the latest gadgets such as Webcams,
wireless PC mice, Palm organizers, and even robotic dogs.
Meanwhile, the Internet is already ingrained into campus life all
across the country, but students are finding new ways to use the
technology, such as for online file storage. An SWR Worldwide
study, commissioned by Best Buy, found that more than 50 percent
of college freshmen brought a desktop or laptop computer to
college in 2000, compared to just 13 percent in 1990. The study
also found that 24 percent of today's students plan to bring a
laptop to class regularly, compared to 4 percent of students 10
years ago. Meanwhile, 20 percent of today's students use cell
phones, 11 percent use pagers, 44 percent use CD players, and 11
percent use personal digital assistants. The study revealed
that 17 percent of students used the Web or e-mail to register
for classes. (Knight-Ridder, 22 February 2001)

INTERNET COMPANY DROPS DATA-SELLING PLAN
Bowing to pressure from privacy advocates, Internet filtering
company N2H2 has announced that it will no longer collect or sell
data on the Web-surfing habits of students who use its filtering
technology. Some 14 million U.S. students use N2H2's filter,
known as "Bess." N2H2 used the filters as part of a plan to
compile and sell lists of data about students' surfing habits.
It became known in September that marketing company Roper
Starch would be a partner in the plan and that the Defense
Department would buy the data. An N2H2 spokesman said that the
company never collected or sold personally identifiable data
about the students. "We never would, never have, and never will
jeopardize anyone's privacy," said the spokesman. The Defense
Department said that it is reviewing its decision to participate
with N2H2's data-collection scheme.
(Associated Press, 22 February 2001)

DIAL IN ON YOUR OWN DIME, COLLEGES TELL MODEM-POOL USERS
The University of Maryland, College Park spends as much as
$350,000 per year to maintain its pool of 800 modems, which
students and faculty use to access the school's computer network
from off-campus locations. Demand forced the university to limit
how long users could access the site. Although this move eased
the network's traffic jams, Maryland and many other universities
are questioning how worthwhile it is to maintain their modem
pools. Several schools have already eliminated their modem
pools, including the University of Pennsylvania, which has
arranged for discounted service for off-campus students with
local ISPs and is providing a "transitional" modem service that
lets users access the network for 15 minutes. However, other
schools have had mixed results trying to assist off-campus
students in moving toward commercial ISPs, especially those
offering high-speed Internet access. Officials at the University
of Oregon say a majority of its off-campus students and faculty
cannot even receive high-speed DSL access, either because the
wiring at their residences is too old or because they live too
far from the necessary equipment stations.
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 23 February 2001)

HELPING STUDENTS TO LINK WITH OTHERS
Baltimore-area college students have an online resource designed
specifically to meet their recreational and personal interests.
The Baltimore College-town Network Web site is the fruit of a
consortium of 12 campuses in or near the metropolitan area and
was developed by the Office of Communications at Goucher College.
On the Web site, students can research the area as well as meet
students from other institutions. Each time the page is accessed,
a different student's profile appears with a picture and details
of that person's interests and favorite places in Baltimore.
Baltimore College-town Network director Elizabeth Toole says the
site has received approximately 8,600 hits per month since its

DREXEL DEVELOPS DO-IT-YOURSELF TOOL FOR MANAGING WEB PAGES
Drexel University has developed the Web Administrator System,
software designed to make it easy to create, update, and maintain
Web sites. The database-based software is being used on Drexel's
Web site as well as the Web site of its academic partner MCP
Hahnemann. Customizable templates allow users of various skill
levels to create Web pages that follow a consistent framework.
(Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 February 2001)

COLLEGE: A HACKER'S BEST FRIEND
University computer networks are large and complex, containing
many hiding places and obscure niches. These systems offer a safe
harbor for hackers looking to stash illicit files and seeking a
base of operations for hacking attacks. "Smart hackers don't like
to launch denial-of-service, or any kinds of attacks, from their
own systems," said Security Portal technical director Ric
Steinberger, referring to the first major distributed
denial-of-service attack, conducted using computers at UC Santa
Barbara and Stanford last year. This week, the Associated Press
reported that a Swedish man had been using an Indiana University
computer to store music and video files. Experts say the
university found out about the hacker's presence because of
excessive traffic on the server. Such quirky activity is normal
for university servers, said Jerry McGovern, who described the
systems as "hotbeds of weirdness." However, not all campus
computers are so vulnerable. Wise Young, director of the Center
for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers University, said his
university's system is tightly monitored, although he admits
that the principle of free distribution of knowledge upon which
many schools work compromises security in some ways.
(Wired.com, 1 March 2001)

BRIDGING A TECHNOLOGY GAP
Students at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville have
access to real-time and market-delayed information for all the
markets of the financial world, all made possible by
state-of-the-art A/V technologies housed in the Bridge Center
for Financial Markets, which is part of the university's
McIntire School of Commerce. In the Bridge Center's Capital
Markets Room, 44 workstations allow faculty and students
to develop portfolios, build financial models, test ideas and
trading systems, and watch market developments in real time.
Instructors use four LCD projectors to present their lessons, and
a two-way wireless color touch panel is used to navigate the
equipment. The Bridge Center's Capital Trading Room simulates a
trading environment. This room features a 32-foot elliptical
ticker that can show the latest market news or simulated data.
Students have access to CNBC and Bloomberg Television programming
as well as news from other media sources. Brad Miller, the Bridge
Center's director of technology, said the room's advanced
technology makes it more popular with students than the school's
regular computer labs.
(Presenting Communications, February 2001)

INTERNET2 PROJECT WILL BROADEN ACCESS
Internet2, a project that involves some 180 research universities
that together pay more than $80 million each year to belong to and
receive upgrades to the high-speed network, is now reaching out
to community colleges and even secondary schools. At the
"Innovations" conference for the League for Innovation in the
Community College, Steve Rappaport, the Internet2 director of
network initiatives, said the project will seek "creative ways"
to bring access to the high-speed network to institutions that
lack the resources of the large research universities. "The
practical applications for community colleges are enormous in
many respects," Rappaport told conference attendees, noting that
he believed that research universities can also benefit from the
experiences of community colleges. The reaction among community
college officials was largely positive, with several intrigued by
the possible benefits Internet2 could bring to teacher education
and distance education. Rappaport also mentioned that several
states would like to attach their networks, which often
incorporate higher-education institutions and public schools as
well as government organizations, to Internet2.
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 2 March 2001)

COLLEGES MASTER ONLINE LEARNING
International Data forecasts that 2.2 million college students
will take part in distance-learning courses in 2002, compared to
710,000 in 1998. "Demand for online courses is much greater than
our ability to create and staff classes," said Bob Tolsma,
executive director of the University of Colorado at Denver's
Colorado Online program. University officials claim many of the
students who are fueling this boom in online learning are
returning students who have full-time jobs preventing them from
being full-time students or who reside too far from campus to
attend class regularly. However, America Securities analyst
Howard Block predicted that eventually all students will be taking
at least one online course.
(InformationWeek Online, 26 February 2001)

APEX LEARNING TO OFFER HIGH SCHOOL 
CLASSES ONLINE
Apex Learning Inc., a builder and operator of virtual 
schools, will make its products and services available to 
Pennsylvania high schools. More than five hundred 
school districts in Pennsylvania will have the opportunity 
to use the company's online infrastructure, courses and 
support services. The services include 10 online 
advanced placement (AP) courses and workshops to help 
teachers prepare to lead virtual school courses. Online 
exam review products are also available to help students 
prepare for exams using diagnostic assessments, 
personalized study plans, interactive tutorials, live study 
sessions with subject experts, practice test questions and 
study tips. Apex Learning Inc. (www.apexlearning.com) 
is based in Bellevue, Wash.

GEOLEARNING INTEGRATES WITH MCGRAW-
HILL ONLINE 
GeoLearningSystems, a developer of e-learning systems 
and Web-based training products, has integrated its 
management system, the GeoLearning Center, with the 
content of e-learning software provider, McGraw-Hill 
Lifetime Learning (MHLL). The management system 
will track end users as they browse through the MHLL 
Web-based courses, including courses used by a particular 
user and the user's performance to help managers identify 
additional training needs and more closely align learning 
objectives with business objectives. GeoLearning 
(www.geolearning.com) is based in West Des Moines, 
Iowa, and McGraw-Hill (www.mcgraw-hill.com) is based 
in New York.

KNOWLEDGENET TO HOST E-LEARNING 
WEBCAST
KnowledgeNet, an e-learning content provider, will 
showcase e-learning leaders and innovators through a new 
Webcast service. According to Tom Graunke, CEO of 
KnowledgeNet, "The new forum will enable potential 
students to access a Webcast in much the same way they 
would access an Internet-based training course. They will 
be exposed to critical issues in the e-learning industry and 
how pioneering corporations and educational institutions 
are solving these challenges." The first Executive Forum 
will be Webcast on March 14, 2001 at 2 pm EST. Bill 
Dacier, vice president of Global Technical Training for 
EMC Corp., an information storage company, is the 
featured guest speaker. KnowledgeNet.com Inc. 
(www.knowledgenet.com) is based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

SPOTLIGHT: PURDUE INSTRUCTOR MAXIMIZES CLASSROOM TIME WITH WEBLEARNER -
Tammy Younts, an instructor in Purdue University's School of Education, 
uses Tegrity WebLearner to produce her own web-based learning modules 
without a traditional studio or production assistance. Younts' results were just
spotlighted at an internal technology event at Purdue and the 
multimedia development center is considering expanding WebLearner for other uses. 
Read Tammy's story in her own words at http://www.tegrity.com/pte_purdue.html.
See a sample of her work at http://www.tegrity.com/pte_as.html. 

AUTHOR SAYS COLLEGES MUST REALLOCATE MONEY TO ACADEMIC TECHNOLOGY
Professor A.W. Bates, the director of distance education and
technology in the Continuing Studies Division at the University
of British Columbia, recently published a book called "Managing
Technology Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders"
that discusses reallocating educational funds toward academic
technology. In a recent interview, he elaborates his thoughts on
the cost benefits of using the Internet in colleges and
universities. He says technology will be hard to implement, in
terms of funding as well as training. While the issue of
adjusting to technology may remain, Bates argues that if
universities can manage to reserve from one to two percent of
their budgets for technology, it will provide many indirect
benefits. For example, because many universities are hit hard
with general overhead costs for maintaining classrooms and campus
facilities such as parking, these costs could be partially
eliminated if some courses or parts of courses were held online.
Additionally, the Internet may even become a source of extra
revenue if schools can market their expertise in a certain field
to a global audience through specialized distance-learning
classes. The cost effectiveness, he says, would be far greater
than if that institution offered the class only in its own locale.
(Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 27 February 2001)

DISTANCE EDUCATION BRINGS THE CLASS TO THE STUDENT
The past 14 years have seen vast changes in the distance education
programs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, N.Y.
In 1987, RPI offered satellite-based courses to only 50 students
for one client. Now, the school offers five master's degree
programs and eight certificate programs to over 1,200 students.
RPI has two types of classes. In asynchronous classes, students
can access course material at any time. In synchronous classes,
the students must meet online or at a satellite center at the
same time to take part in class. Students can make diagrams or
signal for the instructor's attention. Distance education can
attract a wide range of students. At Skidmore College, for
example, 50 percent of the students in the University Without
Walls programs are from outside the United States. Proponents of
distance education argue that the programs can even save money by
reducing the maintenance costs usually associated with having
actual classrooms. Critics say the infrastructure costs necessary
to set up distance education account for any cost savings.
However, even at institutions with no intentions of having
distance education programs, instructors now offer course material
online, and students participate in Web-based discussion groups.
(Capital District Business Review Online, 26 February 2001)

ON CAMPUS ONLINE
Web-based educational firm UNext.com believes that it can survive
the tough times that new-media companies face. UNext.com
chairman Andrew Rosenfeld maintains that the distance-learning
company does not plan to compete with traditional universities.
UNext.com is designed to complement traditional universities by
making it easier for employees of Fortune 500 corporations to
take classes. The company currently uses its Cardean University
subsidiary, which has been approved by the Illinois Board of
Higher Education, to offer 44 courses. Faculty members from the
University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, Stanford
University, Carnegie Mellon University, the London School of
Economics and Political Science, and Columbia Business School
make up the faculty of the Cardean learning model. Under the
"problem-based learning" strategy, the courses ask students
to solve realistic business problems in multimedia environments,
using online learning resources. UNext.com chief learning
officer Tom Duffy says this learning model offers more
interaction between student and teacher because the Web
encourages a more active learning process of searching and
sharing. (i-Street Magazine, February 2001)


GETTING TO 50:1
D.K. Evenson ( devens@hallmark.com ) hasn't gone below
200 hours' development time per hour of computer-based
training time -- yet.  But the IT training specialist with Hallmark Cards Inc.
of Kansas City hopes that blended learning will mean
developers can go as low as 50:1.  That's 50 hours' development time for each hour
of instruction time.

Evenson's unit develops and delivers technical
training on proprietary computer applications using
methodology from training firm Friesen Kaye and
Associates of Los Angeles. The FKA methodology accommodates design for
classroom, online and self-paced training -- "pretty
much any delivery method our organization could think
of," says Evenson.

Given a course outline or list of teaching topics,
the methodology helps estimate time required to teach
each topic. With that information, trainers can estimate
total development time based on certain ratios -- more
of which below.

In three years of developing online learning, Evenson
has learned that more media means more development time:
text, graphics, sound, animation, movies and simulations
add hours and days.

Evenson's strategy is to "pack a CBT with content in
whatever form is necessary to communicate the subject
matter. However, we avoid including multimedia for the
express purpose of entertainment."  Why? "Cost," says Evenson. "It takes additional time
to develop multimedia." Somebody has to compose and/or record the
music, for example -- or get rights to music
that's already recorded.

"We tried to circumvent these things once," confesses
Evenson, "but our legal department quickly reminded us
of the copyright laws when they heard a short snippet
of a favorite Top 40 song in the CBT."

Evenson uses these ratios (hours of development
time to hours of course time) to estimate e-learning
development time:

o 200:1 for interactive CBT with graphics,
exercises, testing and feedback. Such CBT
would include low-level simulations of a
computer application students must learn:
Click the button and get positive feedback,
click the wrong button and get negative feedback.
It would also include simple animations and minimal
sound. This type of CBT does NOT have voiceovers,
audio-only content, video, movies, advanced
animation or advanced simulations.

o 250:1 for CBT like the basic 200:1 above,
but including complete voiceover that reads
text on the screen. This type of CBT does NOT
have audio-only content, video, movies, advanced
animation or advanced simulations.

o 275:1 for CBT like the basic 250:1 CBT, but
including either audio-only or advanced animation.
An example would be a show-and-tell scenario in
which students click a button and watch a series
of steps on the screen. "If you include both audio-
only and advanced-animation content, make the ratio
300:1," advises Evenson. This type of CBT does NOT
have video, movies or advanced simulations.

o 400:1 for CBT requiring any type of video or
movie content or advanced simulations.

Evenson hopes to get ratios as low as 50:1 with blended
solutions -- delivering content via a combination of
classroom, job aids and CBT.

"It is our belief that the development ratio will be
dramatically reduced when CBT is just a component of a
multiple delivery-medium package," says Evenson.

The ratio may drop to 100:1 on a simulation
used in classroom training, or 50:1 on a CBT "that
is a show-and-tell demonstration of a series of
screen steps."

JACKSON STATE UNVEILS $20 MILLION E-CENTER
Jackson State University (JSU) recently announced plans to 
create a major technology research and incubation center in 
Mississippi, a move made possible by a $17 million donation 
to the university by Allstate Insurance Company. The JSU 
e-Center, scheduled to open in spring 2001, is to be located in 
the former Allstate Sunbelt Support Center in Jackson. The 
192,600 square foot facility will be used not only for academic 
purposes, but also as an incubator for technology-based bus-
inesses moving into Mississippi. JSU has created the Mis-
sissippi e-Center Foundation, a non-profit organization, which 
will own the facility and lease most of it to JSU for academic 
purposes. The balance will be leased to technology-related 
businesses leveraging the JSU tech-nology base. Allstate will 
transfer the facility, which is valued at more than $20 million, 
to the Foundation in exchange for $3 million. The gift rep-
resents the largest single donation to any of Mississippi's 
historically black colleges.

TEACHERS HONORED FOR TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION
Two community college professors whose creative use of tech-
nology has enhanced learning for disabled, non-traditional, and 
pre-college-aged students have been selected as leaders in their 
field for 2001. The two will receive the first-ever David R. Pierce
Faculty Technology Award, sponsored by the Microsoft Cor-
poration in cooperation with the American Association of Com-
munity Colleges (AACC).

Vicki Duggan, instructor in the Information Technology 
Institute of Montgomery College, Md., and Michelle R. 
Wild, instructor in the Special Education and Computer 
departments of Coastline Community College, Calif., were 
selected in a nationwide competition among the over 1,100 
U.S. community, junior, and technical colleges. Professor 
Duggan is working to bring both older adults and elementary 
school aged girls into high-demand Information Technology 
fields. Professor Wild is an innovator in the design and 
integration of online instruction and has become an expert 
in the use of technology to rehabilitate brain-injured adults.

ALUMNI RELATIONS BENEFIT FROM REAL-TIME INTERNET SERVICES
SunGard BSR, an operating unit of SunGard and a provider of 
services and software for advancement, announced today that 
Williams College has gone live with the first component of Web 
Community, an online suite of applications that lets alumni view, 
update, and share personal and philanthropic information over 
the Internet. Friends and alumni of Williams can now make 
credit card gifts on-line from a secure site supported by the ap-
plication. 

Web Community, licensed by eleven institutions of higher ed-
ucation since its launch in May, helps organizations deliver 
services to alumni, allowing them to make gifts, register, and 
pay for events or memberships, update biographical infor-
mation, perform directory searches, and participate in 
community-building activities such as career networking
--all in real time. 

WEB CHECK: WORLD E-LEARNING GROWTH
E-Learning will be a $23 billion market
worldwide by 2004, compared with less than
$2 billion at the end of 1999, says a study
from International Data Group's IDC unit in
Framingham, Mass. "Vendors in the e-learning
market are proving to be quick studies," says
researcher Cushing Anderson of IDC. "By improving
content and resolving localization issues, they are
successfully overcoming corporations' reluctance to
use e-learning." North America will be the biggest
market, comprising two-thirds of worldwide revenues
through 2004, IDC predicts. Western Europe will be the
fastest-growing market, with revenues nearly doubling
each year from 1999 to 2004. IDC also projects a shift
in content mix: IT content accounted for 72% of
worldwide demand in 2000. By 2004, non-IT
content will account for 54% of revenues.