CT Industry
:: NEWS
MASHUP BOOSTS DISTANCE
ED. Huntington Junior College (WV)
has created a "social presence" using a
mashup of Second Life and Moodle,
called Sloodle, in coordination with
Campus Management's student information
system. The virtual campus enhances
faculty-student interaction while
automating management of rosters,
grades, drop/adds, and other administrative
chores. Students log in once to the
college's portal, and can then leap into
the Second Life campus, attend class, and
participate in online cafe conversations.
Read more here.
MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING.
According to a recent ABI Research survey of 500
users of online social networks, 46 percent
of respondents have visited a social
network via a mobile phone. Of those
mobile users, nearly 70 percent have
visited MySpace.com, and another 67
percent have visited Facebook.com. No
other social networking site reached
higher than 15 percent mobile adoption.
VILLANOVA U is trading paper postings and e-mail for
a campuswide digital signage network.
DIGITAL SIGNAGE VISION.
Villanova University (PA) has partnered
with Rise Vision to create a campuswide digital signage
network. The Rise Display Network digital
signage content management system
allows administrators to disseminate
information about campus events,
schedules, and emergency notifications,
with full control over the
composition and timing of all content.
Villanova also sells advertising
on the digital signage to local merchants
who accept the school's
Wildcard debit card.
GREEN EFFORTS. In the next
12 months, Dell plans to transition all of its new laptop
displays to mercury-free LED.
LED displays are highly recyclable and
deliver significant energy savings compared
to cold cathode fluorescent lamp
(CCFL) technology. Another green tech
leader, Toshiba's Digital Products Division, has extended
its free recycling program beyond Toshiba
laptops to include many of
today's most common consumer
electronics (without
requiring the consumer to purchase
a Toshiba product). The company
has set a goal of recycling 12 million
pounds of e-waste in the US by 2010.