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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2004 Strong Showing for Online Education S. Korea Considers Banning N. Korean College Web Site Sun Offers New Solaris for Free Yahoo Ups Storage Limits on E-Mail Accounts STRONG SHOWING FOR ONLINE EDUCATION According to a new report by the Sloan Consortium, significantly more students are enrolling in online courses, and the perceived quality of online education is also rising. The study, which is in its second year, showed a 19 percent increase in the number of students enrolled in an online course. The authors of the report expect that number to grow by another 24 percent in the next year. Growth rates among private, for-profit institutions outpaces others by a factor of almost two to one. The study also showed increasing confidence in the quality of online education, with more than 40 percent of respondents saying they believe students are at least as satisfied with online courses as with classroom instruction. According to Jeff Seaman, chief information officer for the Sloan Consortium and coauthor of the study, small baccalaureate institutions are the slowest to embrace online learning. Administrators at those institutions, he said, are more likely to support small, on-campus classes for the type of educational experience they provide. Chronicle of Higher Education, 15 November 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/11/2004111503n.htm S. KOREA CONSIDERS BANNING N. KOREAN COLLEGE WEB SITE Officials from South Korea are reportedly considering forbidding access to the Web site of North Korea's Kim Il-sung University in an effort to shield computer users in South Korea from communist ideology. Police in South Korea have asked the government to block access to a total of 31 Web sites under the country's National Security Law, which is currently being debated in parliament. South Korea's president wants the law, which places restrictions on contact with the north, to be revised or thrown out. Supporters of the law said it remains necessary to protect those in the south from the propaganda of North Korea, which has never officially rescinded its call for taking over South Korea by force. According to an unnamed South Korean police official, "We need to block access to resources of one-sided information or knowledge which ordinary people can obtain easily." Reuters, 12 November 2004 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=6800390 SUN OFFERS NEW SOLARIS FOR FREE Sun Microsystems announced that its upcoming Solaris 10 operating system will be available near the end of January and said it will offer a free version of the software. Sun's move reflects a growing practice among vendors such as Linux distributor Red Hat: offer software in a free version or a flagship version that includes licensing and support fees. An official from Sun said that under the new pricing arrangement, "Solaris will be less expensive in any category than our Linux competitors." Sun also hopes to appeal to customers on the basis of its being able to offer hardware, software, and support from a single vendor. According to IDC, Solaris is currently running on about one million computers around the world. Analyst Jean S. Bozman said, "They're looking for ubiquity." New York Times, 15 November 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/15/technology/15sun.html YAHOO UPS STORAGE LIMITS ON E-MAIL ACCOUNTS In an effort to stay competitive with Microsoft's Hotmail and Google's Gmail, Yahoo has announced an increase in the amount of free storage it allows for its e-mail customers. Yahoo users now have up to 250 megabytes of free space--the same as Hotmail customers--up from the former limit of 100 megabytes. Gmail offers 1,000 megabytes of free storage space but is currently in testing and only available by invitation or to existing account holders. Brad Garlinghouse, vice president of communications products at Yahoo, said, "[Gmail] really has raised the game for everyone, and that's good for consumers." Yahoo also said it has improved its technology for verifying the identities of those sending e-mail and its technology for searching e-mail content. Washington Post, 15 November 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50385-2004Nov15.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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