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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2005 Michigan Ponders Online Requirement Colleges Join the RFID Bandwagon Online Education Booming Quanta to Produce MIT's $100 Laptops CSIA Gives Feds D+ on Cybersecurity MICHIGAN PONDERS ONLINE REQUIREMENT High school students in Michigan will be required to take at least one online course in order to graduate under a proposal before the Michigan State Board of Education, which is expected to approve it. Mike Flanagan, the Michigan state superintendent of public instruction, offered the proposal as a way to help students in the state prepare for college and for professional lives, which he said increasingly employ technology. The board is expected to pass the new regulation, which would make Michigan the first state to require an online course for a high school diploma. Kathleen N. Straus, president of the board, said, "We think we'd be on the cutting edge" if they pass the new rule, which would still require the approval of the state legislature and the governor. The proposal would allow noncredit online courses, such as ACT prep classes, to count toward the requirement, but Flanagan said he hopes students would choose to take for-credit courses. Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 December 2005 http://chronicle.com/free/2005/12/2005121301t.htm COLLEGES JOIN THE RFID BANDWAGON A number of colleges and universities are launching academic programs that focus on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. RFID tools, which use small electronic devices to track physical goods, are seen by many as the future for management of inventories and supply chains. MBA students at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University are using a model train equipped with tiny transmitters to learn about and test RFID technology in a way that simulates a conveyor belt in a factory. As the Kelley School's Ashok Soni said, having a real conveyor belt just wasn't feasible. Meanwhile, the University of California at Irvine announced an RFID certificate program that includes courses such as "Solving Business Problems with Radio Frequency Identification Devices." Research firm Gartner estimates that the market for RFID this year will be $504 million, an increase of 39 percent over last year. The company also predicts that RFID spending will grow to $3 billion annually by the end of the decade. CNET, 13 December 2005 http://news.com.com/2100-1039_3-5993692.html ONLINE EDUCATION BOOMING Analysts speaking at a conference on the business of higher education this week argued that the market for online learning, though often downplayed relative to other topics, is thriving and represents the future of for-profit education. Online music, for example, receives a lot of hype in the media, according to one analyst, but the market for online education is seven times larger than that for online music. Douglas L. Becker, CEO of Laureate Education Inc., which operates a network of international universities, said that in many parts of the world the demand for higher education far outstrips the supply. Moreover, while for-profit colleges enroll less than 5 percent of all college students, more than a third of all students taking an online course are enrolled at a for-profit institution. The conditions are ripe for online education to lead to significant growth in for-profit colleges in the coming years, according to analysts. Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 December 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/12/2005121305n.htm QUANTA TO PRODUCE MIT'S $100 LAPTOPS Computer maker Quanta has been chosen to manufacture the $100 laptops that are the brainchild of MIT's Nicholas Negroponte and supported by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization. Based in Taiwan, Quanta is the world's largest maker of laptops, building the devices for companies including Dell and HP. Some believe that supplying the developing world with inexpensive computer technology will be a boon for educational and economic development of those nations, and the notion of an inexpensive laptop is part of that vision. Previous attempts to build and deploy similar technology have failed, and detractors argue that the $100 laptop program doesn't stand much of a chance. Nevertheless, recruiting a major hardware manufacturer signals the level of support that the project enjoys. Of the announcement, Negroponte said, "Any previous doubt that a very-low-cost laptop could be made for education in the developing world has just gone away." Silicon.com, 14 December 2005 http://hardware.silicon.com/desktops/0,39024645,39155040,00.htm CSIA GIVES FEDS D+ ON CYBERSECURITY In a report card released by the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the federal government received a grade of D+ for cybersecurity. CISA gave credit to the Department of Homeland Security for establishing a new position, the assistant secretary for cybersecurity. Six months after that job was created, however, it remains unfilled. Paul Kurtz, executive director of CSIA, commented that "Cybersecurity research is in a crisis." CSIA also launched what it calls a Digital Confidence Index, a measure of public confidence in efforts to protect computers and systems. The initial rating for the index is 58 out of 100. CSIA issued a set of 13 recommendations, called the National Agenda for Information Security in 2006, designed to improve the nation's cybersecurity. Among the recommendations are calls to increase funding for cybersecurity research and to promote cooperation among federal agencies. Federal Computer Week, 13 December 2005 http://www.fcw.com/article91710-12-13-05-Web ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, 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] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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