Working on a Building

If you're looking for online courses in architecture, this is a good place to start. Here is a fabulous resource from the UNLV libraries with a collection of architecture and building sites around the Internet, and below are some highlights I've lifted from this page and other pages.

They also have a specific education and continuing education section where you can find accredited architecture schools on and offline. While most architectural programs have not made it to the web yet, there are a variety of continuing education opportunities you can explore if you're already in the field or perhaps want to cross over from another close relative, say you're a builder and you want to get more active in the design aspects.

a/e ProNet has home study "courses that meet AIA and State Licensing Board requirements, including Health, Safety and Welfare standards" in the area of risk management. However, the American Institute of Architects has it's own program of continuting edcation as well, and along with general information about courses and requirements, they list a number of online programs for members and non-members. The AIA Trust has self-assessment tests available, but it seems you have to be a member first. For AutoCad courses, try the Cad Institute which, via the Internet, offers courses available for credit, or non-credit, through Murray State University.
For accredited program information check these out:

ASLA: Accredited Programs in Landscape Architecture

Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

Foundation for Interior Design Education Research

National Architecture Accrediting Board (NAAB)

For graduate level work in architecture there are &_start=1&pagenum=1&school_type=23">only a few it seems. Capella, IDP Education Australia and the British Council are all listed here.

Another site worth a look is Virtuvio in Italy, with a few links to online architecture programs, some in Italian and some in English. Also, check out JustColleges.com for more information on distance learning in general.

The Year of the Digital Campus

At The Journal.

A little-known fact about the Taliban is that during their temporary rule in Afghanistan, those in power ordered late 19th and early 20th century books and documents of " nonconforming&lrquo; cultures to be destroyed. After the Taliban's fall three years ago, a New York University professor set out to recover these at-risk books with a team of students. Though a painstaking process, they are scanning large amounts of ancient materials into a digital library, making these once virtually inaccessible documents available on a global scale and changing history classes forever.

Today, learning is no longer bound to a fixed location such as a classroom. Thanks to some innovative technology trends, the educational landscape is transforming into a " digital campus&lrquo; – an information-rich and seamlessly connected environment that brings the world to a student's fingertips and lets the student move freely about the globe. This digital campus functions through the integration of a multiplicity of technologies in a unified network environment – a seamless, secure, collaborative environment for learning, achievement and administration that is available to everyone.

The Education Crisis

At CIO …

In 1966, 6.8 percent (35,826) of 524,008 undergraduate degrees were conferred in engineering fields, according to the National Science Foundation. (Engineering includes aeronautical/astronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, industrial, mechanical and materials.) From 1966 to 2001, the number of total undergraduates in the United States increased to 1,257,648, representing a 140 percent increase. That seems like good news, right?

Yes, except for the tech business. In 2001, the ratio of engineering degrees to overall degrees in America was down 31 percent from 1966. The 59,258 engineering grads represent only 4.7 percent of the total degrees awarded in 2001; between 1966 and 1985, engineering degrees Actually increased to 7.8 percent of the total. So in the 16 years from 1985 to 2001, there was a 40 percent drop in the number of engineering degrees awarded.

Cross-Atlantic Collaboration in Digital Government Starts

From D-Lib Magazine.

The National Science Foundation's Digital Government program and the EU's eGovernment research program have been working toward establishing cross-Atlantic collaborative projects in this emerging area of R&D.

Recently, the NSF provided seed funding to two institutions in the US for such collaborations. In one of them, the Digital Government Research Center (DGRC) at the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute is collaborating with the QUALEG project, a consortium of four companies, three universities, and three cities (Saarbrucken in Germany, Nantes in France, and Tarnow in Poland). (In the other, the Center for Technology in Government from the University at Albany is collaborating with researchers from the UK.)

Seeking online university students

If you're a student at an online university and wouldn't mind being interviewed by me for this weblog about your experiences, please contact me at michael@creative-weblogging.com or mstandaert@hotmail.com

Thanks.
Mike

Bearing the costs of college

At the New York Times via Distance Educator.

College students in virtually every state will be required to shoulder more of the cost of their education under new federal rules that govern most of the nation's financial aid.

Because of the changes, which take effect next fall and are expected to save the government $300 million in the 2005-6 academic year, at least 1.3 million students will receive smaller Pell Grants, the nation's primary scholarship for those of low income, according to two analyses of the new rules.

Manufacturers seek to recruit top talent

From Career Journal.

Manufacturers are cautiously recruiting for senior operations, engineering and sales executives to cope with greater demand and cost pressures.

"There continues to be fewer jobs overall, but compared to this time last year, there's a significant difference in the hiring forecast. This year is much better," says Jim Bethmann, vice chairman in Dallas for Highland Partners, a global executive-search firm.

New literacy assessment service launched

From the Educational Testing Service.

In November 2004, Educational Testing Service (ETS) launched the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Literacy Assessment service. The test "measures postsecondary students' ability to define, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create, and communicate information in a technological environment." The first trials of the new assessment will take place at seven colleges and universities in Spring 2005. The assessment could help institutions to spot areas where incoming students need more preparation and where the college should focus its resources.

Technology and Plagiarism

From AACE Journal.

"[I]nstructors typically fall behind their own students in degree of technological sophistication when it comes to matters of cheating. This gap in sophistication between students and their instructors is one of many pressing issues created by the rapid evolution of information technology in the university." In "Technology and Plagiarism in the University: Brief Report of a Trial in Detecting Cheating" (by Diane Johnson, et al., AACE JOURNAL, vol. 12, no. 3, 2004, pp. 281-299) the authors report on a trial set up at the University of California, Santa Barbara to test automated detection of term-paper plagiarism in a large, introductory undergraduate class. Although the study resulted in
only a few detected instances of student cheating, the authors speculate that, if extrapolated to all the courses taught at UCSB each year, "in the short run the number of cases of dishonesty caught and prosecuted could easily grow by an order of magnitude were electronic techniques widely used by faculty."

Jobs in distance education

Go here for a listing of distance education jobs from the chronicle of higher education.

Looks like they currently have about twenty positions offered.