Tuesday, October 9, 2001

A Digest of Recent Corporate News in Distance Education By BROCK READ UMassOnline, the distance-education branch of the University of Massachusetts, will use software from Prometheus and IntraLearn to create a portal allowing students to manage their online courses. The software will also help professors develop virtual classrooms for their own courses. (Link to press release.) The University of Washington and Apex Learning, a company that provides Internet education tools to elementary and secondary schools, will join to create 10 new online courses for high schools. The classes, which will be available to students by the next school year, cover topics including chemistry, history, sociology, and Internet skills. (Link to press release.) The University of Phoenix's online campus has chosen Interwise, a provider of communications software, to manage live and on-demand courses for its new corporate-education program. The university also announced that U4all.com, a Web site specializing in corporate e-learning, will serve as the program's host site. (Link to press release.) Submissions for this column can be sent by e-mail to itdigest@chronicle.com Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

Students protest and show support for U.S. military strikes in Afghanistan Education meetings postponed in Middle East Nobel Prize in Physics honors 3 scholars for creating a new state of matter College Board eases requirement that SAT proctors take 'oath' on coaching World Medical Association clarifies limits on use of placebos in drug trials Education Department awards $16.8-million in grants for reforms in higher education U. of Oxford's oldest student newspaper faces mounting debts, possible closure Ontario starts new university, its first in nearly 40 years A new approach to PeopleSoft installations sets limits on time and costs A digest of recent corporate news in distance education .