Staff Blogs & External Feeds from rSmart

Mitsubishi Debuts WXGA Projectors for Education

superuser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Mitsubishi is expanding its 500-series of digital classroom projectors with two new wide-format models: the WD510U and the WD500U-ST. The WD500U-ST is a short-throw projector designed specifically for whiteboard applications and other environments where space may be limited.

Hodges U Credits Lecture Capture for Online Enrollment Boost

superuser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Hodges University has reported a 250 percent increase in online enrollment following its adoption of the Tegrity Campus 2.0 service, a class capture Web service for higher education. Hodges deployed Tegrity in fall 2007 in an effort to provide more flexible learning tools to help students boost academic achievement.

Slippery Rock U Applies SAS to Data Management and Reporting

superuser — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania is using the SAS Enterprise Intelligence Suite for Education for data management and reporting to help the university improve recruitment, retention, and graduation rates. Using the application, Slippery Rock tracks and shares information on student performance and quality.

Learning to Like Twitter

superuser — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:35:59 -0700

In the recent past, I wrote about not really getting Twitter. Since then, I have to say that it has grown on me. I am not and never will be an addict. But it does add a nice social dimension to my day, particularly given that I work alone from my home office a lot of the time. It lets me feel a little more connected with friends and colleagues, and does so without taking up unacceptable amounts of time. So, for my former fellow Twitter skeptics, I have a few suggestions for how to get the most out of it:

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Read the rest of Learning to Like Twitter (520 words)

Free 'Morro' Antivirus To Replace Microsoft OneCare

superuser — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Microsoft is rolling out a free antivirus software program for consumers that will compete with products made by Symantec and McAfee. Code-named "Morro," the AV app is expected to be available by the end of 2009.

Microsoft Demos New SQL Server Features at PASS

superuser — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Microsoft Wednesday previewed the ability to centrally manage applications and resources in the planned upgrade of SQL Server, code-named "Kilimanjaro."

Microsoft Unveils Exchange and SharePoint as Services

superuser — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

Microsoft exec Stephen Elop on Monday announced two hosted solutions from Microsoft--Exchange Online and SharePoint Online--which are now available to organizations of all sizes in the United States. The software, paid for by annual subscriptions, is hosted on Microsoft's servers and supported by Microsoft's channel partners.

DePaul Sets the Bar in Student Relationship Management

superuser — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 01:00:00 -0700

When colleges and universities consider a constituent relationship management (CRM) initiative, they all too often focus on the technology while failing to consider the underlying philosophy behind CRM. That's according to Audrey Bledsoe, who is manager of CRM technologies at DePaul University in Chicago.

LETSI: HR-XML Consortium Seeks Cross-Domain Interoperability

superuser — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:23:10 -0700

This is a guest post by Jim Farmer.

“Learning, education, and HR standards communities have very little to show in terms of cross-domain standards interoperability and convergence despite significant investments over a period of more than a decade.” Chuck Allen, Executive Director of the HR-XML Consortium, made this assessment of standards that cross the boundaries of standards-setting bodies in a “White Paper” submitted to the LETSI SCORM 2.0 Workshop held October 15-17, 2008 in Pensacola, Florida. As learning systems exchange data with various administrative, ERP and human resources systems, standards are needed to avoid expensive continuous redundant software maintenance.

Bringing Student Web "Stuff" to Campus Enterprise Systems