BUILD YOUR OWN --- FREE COURSEWARE
UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the teaching/learning arm of the UN. Their website serves as a clearinghouse for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge. Here is a partial list of free courseware to support course/content managment.
Dokeos Open Source Learning and Knowledge Management is free software translated in 31 languages. The technology is being used by 1000+ organisations.
Moodle is an open source learning management system for producing Internet-based educational courses and Web sites on any major platform (Linux, Unix, Windows and Mac OS X). Courses are easily built up using modules such as forums, chats, journals, quizzes, surveys, and assignments.
OLAT - Online Learning And Training is a web-based Learning Management System (LMS) used in Switzerland's public sector and developed at the University of Zuerich. OLAT is open source and completely free of charge.
Ganesha
is a French Open Source LMS. The developer is currently working on AICC SCORM and XML features and will release Ganesha in other langauges in the near future.
MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) allows MIT course materials that are used in the teaching of almost all undergraduate and graduate subjects to be available on the web, FREE OF CHARGE. The purpose of MIT OCW is to serve as a model for university dissemination of knowledge in the Internet age.
Coursework is an open source course management system based at Stanford University. The CourseWork source code is free and open, and can be downloaded for any organization to use and modify to their own needs. You will need your own staff to install and manage the system, but the code is free and open.
Review additonal freeware on the UNESCO website.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
GEM - The Gateway to Educational Materials
The Gateway to Educational Materials is the joint effort of several groups including The US Department of Education, The National Library of Education, and a team from Syracuse University. The site is geared to educators but anyone can access the materials which include thousands of educational resources found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites,
Resources and tools are in a variety of formats, including lesson plans, educational Web pages, books for sale, and web pages for national museums by subject, keyword or grade level. Great news: the majority of these resources are FREE.
The Gateway to Educational Materials is the joint effort of several groups including The US Department of Education, The National Library of Education, and a team from Syracuse University. The site is geared to educators but anyone can access the materials which include thousands of educational resources found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites,
Resources and tools are in a variety of formats, including lesson plans, educational Web pages, books for sale, and web pages for national museums by subject, keyword or grade level. Great news: the majority of these resources are FREE.
Friday, March 18, 2005
High Tech High
Philadelphia - - The past two years has witnessed an escalating debate on the state of high schools around the nation. Alicia Mundy wrote in the Seattle Times that Bill Gates blasted the state of U.S. high schools in a speech before the National Governors Association education summit on February 27th. Gates has not chosen Philadelphia as one of the cities receiving money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has committed more than $2.3 billion to education since 1999. Some $733 million of that money focuses on the small schools initiative, smaller, organic, learning communities with 200 - 400 students designed to replace the country's aging, massive, impersonal high schools.
Gates' prescence will still be felt here. A Philadelphia Inquirer article written by Susan Snyder reported that Gates will put up funding for what can be dubbed "High Tech High" a yet unnamed $46 million school with the latest technology - from interactive digital textbooks and computerized tablets to electronic play diagrams for the basketball team. The project will be a joint venture with the Philadelphia School District.
"We have the premier techological entrepreneur teaming with us - absolutely incredible," said James Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.
The school is set to open in September of 2006.
Philadelphia - - The past two years has witnessed an escalating debate on the state of high schools around the nation. Alicia Mundy wrote in the Seattle Times that Bill Gates blasted the state of U.S. high schools in a speech before the National Governors Association education summit on February 27th. Gates has not chosen Philadelphia as one of the cities receiving money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has committed more than $2.3 billion to education since 1999. Some $733 million of that money focuses on the small schools initiative, smaller, organic, learning communities with 200 - 400 students designed to replace the country's aging, massive, impersonal high schools.
Gates' prescence will still be felt here. A Philadelphia Inquirer article written by Susan Snyder reported that Gates will put up funding for what can be dubbed "High Tech High" a yet unnamed $46 million school with the latest technology - from interactive digital textbooks and computerized tablets to electronic play diagrams for the basketball team. The project will be a joint venture with the Philadelphia School District.
"We have the premier techological entrepreneur teaming with us - absolutely incredible," said James Nevels, chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.
The school is set to open in September of 2006.
Creating and Working With PDF Documents with Adobe Acrobat
Creating PDF (Portable Document Format) documents can make life much easier for those desiring to put documents on the Internet. PDF documents allow the end user to view and interact with them without the need to have the application used to create them. For instance, a newsletter created with PageMaker and converted to PDF can be viewed by anyone having Acrobat Reader, even though they don’t have PageMaker.
Creating PDF (Portable Document Format) documents can make life much easier for those desiring to put documents on the Internet. PDF documents allow the end user to view and interact with them without the need to have the application used to create them. For instance, a newsletter created with PageMaker and converted to PDF can be viewed by anyone having Acrobat Reader, even though they don’t have PageMaker.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Ask Your Doctor?
Douglass B. Humphreys, CEO of Patient Interaction writes that patient education, or “issue marketing,” provides patients with valuable information crucial to their purchase decisions and health and safety. He writes that pharma-sponsored patient education campaigns can have an extremely positive impact on patient attitudes towards health care professionals and the treatment programs they prescribe.
Another nice piece answers the million dollar questionWhat does it take to get patients to comply? Check out this abstract on Pharma Marketing News.
Douglass B. Humphreys, CEO of Patient Interaction writes that patient education, or “issue marketing,” provides patients with valuable information crucial to their purchase decisions and health and safety. He writes that pharma-sponsored patient education campaigns can have an extremely positive impact on patient attitudes towards health care professionals and the treatment programs they prescribe.
Another nice piece answers the million dollar questionWhat does it take to get patients to comply? Check out this abstract on Pharma Marketing News.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
OLD HEAD PRE-MED
Historically medical school applicants had to have had not only a college degree (preferred by not required) but three years of apprenticing to a practicing physician for possible admission to medical schools. Degree candidates often had established success in other careers, were well known in a specific field or city, and were normally in their late 20's to late 30's.
Harvard Medical School lauded a group of students of African descent who studied at Harvard between 1850 and 1930. Most were over 35, respected 'coloured' gentlemen, whose admittance to the school appeared safe, progressive and practical as all of the black graduates were presumed to be preparing to serve all black patients in the States or leave to go to the Caribbean or Africa.
Nora N. Nercessian, supported by Harvard Medical School, created and presented Against All Odds: The Afro-American Presence in Medicine, 1850–1930 an exhibit that ran during Black History Month in 1990. Follow the links below to go to the exhibit's companion book in PDF format. The book further expanded the parameters of the exhibit and on the literature that has appeared since the 1950s on some of the graduates.
Please click on the links below to view PDF files.
Acknowledgements, Preface, Introduction
Part One: An Evolution of Attitudes
Part Two: Biographical Sketches
Appendices
Historically medical school applicants had to have had not only a college degree (preferred by not required) but three years of apprenticing to a practicing physician for possible admission to medical schools. Degree candidates often had established success in other careers, were well known in a specific field or city, and were normally in their late 20's to late 30's.
Harvard Medical School lauded a group of students of African descent who studied at Harvard between 1850 and 1930. Most were over 35, respected 'coloured' gentlemen, whose admittance to the school appeared safe, progressive and practical as all of the black graduates were presumed to be preparing to serve all black patients in the States or leave to go to the Caribbean or Africa.
Nora N. Nercessian, supported by Harvard Medical School, created and presented Against All Odds: The Afro-American Presence in Medicine, 1850–1930 an exhibit that ran during Black History Month in 1990. Follow the links below to go to the exhibit's companion book in PDF format. The book further expanded the parameters of the exhibit and on the literature that has appeared since the 1950s on some of the graduates.
Please click on the links below to view PDF files.
Acknowledgements, Preface, Introduction
Part One: An Evolution of Attitudes
Part Two: Biographical Sketches
Appendices
Thursday, February 03, 2005
College Lecture Material
I am taking a class in microbiology - - the macroscopic study of microorganisms and viruses - - and I am particularly interested in a sub-area, immunology. Immunology specifically studies the way in which the body fights off microorganisms and how we maintain health even in the midst of billions of antigens. Somehow the body recognizes and teaches itself what is internal and what is foreign and it's the how & why that comprises much of the work in this ara.
To learn more, read a powerpoint presentation based on an article written by Aude M. Fahrer et al in Nature, Vol. 409, 15 ebruary 2001 and presented by Amy Marie Sepan at a seminar at Clarion University of Pennsylvania. To check it out, look right to the featured article.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
The Mega-Deals Are Back in Commercial Real Estate
So you want to know how true players in the commercial real estate space get the big deals done? Many investors do. Analysts who monitor the real estate industry say investors who left traditional brick-and-mortar industries -- such as real estate -- during the dot-com and telecom booms have come back.
This has resulted in large amounts of capital driving massive real estate deals according to Wharton Business School professors and industry experts. The school's Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center recently organized a meeting with three panel sessions, one of which was called 'Mega-Projects in Real Estate: Where Are They and How Do They Work?" to discuss recent trends.
Attendees learned about the challenges and creativity required to get big deals done. The panelists discussed aspects of structuring, underwriting, pricing, negotiating, financing and execution. It's safe to say that mostly everyone came away with the knowledge that while risks are high in commercial real estate transactions, so are the potential rewards.
So you want to know how true players in the commercial real estate space get the big deals done? Many investors do. Analysts who monitor the real estate industry say investors who left traditional brick-and-mortar industries -- such as real estate -- during the dot-com and telecom booms have come back.
This has resulted in large amounts of capital driving massive real estate deals according to Wharton Business School professors and industry experts. The school's Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center recently organized a meeting with three panel sessions, one of which was called 'Mega-Projects in Real Estate: Where Are They and How Do They Work?" to discuss recent trends.
Attendees learned about the challenges and creativity required to get big deals done. The panelists discussed aspects of structuring, underwriting, pricing, negotiating, financing and execution. It's safe to say that mostly everyone came away with the knowledge that while risks are high in commercial real estate transactions, so are the potential rewards.
Should Your Next CEO Be a Philosopher?
This in from one of the Wharton Business School's e-newsletter's called Knowledge@Wharton. According to the article, a Wharton professor and an Israeli venture capitalist believe that a firm's financial success comes more from a deep understanding of the customer's philosophical perspective than other areas such as effective marketing, research and developement, building brand loyalty and other efforts. Zen anyone?
This in from one of the Wharton Business School's e-newsletter's called Knowledge@Wharton. According to the article, a Wharton professor and an Israeli venture capitalist believe that a firm's financial success comes more from a deep understanding of the customer's philosophical perspective than other areas such as effective marketing, research and developement, building brand loyalty and other efforts. Zen anyone?
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Toxic Breast Milk? By FLORENCE WILLIAMS
Apparently you are what you eat. Ms. Williams wrote this article for a January 9, 2005 issue of the New York Times. In it she asks readers to imagine human milk from mammary glands with an ingredients label. Read down and one will see 100% of the nourishing and life-enhancing minerals and vitamins needed by babies. Keep reading. Tests show that along with the good comes the bad: trace amounts of of DDT (the persistent pesticide) PCB's, dioxin, trichloroethylene, perchlorate, mercury, lead, benzene, and arsenic.
Where is this coming from? Ms. Williams notes that the small amounts of paint thinners, dry-cleaning fluids, wood preservatives, toilet deodorizers, cosmetic additives, gasoline byproducts, rocket fuel, termite poisons, fungicides and flame retardants passed to infants comes from the mother's diet, neighborhood and, increasingly, her household decor.
Source: The New York Times
Apparently you are what you eat. Ms. Williams wrote this article for a January 9, 2005 issue of the New York Times. In it she asks readers to imagine human milk from mammary glands with an ingredients label. Read down and one will see 100% of the nourishing and life-enhancing minerals and vitamins needed by babies. Keep reading. Tests show that along with the good comes the bad: trace amounts of of DDT (the persistent pesticide) PCB's, dioxin, trichloroethylene, perchlorate, mercury, lead, benzene, and arsenic.
Where is this coming from? Ms. Williams notes that the small amounts of paint thinners, dry-cleaning fluids, wood preservatives, toilet deodorizers, cosmetic additives, gasoline byproducts, rocket fuel, termite poisons, fungicides and flame retardants passed to infants comes from the mother's diet, neighborhood and, increasingly, her household decor.
Source: The New York Times
Philadelphia (Free)dom
City government in Philadelphia appears to be using wi-fi technology to attract new business and also offer a free perk to those who currently reside within its limits.
Marc Levy wrote an AP article that ran on December 1 on the Washingpost.com. website and reported that the City of Philadelphia had struck a deal with Verizon. This new development has helped the city move along in its quest to provide free and/or inexpensive high-speed wireless access to all businesses and residents.
The city's website has several news briefings on the subject. I've quoted one of them:
"... the goal will be to provide some level of free wireless Internet access to everyone living, working or visiting in the city. It is anticipated that some sort of tiered service levels will be created for higher levels of service and individuals and organizations will pay a fee for these higher tiers of service/ How these levels of service are defined and the fees associated with them will be part of a much larger effort to create a public/private partnership to move this initiative forward..."
City government in Philadelphia appears to be using wi-fi technology to attract new business and also offer a free perk to those who currently reside within its limits.
Marc Levy wrote an AP article that ran on December 1 on the Washingpost.com. website and reported that the City of Philadelphia had struck a deal with Verizon. This new development has helped the city move along in its quest to provide free and/or inexpensive high-speed wireless access to all businesses and residents.
The city's website has several news briefings on the subject. I've quoted one of them:
"... the goal will be to provide some level of free wireless Internet access to everyone living, working or visiting in the city. It is anticipated that some sort of tiered service levels will be created for higher levels of service and individuals and organizations will pay a fee for these higher tiers of service/ How these levels of service are defined and the fees associated with them will be part of a much larger effort to create a public/private partnership to move this initiative forward..."
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