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Business First Louiville
March 11, 2005
KCTCS increases tuition to $98 per credit hour for 2005-06
The board of regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
has raised in-state tuition rates (including fees) to $98 per credit hour for
the 2005-06 academic year, an increase of 6.5 percent, according to a news release.
The amount of the increase from the 2004-05 tuition rates was made following
the passage of the 2005 state budget which included an additional $45 million
in base funding for the state colleges and universities
"We are extremely appreciative of the commitment and acknowledgment of
KCTCS from the governor and the General Assembly," said Cynthia L. Read,
chair of the board of regents. "With the additional funding provided in
the budget, we were able to set an affordable tuition rate that allows us to
continue our momentum and offer our students the highest educational value in
the Commonwealth."
KCTCS is expected to receive approximately $12.6 million in additional base
funding, plus an additional $1 million for enrollment growth, the release said.
Courier-Journal
March 12, 2005
KCTCS tuition rates will rise by 6.5 percent
The board of Kentucky's community and technical colleges yesterday increased
tuition rates for next school year by 6.5 percent, crediting the modest rise
to increased state funding in the recently passed budget.
The board of regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
said tuition would cost $98 per credit hour for the 2005-06 school year, up
from $92 this year.
The college system is expected to receive approximately $13.6 million in additional
funding from the budget.
All regents at the meeting approved the new rates, including the two student
regents.
The Madisonville Messenger
March 12, 2005
MCC tuition rates increasing 6.5 percent
Madisonville Community College students will pay 6.5 percent more in tuition
next year.
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents unanimously
voted Friday to set in-state tuition at $98 per credit hour, compared to the
current $92. College officials say a larger tuition hike was avoided when the
General Assembly included in the budget an additional $45 million in base funding
for the state colleges and universities.
“I’m very pleased that the legislature and the governor provided
additional funding for higher education,” said Dr. Judy Rhoads, MCC president.
“The additional funding helped us to curtail the cost of tuition to students.”
While MCC students saw double-digit tuition increases take effect in fall 2003
and 2004, enrollment has continued to increase.
MCC student Mandy Rogers said the tuition increase will affect her parents.
“My mom and dad work hard for me to go to school,” said Rogers, who
is studying business administration and working two jobs. “Of course, I
have KEES money, too. But if I was paying for it on my own, I would be very
upset. It’s very hard to work and go to school at the same time.”
The system offers the lowest tuition among Kentucky’s public colleges
and universities. Credit hour fees elsewhere range from $158 at Eastern Kentucky
University — the second lowest — to a high of $210 at the University
of Louisville in 2004-05.
“We want our colleges to be affordable and accessible for the largest
number of students possible,” Rhoads said. “Tuition at MCC is still
the best buy in college tuition rates in Kentucky.”
Officials also breathed a sigh of relief that tuition did not cross the $100
mark, as was expected.
“It’s almost a perception, as well,” said Dean of Business Affairs
Ray Gillaspie. “If it remains below $100, it almost seems more palatable
for everybody, whether it is or not.
“It seems more doable,” he said.
KCTCS is expected to receive about $12.6 million in additional base funding,
plus an another $1 million for enrollment growth.
According to a press release, funds raised by the new tuition rates are intended
to help KCTCS protect access to quality programs, provide funds for additional
student services, pay for salary and benefits, and provide for implementation
of the 2006-2010 strategic plan initiatives.
Messenger-Inquirer
March 12, 2005
Community, technical colleges keep tuition increase low
VERSAILLES -- The board of Kentucky's community and technical colleges on Friday
increased tuition rates for next school year by 6.5 percent, crediting the modest
rise on increased state funding in the recently passed state budget.
The board of regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
said tuition would cost $98 per credit hour for the 2005-2006 school year. The
cost this year was $92 per credit hour.
"With the additional funding provided in the budget, we were able to set
an affordable tuition rate that allows us to continue our momentum and offer
our students the highest educational value in the Commonwealth," Cynthia
L. Read, chairwoman of the regents, said in a written statement.
KCTCS is expected to receive approximately $13.6 million in additional funding
from the budget.
All regents who attended the meeting approved the new tuition rates, including
the two student regents.
Leading up to the board meeting, KCTCS held 16 hearings across the state to
receive comments from students, faculty, and staff about potential tuition increases.
KCTCS has 16 community and technical colleges at 65 campuses across the state.
Appalachian News Express
March 13, 2005
BSCTC tuition at $98 per credit hour for 2005/06
Additional state funding allows for 6.5% increase
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (March 11, 2005) – Big Sandy Community and Technical
College (BSCTC), with campuses at Hager Hill, Mayo, Pikeville and Prestonsburg
announced tuition rates today for 2005-2006.
The board of regents of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System
(KCTCS) took action today to set in-state tuition rates (including fees) at
$98 per credit hour for the 2005/06 academic year.
The decision for a 6.5 percent increase from the 2004/05 tuition rates was
made following the passage of the 2005 state budget which included an additional
$45 million in base funding for the state colleges and universities
"We are extremely appreciative of the commitment and acknowledgement of
KCTCS from the governor and the General Assembly,” said Cynthia L. Read,
chair of the board of regents. “With the additional funding provided in
the budget, we were able to set an affordable tuition rate that allows us to
continue our momentum and offer our students the highest educational value in
the Commonwealth.”
“This tuition rate along with the additional state appropriations will
allow us to accomplish our college goals and meet the needs of our students,”
stated Dr. George D. Edwards, president of BSCTC. “Tuition at a KCTCS institution
still represents the most affordable and accessible educational opportunity
in the Commonwealth.”
KCTCS is expected to receive approximately $12.6 million in additional base
funding, plus an additional $1 million for enrollment growth.
Regents said the new tuition rate will provide funding to continue the progress
of KCTCS toward achieving its vision of being recognized as the nation’s
best system of two-year colleges. The funding raised by the new tuition rates
will assist KCTCS in achieving the following priorities:
- Protect access to quality KCTCS programs.
- Provide funds for additional student services.
- Provide for faculty and staff salaries and benefits.
- Provide for implementation of the 2006-2010 Strategic Plan initiatives.
All regents who attended the meeting approved the new tuition rates, including
the two student regents. Student regent Cynthia Osborne, Hazard Community and
Technical College, said she was very proud that the board was able to maintain
affordable tuition rates.
“This increase allows us to maintain the quality education and programming
that is expected of KCTCS with minimal financial burden to our students”
Osborne said.
Leading up to the board meeting, KCTCS held 16 hearings across the state to
receive comments from students, faculty, and staff about potential tuition increases.
The Herald-Dispatch
March 10, 2005
Boyd County benefits from state budget
ASHLAND -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher came to Ashland Thursday bearing gifts.
The Kentucky budget passed earlier this week includes about $57 million to
benefit Boyd County residents and motorists. That includes $19 million for a
new courthouse annex for judicial services; $18 million for a second Ashland
Community and Technical College building; $18 million for road and bridge projects
including a new Interstate 64 interchange at Kentucky 180; a new paint job for
an Ashland bridge and $1.8 million for sewer projects.
The $19 million for the courthouse annex wasn’t even in the budget last
week. But State Rep. John Vincent, R-Ashland, and others, including Fletcher
and State Rep. Rocky Adkins, D-Sandy Hook, helped put the project in the budget
during a conference committee session over the weekend.
Fletcher credited Vincent for pushing for the state funds for the courthouse
after a Senate version of the budget skipped over Boyd County’s chance
for new courtrooms and court related offices. "He said he couldn’t
go home without this project," Fletcher said. "(Vincent) led the charge
on that."
Jim Range, an Ashland resident, said Fletcher’s input in the 2005-07 budget
seems reasonable. "I like the part where those with incomes below the federal
poverty guidelines don’t have to file state taxes," he said. "That’s
probably long overdue."
He was more cautious in changes in the state tax law that will require more
tax revenues from out-of-state corporations doing business in Kentucky. New
York changed some tax laws that ended up hurting business, he said. "If
it’s done reasonably and fair, it won’t be detrimental and will help,"
Range said.
Another portion of the budget bill will provide more tax credits for recyclable
material being used by AK Steel, he said. "Those recycling credits will
help," Range said.
Fletcher said the budget was "revenue neutral," meaning there won’t
be an increase in tax revenues overall. While some will feel the brunt of higher
taxes, one group that won’t are "the poorest of the poor," those
making less than the federal poverty guideline, he said. There are 458,000 Kentuckians
who won’t even have to file state tax returns, because they’re being
taken off the tax rolls, he said.
His tax modernization changes Kentucky tax rules dating back to 1906. The state’s
corporate income tax of 8.25 percent will be rolled back in the next two years
to 6 percent, but out-of-state corporations and limited liability corporations
now will pay the same rate as Kentucky companies, Fletcher said.
Other benefits in the budget are a 3 percent increase in teacher salaries and
a $500 tax credit for students attending Kentucky colleges and universities,
he said.
"We want to make Kentucky more business friendly," he said. One way
to do that is by eliminating the state business license tax and closing tax
loopholes so everyone is paying their fair share, he said.
One group that will pay more are smokers. The cost of a pack of cigarettes
is increasing 27 cents per pack from 3 cents to 30 cents. Fletcher called the
increase moderate and is aware it will have an impact on businesses along the
border with other states.
"It will send a healthy message about the ill-effects of smoking,"
Fletcher said. The money will go for education, Medicaid and 1 cent per pack
will go to cancer research, he said.
Sarah Burroway, a Flatwoods, Ky., resident, said while money for infrastructure
is always needed, she would have liked to have heard about more state money
for things like senior programs, early childhood education and for people with
disabilities.
"Those are three tremendous needs in Eastern Kentucky we can’t ignore,"
she said. A graduate of Ashland Community College, she was happy to see state
funds going to Ashland Community and Technical College.
Vincent said Kentucky is among the last states to close corporate loopholes.
The change in the tax law encourages new business and new investment in the
state and will lower the tax rate for Kentucky-based companies, he said.
The Daily Independent
March 11, 2005
Fletcher: Millions coming to FIVCO area
ASHLAND A large crowd comprised of city officials, residents, business proprietors
and school children gathered on Judd Plaza Thursday afternoon to hear Kentucky's
governor laud "unprecedented bipartisan efforts" of state lawmakers
who recently approved a budget that included tax modernization and a slew of
projects that will bring millions to the FIVCO area.
Traveling by helicopter from Louisville where President George W. Bush had
addressed a crowd earlier in the day, Gov. Ernie Fletcher greeted the crowd
of about 150 who braved mildly cold temperatures to attend the press conference.
The governor recognized several local dignitaries and legislators whose efforts
to make his tax plan and the state's budget something, he said, Kentucky's citizens
could be proud of.
Fletcher said efforts were made to "focus on opportunities and job creation
that will keep young folks in Kentucky."
He said the budget - which includes $18 million for a technology center here
- will increase this area's ability to develop a competitive work force for
the state that will attract businesses and strengthen the economy.
"We want to make sure we make this a business friendly area and commonwealth,"
he said.
He said he looks forward to continuing work to "bring more and better
jobs to this area."
Fletcher briefly touched on efforts by the state to increase teachers' salaries,
increase Medicaid funding and reduce income tax burdens for all Kentuckians.
Fletcher said the state "has taken 458,000 family members off the tax
rolls. Kentucky has taxed its poor more than any other (state) and I can say
we will no longer do that."
The governor said the tax plan also provides tax credits for higher education
students - patterned after federal tax credits - that will reward Kentucky's
children for going to Kentucky's schools.
Fletcher also told the crowd how pleased he was with the passage of the Kentucky
Historic Rehabilitation Tax Incentive that offers a 30 percent tax credit for
residential structures, a 20 percent credit for commercial properties and a
10 percent credit for new residential construction in historic neighborhoods.
"That will mean a lot to preserve the history of Ashland," Fletcher
said of the city's numerous historic homes and buildings.
On hand to hear the governor's remarks were Joanna Hinton, executive director
of Preservation Kentucky Inc., and David L. Morgan, executive director of the
Kentucky Heritage Council.
Morgan said the tax incentive was significant, in part, because "for people
who invest in historic property, right now, there is no incentive for private
property."
Hinton said the tax incentive passed, mostly, due to grassroots efforts to
keep it in the arena of state and public interest.
She said the historic tax credit will eventually create jobs when preservation
and restoration efforts begin.
Overall, Fletcher said $57 million will be brought back to this area.
That figure includes $18 million in road projects, $18 million for the ACTC
technology center, and $19 million for the construction of the new Boyd County
Courthouse, among other projects.
Floyd County Times
February 11, 2005
Big Sandy is the college of choice
Enrollment at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) exceeded
80,000 in the 2004 fall semester with over 4600 enrolled at Big Sandy Community
and Technical College (BSCTC). Over 80,000 individuals deciding to get an education
is an incredible number. Imagine the impact this will have on our future. Why
have so many individuals decided to become college students? According to recent
interviews conducted on the Prestonsburg Campus of BSCTC, 16 out of 25 students
enrolled in college, “to get an education in order to get a better job.”
For example, Tina Blevins, a 25-year old single mother, realized that in order
to give her daughter more in life, she needed to get an education. The 2005
Spring semester marked a stepping stone for Tina as this will be the semester
she graduates. “Getting an education has changed my life,” stated
Blevins, “I can’t believe that I have made it this far.” Her
decision to return to college wasn’t difficult because she wanted a promising
future for the bright eyed little girl that blessed her presence every day.
“I want to give my daughter so much more than I ever had and I know that
getting an education is my only hope. Although my little girl is only three,
I am so encouraged each time I hear her say, ‘My mommy goes to college.’
I realize now that I am not only building a better future for her but I am setting
an example as well,” stated Blevins. Blevins has discovered wisdom at a
young age and her education will prove to be a priceless gift for herself and
her daughter. Other students found themselves enrolled in college due to the
loss of a job while some simply wanted to accomplish something with their life.
Although students had different reasons for attending college, they each had
one thing in common and that was choosing BSCTC. “Big Sandy is close to
home,” is the response given by 20 out of 25 students surveyed. The 2005
spring semester will be student Allie Murray’s second semester at BSCTC.
After graduation instead of going away to college she decided to stay close
to home and continue her education. Murray has been very content with her decision,
“Taking classes at BSCTC has been great. I have been able to keep my part-time
job, be at home with my mom and little brother and get an education. I have
other friends that went away to college and after listening to them talk about
how large their class sizes are I am definitely glad I chose BSCTC. It is nice
to be known by your name and not a number,” stated Murray. Although the
majority of students agreed that the location brought them to Big Sandy CTC
others expressed that it is the one-on-one instruction and the low tuition cost
that made the difference.
BSCTC Provost Nancy Johnson says that the college is excited to offer so many
opportunities to students. “ In addition to the over 25 technical programs
providing certificates, diplomas and degrees, we have a wide array of general
education classes to support these programs and prepare students for transfer
to other post-secondary institutions. Those who know exactly what they must
complete to meet their goals as well as those who may be struggling to determine
the right direction for their life all can find the appropriate assistance at
BSCTC. More ways to learn new skills and enhance one’s knowledge lead to
an increasing enrollment. We strive to offer students the flexibility they need
and provide quality faculty along with the support services requisite for success.
We will continue to be the College of Choice!” stated Johnson.
The numbers prove that Big Sandy Community and Technical College is the college
of choice for individuals who want to get an education, stay close to home and
experience one-on-one instruction at an affordable cost.
Paintsville Herald
March 11, 2005
Kentucky Commission on Women’s conference held at BSCTC
“We must have the opportunity to reach our full potential and we have
so much potential,” are the words spoken by the Former First Lady Judi
Patton at the Kentucky Commission on Women’s (KCW) forum held on the Prestonsburg
Campus of Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC), on Thursday, March
3, 2005. Since its beginning in November 2001, the Governor’s Task Force
on the Economic Status of Kentucky’s Women has been examining obstacles,
identifying solutions and developing a plan of action for Kentucky women. In
an effort to do this several forums have been held across the state to allow
women to meet and voice their opinions.
“The purpose of our regional meetings is to identify issues of women in
specific areas and to develop strategies for these individual areas,” stated
Ashley Bratcher, project manager for Kentucky Commission for Women. “The
needs of women may differ from the western part of the state to the eastern
part of the state and we want to target the specialized needs of each area.”
The forum attendees chose a topic of interest and engaged in a 60 minute break
out session. Facilitating the break out sessions were Lula Bowling, Director
of MSU at Prestonsburg, discussing education; Judge Julie Paxton, of Floyd,
Knott & Magoffin Family Courts, discussing equity; Linda Gayheart, consultant
in the fields of leadership & community development, discussing leadership;
Amy Barnes, economic development specialist, discussing economic sufficiency
and Susan Howard, service region associate for the Big Sandy Service Region,
discussing health and well being.
Jean Dorton, community and legislative liaison for Big Sandy Community and
Technical College, said that she was contacted by the KCW to invite the College
to facilitate the forum for the Big Sandy area. “The College was glad to
have the opportunity to support such an event,” stated Dorton, “and
we hope that further action of the KCW will continue to help Kentucky’s
women.”
Paducah Sun
March 14, 2005
West Kentucky Community and Technical College honored
West Kentucky Community and Technical College was honored in the recent annual
Kentucky Community and Technical College System Marketing Awards Competition
as Best Overall Communication. Janett Blythe, director of public relations,
the WKCTC marketing campaign received four gold medals (overall communications,
annual report, class schedules/bulletins and print advertising), two silver
medals (TV production and posters/billboards) and two bronze medals (Web site
and digital/film photography).
Kentucky Enquirer
March 14, 2005
Students win at advertising competition
Five Gateway students were honored for their creativity in advertising at the
American Advertising Federation Addy Awards on Feb. 19.
Winners included Jeff Brinkman, Addy Award for CMYK Mini Cooper Outdoor; Jeff
Lay, Jeff Brinkman and Mike Ackerson, Silver Award for a GCTC Portfolio Exhibit
Invitations (Toni Bloom, instructor); and Best of Show and Addy Award: Rick
Neltner and Aaron May for a Summerfair poster
The Addy Awards are the largest competition in the advertising industry with
approximately 60,000 entries annually. The local winners are now eligible to
compete at the regional level and, if they win there, at the national/international
level.
Lexington Herald-Leader
March 11, 2005
Security training chief named
Bob Hammonds has been appointed the state director of homeland security initiatives
for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The KCTCS Homeland
Security program provides specialized training with three major initiatives:
physical security, first responder, and information and communication technologies
security. For the past year, Hammonds served in an interim role before being
appointed to the permanent position effective March 1. He had previously served
12 years with Hazard Community and Technical College as assistant dean of business
affairs.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 11, 2005
Purchasing Power of Maximum Pell Grant Will Continue to Decline, Report Says
The maximum Pell Grant will cover only a quarter of the cost of attending a
four-year public institution by 2010, 10 percent less than it does now, according
to a study scheduled for release today by the Center for American Progress,
a think tank in Washington led by John D. Podesta, who was White House chief
of staff under President Bill Clinton.
The Pell Grant program, which was created by Congress in 1972, currently provides
low-income students with annual grants ranging from $400 to $4,050 to help defray
educational costs.
The decline in the purchasing power of the Pell will come even if Congress
approves President Bush's plan to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500 over
the next five years, the report predicts.
By 2010, when the maximum Pell Grant would reach $4,550 under the president's
proposal, the gap between college costs and the maximum grant would have grown
to $13,150, 2.5 times more than a student can currently earn through federal
work-study and a minimum-wage full-time summer job.
That gap means that students will have to take out more loans at a time when
the administration has proposed eliminating the Perkins Loan program, which
provides students with up to $4,000 a year.
If Congress approves that plan, the report says, the federal loan limit will
decline by at least 40 percent, even if Congress votes to increase the maximum
Stafford loan by $825 for freshmen and $1,000 for sophomores, as the president
has proposed.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 11, 2005
Senate Approves Extension of Vocational-Education Law
The U.S. Senate voted Thursday night to extend a law that provides federal
support for vocational education. The legislation is supported by associations
that represent community colleges, which receive 40 percent of the money distributed
under the law.
The Senate approved extending the law, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical
Education Act, by a vote of 99 to 0 one day after the measure was approved by
a key Senate committee (The Chronicle, March 10.)
Community-college lobbyists said on Wednesday, after the bill was approved
by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, that they were
pleased that the legislation, S 250, would not open up the program to four-year
institutions. Language in legislation proposed to extend the act last year would
have made four-year colleges eligible to receive funds under the law.
The House of Representatives version of the bill, HR 366, has also been approved
in committee and awaits floor action.
Both versions are backed community-college groups. However, college officials
object to a provision in the House bill that would lump federal support for
one program into block grants to the states. The program, called Tech-Prep,
enables students to get a technical education over two years of high school
and two years of college.
This year the federal government provided $1.33-billion to the states under
the act.
The bill approved on Thursday would only authorize continuation of the program.
Funds must still be appropriated in separate legislation. In his budget request
for the 2006 fiscal year, President Bush proposed abolishing the program (The
Chronicle, February 18).
Washington Post
March 11, 2005
Blogging Clicks With Colleges
Interactive Web Pages Changing Class Participation
First the Internet turned colleges upside down, extending classrooms and changing
the way people learned. Next came Napster and other file-sharing tools, then
Web logs. Now blogs are morphing into the next big thing on campus: wikis.
The wiki, which got its name from the Hawaiian word for "quick,"
is the scrappy little brother to the blog, an interactive Web page that can
be changed by anyone who stumbles upon it. While blogs let people publish their
thoughts online, wikis take things a step further, creating freewheeling, collaborative
communities: Students can edit one another's work, bounce ideas around or link
to infinite other Web sites.
"Students keep pushing for more interactivity, often in ways I hadn't
thought of yet," said Mark L. Phillipson, assistant professor of English
at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
Phillipson's students can go to a wiki he designed and highlight a phrase in
a poem such as John Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale." From "tender
is the night," for example, they could create links to their own essays,
a scanned image of the ink-blotted original manuscript, artwork, something about
the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel with that title -- anything.
Sometimes wikis don't click. But at their best, wikis are provocative, inspiring,
funny and addictive. Some course sites read like journals, some like debates
and some shimmy in and out of topics with music, photos and video pulling readers
along. One of Phillipson's students drew a picture of a poem; another made a
movie. Wikis can encourage creativity, remove the limits on class time, give
professors a better sense of student understanding and interest and keep students
writing, thinking and questioning.
Early e-mail lists, newsgroups and chat rooms were ephemeral, like a passing
conversation, said Steve Jones, a communication professor at the University
of Illinois at Chicago. Now computers and networks are fast enough that many
people can share text, videos, sound and art and work on them together, he said,
building a body of knowledge over time. Wikis, including interactive encyclopedia
Wikipedia, have been around for several years but they're just on the cusp of
becoming mainstream; as the technology improves, they're popping up in a few
classrooms and offices, and people are finding all sorts of uses for them.
It's the plugged-in version of a long tradition in literature, said wiki user
Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, an assistant professor of English at the University
of Maryland. Hundreds of years ago people kept "commonplace books,"
in which they would write down poems, passages from books, and observations
to share. Most people think of writing as solitary, he said -- "the lonely
poet taking long walks in the woods, but there's another type of writing that's
social and reactive."
In many cases, professors are scrambling to keep up with changes driven by
students. Some graduate students create wikis for collaborative science research
projects. At Johns Hopkins University, junior Asheesh Laroia talked with a teaching
assistant about setting up a wiki for a section of a course on Baltimore. In
the summer, Matt Bowen, a senior at U-Md., dreamed up a wiki to help struggling
writers; now, he and others post drafts online, and his friends at other colleges
can click onto his wiki and rewrite the stories, add a poem, or take a scene
and spin it into something new entirely.
"Sometimes things improve," Bowen said, "sometimes they get
worse. Sometimes they just get funnier."
Blogs already have seeped into everyday life on campus. At Johns Hopkins, two
juniors just set up a service for students and faculty to start their own blogs.
Georgetown University tinkered with software to make it easy for professors
to create blogs. There are course blogs on religion, war, literature, even cattle,
at Texas A&M University.
"It's more power to the student," said junior John Dorman, whose
Georgetown government class blog bubbled with a debate over morality and politics
recently, with students posting comments from 7:30 p.m. until nearly 7:30 the
next morning.
Students in sophomore Craig Kessler's English class got hooked, and he said
they became closer and more engaged than in any class he has taken. When the
semester ended this winter, students asked the professor, David Lipscomb: Could
they keep writing the blog?
Lipscomb quickly found he had to put limits on the posts -- some students wrote
so much that he could hardly keep up. Most professors who use blogs and wikis
said they set ground rules early on and act quickly to stamp out problems.
As the technology goes mainstream, universities will have to think about libel
and intellectual property issues, Kirschenbaum said.
Now there are wikis here and there cooked up by whiz-kid professors and students,
but he thinks schools soon will build frameworks. Georgetown's Center for New
Designs in Learning and Scholarship hopes to offer faculty wikis-made-easy technology
by the fall semester.
What else is ahead? Maybe wikis to go. At American University this fall, students
posted updates from political events to "moblogs" with their mobile
phones. Jones predicts that kind of thing will happen more, as gizmos make it
easier to write and send photos and videos from anywhere.
Milad Doueihi, a communications and contemporary society instructor at Johns
Hopkins, said that this summer, students will be able to listen to his lectures
anytime: He will broadcast them on the class wiki using his iPod -- a technology
called -- what else? -- podcasting.
"It's much more productive," he said, as though sitting in a classroom
were hopelessly outdated.
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