CONTENTS
---------------------------
NEWS/TRENDS
--- Is Convergence Killing Journalism?
--- Cell Phones Offer New Publishing Challenge
--- Unsolicited Text Messages Irk Many Cellphone Users
--- EU Privacy Leaders: Cybercrime Treaty May Violate Rights
--- State Of Africa's Internet 2000
--- African E-Commerce Faces Formidable Obstacles
--- Teachers Think Internet Can Improve Quality Of Education
--- Opinion Split On Web Privacy
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS
--- Crackdown using the Internal Security Act in Malaysia
PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS
--- Gbara Community Health Development Project - Nigeria
--- The Community Development Resource Association
ONLINE RESOURCES
--- Community Informatics Strategies: A Summary of Issues and Resources
--- Arab Women Connect (AWC)
--- Online DNA Sequencing
--- Software Protection: Patents versus Copyrights
--- Integrating Math and Science
--- Tools for Creating Community Documentaries
--- The Digital Divide In The Dominican Republic
--- Game Goo
--- Patterns All Around - Internet Field Trip
--- In and Out of the Classroom: Microsoft Software Tutorials
--- Using Digital Technology to Enhance Social and Emotional Learning
ARTICLES
--- What screen resolution are you designing for? When is it time to
change?
***************************
NEWS/TRENDS
-----------
Taken from NEWS-ON-NEWS/The Ifra Trend Report: No. 87 (28 March 2001)
---
IS CONVERGENCE KILLING JOURNALISM?

(INDIA) -- Speaking at India's UBC School of Journalism, veteran reporter
Palagummi Sainath didn't pull any punches: "In my view, the bulk of what is
happening in the press these days is stenography." Blaming media
convergence, which has led to a culture of corporate journalism, Sainath
said most of what passes for journalism today is little more than mindless
note-taking, focused on fluff topics such as CEOs, celebrities and beauty
queens. "The [Indian] press does not have a single correspondent in a major
paper who covers rural poverty," he said. "No one covers housing or
unemployment or the 40 million job-seekers looking for work. But we do have
a full-time correspondent covering golf." Sainath urged the J-school
students to look to the past, to emulate independent-thinking journalists --
like Thomas Paine and Mark Twain -- who greatly influenced public thought
and opinion. Noting that "even the oldest cynic will tell you he got into
journalism because he thought it meant something about connecting with
society, about changing the world we live in today," Sainath said it is
still possible for journalists "to be a part of the solution." (Thunderbird
Magazine Feb 2001)
http://www.journalism.ubc.ca/thunderbird/2000-01/february/sainath.html
----------------------------------------
Taken from NEWS-ON-NEWS/The Ifra Trend Report: No. 87 (28 March 2001)
---
CELL PHONES OFFER NEW PUBLISHING CHALLENGE

(USA) -- While wireless Web access via mobile phones has yet to hit the
mainstream population in the U.S., the number of users in Europe is growing
rapidly, and forward-thinking newspapers are already beginning to offer
content to customers who demand "anytime, anywhere" connectivity. Most
often, newspapers are enabling their subscribers to access weather reports,
sports scores and breaking news updates from their WAP-enabled phones. The
small screen size and limited bandwidth of today's mobile phones makes
publishing for a mobile audience a challenge, but new advances in technology
are moving rapidly toward a time when checking the news on a mobile phone
will be commonplace. "There are at least a dozen newspapers now that are
publishing to WAP phones," says Norm Cloutier, business development director
for Nando Media. "The reason why some newspapers are not publishing to WAP
phones is probably due to the technological investment to get the paper's
information to the mobile phones. Even though the investment is not large,
newspapers may not see this as having an immediate return for their
investment but this will start to change very soon." (The Cole Papers, March
2001)
http://www.colegroup.com/
----------------------------------------
Taken from Benton Foundation COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for March 28,
2001
---
UNSOLICITED TEXT MESSAGES IRK MANY CELLPHONE USERS
Issue: Advertising
A growing number of cellphone users are discovering that they also can be
bombarded by unwanted commercial messages, known as "spam" in the Internet
world. The problem stems partly from the fact that the account numbers for
short-message-service, or SMS, phones are easily identifiable. Typically,
they are just the user's cellphone number plus the name of the service
provider. An AT&T user's address, for instance, might be
[email][email protected] Because cellphone numbers are assigned in blocks
of 9,999 -- all of which share the same area code and prefix -- it's easy
for marketers to blast messages quickly to thousands of users. Unlike
e-mail, most cellphone text messages don't carry headers disclosing whom the
message is from or what it's about. As a result, recipients usually can't
erase a message without reading it. Even worse, most get charged for
receiving SMS messages. Cellphone companies say they are largely powerless
to stop the abuse, and the Federal Communications Commission says the legal
status of cellphone spam is murky. Several lawmakers have proposed
legislation making it illegal to send unwanted messages to a user's phone,
but the practice seems likely to spread.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: YOCHI J. DREAZEN]
(http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB985735340294663006.htm)
----------------------------------------
Taken from EPIC Alert 8.06
---
[1] EU Privacy Leaders: Cybercrime Treaty May Violate Rights

The controversial Council of Europe (CoE) draft Cybercrime Convention has
encountered new opposition from an important quarter. In a formal opinion
released on March 22, the European Union's independent Advisory Body on Data
Protection and Privacy criticized the proposed international treaty as
providing inadequate protections for personal privacy. The advisory group,
also known as the Article 29 Working Party, includes the national privacy
commissioners of the EU member states. The group said it wanted to send "a
strong message that a fair balance must be struck between anti-cyber-crime
efforts and the fundamental rights to privacy and personal data protection
of individuals."

Noting that the CoE proposal makes reference to several international human
rights documents, the Working Party found that "the draft Convention does
not harmonise the safeguards and conditions" envisioned in those treaties,
nor does it "require such safeguards and conditions effectively being in
place." The Working Party concluded that the provisions contained in the
draft treaty "are not sufficient to fully safeguard the fundamental rights
to privacy and personal data protection."

On one issue, the advisory group noted an improvement over earlier drafts of
the cybercrime treaty. The Working Party "welcomes" the fact that the
current version of the Convention (Version 25) no longer includes a "general
surveillance obligation consisting in the routine retention of all traffic
data." But despite that one change, the group found that the draft's
"wording is often too vague and confusing," a shortcoming that is
particularly problemmatic in a document containing "mandatory measures that
are intended to lawfully limit fundamental rights and freedoms."

The Working Party also criticizes "the very late release of relevant
documents," referring to the fact that no public version of the draft treaty
was released until Version 19 last year. While the CoE drafters are seeking
to conclude deliberations on the Convention this spring, the EU advisory
group recommends that "the public debate be prolonged" and that it include
"all parties concerned (human rights organisations, industry, etc.)," and
not just the police and law enforcement officials (including the U.S.
Department of Justice) who have dominated the drafting process.

The Article 29 Working Party opinion is available at:
http://www.epic.org/security/cybercrime/data_wp_3_01.pdf

The current draft of the CoE Convention on Cybercrime is available at:
http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/EN/projets/cybercrime25.htm
----------------------------------------
Taken from PICC Newsletter no.5, March 2001
---
STATE OF AFRICA'S INTERNET 2000
The US Internet Council State of the Internet Report 2000 finds that high
connection costs, low incomes, poor infrastructure, illiteracy, lack of
trained personnel, disinterest and a failure to understand the benefits of
Internet access continue to slow the expansion of computer penetration and
Internet use in Africa. The online population for all of Africa is between
1.15 and 2.58 million. South Africa has 1.05 million people on-line followed
by Egypt with 50,000, Morocco with 20,000, and Kenya with 15,000. The DR of
Congo is the only country not directly connected to the Internet but only 8
countries have nation-wide dial-up access while 42 countries have public
access in the capital cities. http://www.usic.org/
----------------------------------------
Taken from Balancing Act’s NEWS UPDATE 53
---
AFRICAN E-COMMERCE FACES FORMIDABLE OBSTACLES

Perhaps more than any other technology-driven phenomenon of the past decade,
the success of e-commerce is predicated upon a complex mix of catalytic
enablers that go to the heart of a market's social and technical
infrastructure, from easy availability of capital to basic literacy to
telecommunications networks. Almost by definition given the state of their
infrastructure, the developing markets of Africa were destined to lag far
behind their Western counterparts in the e- commerce race. On the whole,
obstacles to e-commerce in the Africa region stem mostly from the fact that
the concept is Western-born. Local markets have to adjust their
infrastructure while tweaking foreign-developed concepts for implementation
in environments with starkly distinct uses and customs.

It is worthwhile to note here that the two stripes of e-commerce (B2C and
B2B) face different prospects as they respond to fundamentally distinct sets
of needs. B2C brings businesses and consumers together in flexible
marketplaces, creating a new channel for the sale, purchase or peer-to- peer
exchange of various products and services. B2B also creates an electronic
marketplace (for business transactions), with the ultimate ambition of
streamlining business processes and reducing costs across firms and
industries. Initial indications from the South African market are that B2B
is developing much faster than B2C, principally because as a business
marketplace, it addresses profitability issues and is less dependent on the
administrative shenanigans that plague the region.

To a large extent, the conclusions of Pyramid's analysis of the prospects
for a viable Internet sector in Africa are not surprising:
*Pure play business models like Amazon.com will not work in Africa;
nevertheless, a model that shows good potential is a "virtual mall" model
that brings together established retail companies and e- commerce enablers.
* Addressable markets for online shopping are small in most markets, and any
B2C venture would walk a fine line between a low revenue base and
potentially high costs.
* In the African B2C space, the Internet has failed to play the
disintermediation (or elimination of intermediaries) role that is at the
root of the success of Internet ventures elsewhere; in turn, the economic
feasibility of B2C ventures is highly questionable.
* The models that are most likely to work will be those that find a way
around the deficiencies inherent in local markets and offer users attractive
alternatives.
(source: Pyramid Research via http://www.AfricaNewsNow.com )
----------------------------------------
Taken from Ed.Net Briefs 4.2.2001
---
TEACHERS THINK INTERNET CAN IMPROVE QUALITY OF EDUCATION
87 percent of teachers responding to a NetDay survey said they were
comfortable using the Internet. 84 percent thought the Internet could
improve the quality of education. Despite these figures, most said the
Internet was not well-integrated into their classrooms because they lacked
the time, equipment and technical support to use it effectively. Of the 600
public, private and parochial school teachers surveyed, 75 percent said the
Internet is an important tool for finding new resources and meeting
educational standards. 77 percent said teachers without Internet access are
at a disadvantage. When they are online, teachers are doing research or
gathering information for lessons (55 percent), communicating with other
teachers (42 percent), or helping students with projects (41 percent).

Martha Woodall
"Teachers like Internet, wish it were better used in schools"
The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 30, 2001
(http://inq.philly.com)
----------------------------------------
OPINION SPLIT ON WEB PRIVACY
Issue: Privacy
A new study released yesterday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project
says that more than half of Americans would back efforts by law enforcement
authorities to snoop through suspects' e-mail, possibly because of the
public's growing concern about child pornography, fraud and other crimes
online. Paradoxically, an even larger proportion of people want new laws to
protect themselves from government and other kinds of unwanted surveillance
online, and less than a third trust government officials to do the right
thing. The seemingly contradictory findings underscore the challenges facing
lawmakers and regulators as they strive to balance the sometimes conflicting
needs of computer users, the Internet industry and law enforcement
authorities. "Americans are searching for an Information Age answer to the
age-old question of how to balance their yearning to be protected from
criminals and their yearning to prevent government authorities from abusing
their investigative powers," said Susannah Fox, director of research for the
project.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Robert O'Harrow Jr.]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28560-2001Apr2.html)
SEE ALSO:
STUDY: NET USERS CITE CHILD PORN AS TOP ONLINE THREAT
[SOURCE: USA Today, AUTHOR: Associated Press]
(http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-04-02-study.htm)
***************************
ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS
-----------
Dear friends,

We would like to draw your attention to a new round of crackdown using the
Internal Security Act in Malaysia. As in the past, this has been a
convenient tool to curb and silence critics and dissent. Government threats
of revocation of publishing permits have caused many mainstream media to
promote self-censorship and as such stories that are critical of the
government or its business cronies, or those that alleged corruption, etc
never see light of day.

So what's this got to do with ICT?

It is against this backdrop that ICT in Malaysia has generated an important
source of alternative news media in the form of Internet journalism as more
Malaysians flock to the net. Maysiakini
pioneered a whole new approach and revolutionised the reporting of
alternative news to the public.

Although Internet access is not widespread, it is growing. At present,
malaysiakini boast of 180,000 daily unique visitors. So far there has been
no attempts to shut it down as the Malaysian government has promised not to
censor the net with its promotion of the Multimedia SuperCorridor. There
have been other attempts though - denial of press accreditation and barring
of Malaysiakini's journalists from covering government functions.

According to the Editor-in-Chief of malaysiakini, Steven Gan, given the
Malaysian government's track record with the print newspapers, he would not
be surprised if the government sought to shutdown the site.

We at Asianwomenonline.com are concerned with these developments and are
running a special editorial in relation to the ISA detentions in Malaysia as
some of us have worked and are still working as journalists in Malaysia. You
can read it at
***************************
PROFILED ORGANIZATIONS
-----------
Taken from The Drum Beat - 87 (http://www.comminit.com)
---
Gbara Community Health Development Project - Nigeria - The Community Health
Information Education Forum (C.H.I.E.F), provided safe-motherhood
programmes, child and adolescent health development programmes, a community
elders forum, capacity/poverty alleviation programmes. Key strategy used was
Information-Education Communication to create awareness, increase knowledge,
build approval, present personal benefits; prompt action, sustain behavioral
change and influence community norms. Future plans include: training of
volunteer health workers/traditional birth attendants, work with youth in
and out of school, community/home-based care of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Contact Remi Akinmade [email][email protected]
----------------------------------------
Taken from The Drum Beat - 87 (http://www.comminit.com)
---
http://www.cdra.org.za - The Community Development Resource Association
(CDRA), based in Cape Town, South Africa, works to build the capacity of
organisations and individuals engaged in development and social
transformation. Their work is mostly "through organisational interventions,
training, accompanied learning and collaborative explorations."
Contact [email][email protected]
***************************
ONLINE RESOURCES
-----------
COMMUNITY INFORMATICS STRATEGIES: A Summary of Issues and Resources

The following represents a summary of issues, points and online resources
relating to community informatics/ICTs/network strategies.

A. PROCESS OF STRATEGY CREATION
Issue 1 - How a strategy should be formulated: particularly having input
into (hence, ownership of) the strategy from community stakeholders; and the
validity of an iterative/prototyping approach to strategy that involves
putting some kit and high-speed links into the community to see what
benefits and objectives members themselves develop through use.

Issue 2 - How the strategy should be used/promoted: e.g. as a tool for
defining territory; as a tool for eliciting further funds from governmental
and other sources.

There are a lot of guides, toolkits, etc. for community networking at:
http://www.makingthenetwork.org/

B. CONTENT OF A COMMUNITY INFORMATICS STRATEGY
ICTs do change the way communities view themselves; giving communities hope,
acting as a tangible sign that external agencies are helping. Nevertheless,
overarching community objectives (outcomes) do make sense as the starting
point for ICT strategy, ensuring that ICTs are primarily seen as a means to
community ends.

Strategy can be structured around the notion of
input-process-output-outcomes: inputs of ICTs and related inputs will, via
various electronic delivery/digitisation processes, lead to outputs of
digitised community information and services, leading to outcomes of
improvements in various community economic and social indicators. In a way,
this can be a kind of mission statement for the community informatics
strategy.

The content of the ends/what part of the community informatics strategy can
relate to:
1. Outcomes sought. These, in turn, can be structured by community
beneficiary groups such as residents, businesses, community institutions
(government, others). Some of these could be broken down further or with
specialist/target groups highlighted, e.g. residents into the old, the
young, the unemployed, etc. Alternatively, outcomes could be structured by
primary community objectives such as increased employment, reduced
crime/better quality of community life, increased trade, increased resident
numbers, increased community identity and cohesion.

2. Outputs sought. The outputs of community informatics can be seen as
secondary community objectives such as more electronic delivery of
community/public services, more electronically-available of community
information, more electronic availability of community learning resources,
more digitised community commerce, more teleworking from within the
community, more ICT-based community enterprises (these readily lend
themselves to targets, e.g. 50% of all formal sector community businesses
will have a Web presence by 2002)

The content of the means/how part can relate to:
3. Inputs/Processes. These mean ICT infrastructure, ICT and related skills,
etc. There could be a further process objective/target in the use of
recycled computers.

Targets for all categories, from inputs to outcomes, can be focused by
asking 'What would success look like?'/'What would failure look like?'

C. EXAMPLES OF COMMUNITY INFORMATICS STRATEGY OBJECTIVES
Detailed targets/objectives for community informatics in Blackburn with
Darwen, UK. Divided into four areas: e-learning, e-community, e-commerce
and e-governance. "By 2006:
- All citizens will have had the opportunity to develop significant ICT
skills to help them in their work and in their personal life. They will
also have access to ICT facilities to help them learn other broader,
life-enhancing skills.
- All significant community and voluntary sector organisations will have had
the opportunity to develop the use of the web as a means of sharing
information and improving and promoting their services.
- All small and medium businesses will have had access to assistance to help
them to develop a web presence and, where appropriate, to use e-commerce in
their organisation.
- The Council [local government] will be able to communicate electronically
with all citizens who wish to use this mechanism and a significant
proportion of citizens will be able to communicate with the Council either
from their homes or from community facilities." (Blackburn with Darwen
strategy for the information age;
http://www.blackburn.gov.uk/regenera/commiakw.htm)
Each of these is developed into a set of more specific objectives in the
strategy document -
http://www.blackburn.gov.uk/regenera/pdf/executivesummery.pdf [summery is
not a misprint]

Objectives (mainly outputs) for community informatics:
- Lifelong learning (e.g. local media centre, ICT-mediated distance
learning)
- Social justice (e.g. ICT-based service delivery, microenterprise
ecommerce, ICT skills training)
- Active citizenship (e.g. edemocracy)
- Community capacity-building (e.g. ICT-based community discussion fora)
- Community information (e.g. community GIS)
(Community Grids for Learning;
http://www.ngflscotland.gov.uk/communities/gettcon/grid/gapps.asp)

A mixture of outputs and outcomes:
"To promote public awareness;
to encourage shared resources;
to encourage co-ordination and co-operation within/between sectors;
to maintain/create jobs;
to encourage telecomputer consumption"
(BayNet Initiative; http://www.city.north-bay.on.ca/bay-net2/baynet02.htm)
Specific goals of same initiative: to create new jobs/protect existing ones
by providing North Bay as a 'telecomputer hub';
to educate the community to the uses of IT; to identify potential new uses
of IT in health, education, and public/private business (BayNet Initiative;
http://www.city.north-bay.on.ca/bay-net2/baynet03.htm)

Community network goals:
"To increase communication between local residents, so they will get to know
each other and their community better, and thus strengthen their sense of
local community
To increase communication between citizens and their government, encourage
more involvement in local decision making, and thus improve democracy
To ensure universal access
To promote universal creation and encourage people to be creators and not
just consumers
To promote diversity of perspectives and content
To promote local economic development"
(Association for Community Networking;
http://www.afcn.net/resources/goals.html)

D. EXAMPLES OF MISSION/VISION STATEMENTS
"The BayNet Initiative is based on a community strategy and an action plan
which focuses on making information technology a major force driving job
maintenance/creation, quality of life and service provision." (BayNet
Initiative, Canada;
http://www.city.north-bay.on.ca/bay-net2/baynet03.htm)
These three categories - jobs, quality of life, services - seemed helpful.

Others:
"A community network will empower the community, through a
socially-interactive information and community network, to access community
services and information." (Smart Choices, Canada; http://smart.knet.on.ca)

"Use ICT to identify and harness local skills and talents in a collaborative
partnership, sharing knowledge and trading together for a sustainable
future." (Harborough ComKnet, UK; http://www.comknet.org.uk)

"To strengthen the community's ability to use the Internet, improve the
quality of life, and enhance the economic competitiveness of local
businesses." (Connected Communities in Silicon Valley, US;
http://www.redbricks.org.uk/permaculture%5Cscel/cases.htm#IV)

"ALEX exists to bring the whole community online and by doing so to enhance
citizenship, community-building and learning" (Electronic Alexandria
Community, US; http://www.alex.org/news/faq.htm)

"The mission of the Davis Community Network is to strengthen the community
by helping people understand and benefit from participation in the
electronic information era." (Davis Community Network, US;
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/dcn/dcnorg/vision.html)

E. EXAMPLES OF PROCESS/OUTPUT STATEMENTS, DEALING WITH ROLE OF THE
'INFORMATICS AGENCY'/COMMUNITY NETWORK
A number of vision/mission statements relate more narrowly to the role of
the informatics agency or the network. They tend to focus on 'means' rather
than 'ends' – e.g. about access rather than about any broader sense of what
they seek to achieve, i.e. how the community will be different as a result
of ICTs. In other words, they focus on process not on outputs or outcomes.
Some justify this on the basis that it is up to the community to determine
the goals to be achieved once exposed to ICTs rather than trying to impose
such goals from outside and prior to ICT exposure.

Examples:
"Austin Free-Net is a non-profit corporation providing public access to the
Internet and emerging technologies for all Austin residents, especially
those who don't have computers in their homes. The Free-Net is a
community-driven project and our Web site is a virtual reflection of what
we're doing in real life." (http://www.austinfree.net)

"The Vancouver Community Network strives to be an inclusive, multicultural,
community-based organisation which ensures the free, accessible electronic
creation and exchange of the broadest range of information, experience,
ideas and wisdom." plus 10 goals that relate to access, participation,
partners, etc. (http://www.vcn.bc.ca/vcn/documents/mission.html)

Other:
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/dcn/dcnorg/vision.html - focus mainly on process,
with only a generic statement of outcomes
http://www.scn.org/ip/commnet/principles.html - the principles underpinning
the Seattle Community Network

F. OTHER ISSUES
1. Community champions - who, within the community, is going to give
leadership to ICT efforts? Can this be a collective activity?
2. Wiring the community: who pays? Options - identify high demand
institutions (schools, hospitals, local govt. institutions, community
centres) and encourage private firms to wire to and around these;
community-based wiring (e.g. via NGO/local govt) that then sells capacity to
local residents; external funder approached on the back of a particular
community purpose/project

G. ONLINE RESOURCES
G1. RESOURCES: UK-specific
http://www.redbricks.org.uk/permaculture%5Cscel/cases.htm#IV - Redbricks
Online: residents' initiative in Hulme, Manchester; includes details of
leased line access approach
http://www.comknet.org.uk - vision for the Harborough 'Community Commerce
and Knowledge Network' project

G2. RESOURCES: Background/support materials
http://www.makingthenetwork/org - guide to getting communities connected;
routemap; avoiding the technology trap; toolkits; evaluation surveys, etc.
http://databases.si.umich.edu/cfdocs/community/mission.cfm - links to
community networking vision, mission and goal statements and to policy and
legal documents
http://www.outreach.missouri.edu/moexpress/guides/moexp5-1.htm - the
importance and principles of establishing a vision for community informatics
http://www.ciof.org/policy/policy-agenda.htm - justification for community
informatics initiatives
http://www.ciof.org/toolkits/policy/ciof-policy.htm - 10-point guide to
building policy support for community networking
http://www.ciof.org/resources/SWOT.html - SWOT analysis for community
networking
http://www.ciof.org/toolkits/policy/chabran-point/ciof-policypoint_files/ -
PowerPoint presentation on community networking

G3. RESOURCES: General links pages
http://www.afcn.net/resources/resources.html - AFCN links page
http://www.afcn.net/world.html - international community network activities
http://virtualcommunities.start4all.com/ - links to all aspects of virtual
communities (not just community-based initiatives)

G4. RESOURCES: Other
http://www.conectando.org.sv/English/Strategy/Summary.htm - Strategy for
Building a Learning Society in El Salvador
http://www.ngflscotland.gov.uk/communities/gettcon/plan - overlaps with
www.makingthenetwork.org

Thanks to all who responded to my earlier query
Dr Richard Heeks
Senior Lecturer, Information Systems & Development
Institute for Development Policy & Management
University of Manchester
Precinct Centre
Manchester M13 9GH U.K.
Phone: +44-161-275-2870 Fax: +44-161-273-8829
Email: [email][email protected]
IDPM Web: http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm
----------------------------------------
Taken from Partners Vol. 3 No. 3
---
Arab Women Connect (AWC)
Launched by UNIFEM Western Asia last December, the AWC website is a
bilingual clearinghouse providing easy access to online information,
analyses and resources about Arab women's issues, which may be of interest
to policymakers, researchers, NGOs, government agencies, donors, and UN
agencies. AWC is part of a comprehensive Internet networking and training
strategy formulated by UNIFEM Western Asia to encourage and facilitate the
use of new ICTs by Arab women. For more information, visit
http://www.arabwomenconnect.org/english/main.html
or e-mail [email][email protected]
----------------------------------------
Taken from Network Nuggets
---
ONLINE DNA SEQUENCING
www.hhmi.org/grants/lectures/biointeractive/vlab99/

Can't do DNA sequencing in your school lab yet? Then let your high school
biology students do this online version, the Virtual Bacterial ID Lab, in
which they identify an unknown bacterium from the base-pair sequence in a
small unit of its ribosomal DNA.

Basic Steps in the online lab:
1. Culture a bacterial sample from a human patient and isolate whole
bacterial DNA.
2. Make many copies of the desired piece of DNA (polymerase chain
reaction).
3. Sequence the DNA.
4. Analyze the sequence and identify the bacteria.

This lab runs in Shockwave, simulating all the steps of DNA sequencing. The
lab presumes knowledge about DNA, RNA, and G-A-T-C bases and complements, so
cover that part of your biology content before taking students to this lab.
Doing a prior "real" lab on chromatography might also enhance understanding
of the final electrophoresis (sequencing) step.

Students use materials and techniques that did not exist prior to 1985. For
a quick history of the thermal cycler which the students virtually employ,
see the writeup at www.mjr.com/html/notebooks/vol_vii/070101.html As for
the DNA sequencer itself, see one high school's "real" use at
www.appliedbiosystems.com/molecularbiology/BioBeat/sister/

At the end of the lab, students submit their DNA sequence for identification
by the National Center for Biotechnology Information in Bethesda, Maryland.
(This part is for real, not a lab!) Conscientious students thus experience
how DNA testing is done. Developed and sponsored by the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute, the Virtual Bacterial ID Lab is the best use of Shockwave
interactivity in science that I have yet seen. The site has no advertising.
----------------------------------------
Taken from GigaLaw.com Weekly Update, March 31, 2001
---
Software Protection: Patents versus Copyrights
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/kirsch-2000-03-p1.html

During the past several years, many technology companies have begun to use
patents as the primary mechanism for legally protecting their software. At
the same time, many software companies have grown to rely less on copyright
protection. An article on GigaLaw.com examines the roles of patent and
copyright laws for software.

To read the full article, go to
http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/kirsch-2000-03-p1.html
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Taken from Math Goodies Newsletter: No. 3-7 (Apr 1, 2001)
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Integrating Math and Science, by Gisele Glosser

One great way to integrate math and science is an interdisciplinary unit on
Scientific Notation. The math teacher can teach lessons on exponential
notation and scientific notation. The science teacher can teach students
the applications, such as the distance from each planet to the sun. Our
lessons on factors and exponents are at:
http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/toc_vol3.shtm
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Taken from Sound Partners Weekly Digest for the Week of April 2- 8th
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Tools for Creating Community Documentaries
"Putting Documentary Work to Work" is an exceptional guide for activists
interested in documenting the lessons learned and successes of their
neighborhoods and communities. The guide, available in both English and
Spanish, outlines the questions and tools one should arm itself in
undertaking such a project, including interview, recording, equipment and
photography tips, as well as budgetary and funding ideas. The guide is just
one component of "Indivisible: Stories of American Community," a project of
the Center for Documentary Studies in partnership with the Center for
Creative Photography.

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Taken from Media Workshop Edu-Tech News Digest - April 2, 2001
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THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
"The Idealist"
Samantha Stainburn
Teacher Magazine
http://www.edweek.org/tm/
April 2001

This article features the work of David Smith (no, not the headmaster cited
in the New Hampshire story above) who work's in Los Toros de Azua, a farming
town where no running water has been available since 1998's Hurricane
George, as a computer teacher. When he arrived in town there were neither
telephone lines nor access to cellular. In 1999, the Dominican government
provided 13 personal computers, and an Internet server connected to a
satellite dish but the new tech center was closed for fear the hardware
would be damaged. A tech savvy teacher was never provided. Thanks to the
Peace Corps, Smith was sent in and now uses technology to break down class
divisions. The article features a day in the life of this self-described
24-hour-a-day teacher of students who drop into his rented bungalow for
help. Constructivists will appreciate Smith's "each one, teach one"
approach.
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Taken from Education Planet Newsletter
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SUBJECT AREA: LANGUAGE ARTS
Title: Game Goo
URL: http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/config.html
Grade Level: K-2
Rating: * * * * *
Content: Learning Games for Early Reading and Language Skills.

Come visit Game Goo for lively engaging games that your early elementary
students will just love. These games have been designed by Cognitive
Concepts the designers of the Earobics series and provide for the
acquisition of the building block skills for language arts and reading. The
games start with letter recognition and continue on through spelling 3
letter words to antonyms and poetry concepts. These Java-based games are
really impressive with full sound and creative characters.
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Taken from Education Planet Newsletter
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SUBJECT AREA: ONLINE PROJECTS
Title: Patterns All Around - Internet Field Trip
URL: http://teacher.scholastic.com/fieldtrp/math/patterns_k_2.htm
Grade Level: K-3
Rating: * * * * *
Content: Websites to Explore to See a Variety of Patterns, Internet Field
Trip Guide.

Patterns are such fun to study since you can bring in examples from a wide
variety of fields such as music, nature, sounds, architecture, dance,
movement, art, mathematics, science and language. Here is a great set of
Internet sites to visit to explore patterns and a web guide to lead you
along your journey. There is also a pattern block game that can be played
online or printed out and played off-line. So start your students exploring
and analyzing basic patterns and then work up to some of the more
complicated examples that they will see on their Internet Field Trip.
----------------------------------------
SUBJECT AREA: TEACHING RESOURCES
Title: In and Out of the Classroom: Microsoft Software Tutorials
URL: http://www.microsoft.com/education/tutorial/classroom/default.asp
Grade Level: K-12+
Rating: * * * * *
Content: Practical Tutorials for a Variety of Microsoft Software, Teaching
Tips for Using the Software in the Classroom, Ideas for Curriculum
Integration, Downloadable Lessons.

Now there is no excuse for not using your Microsoft software. At this
website you will find free tutorials for Microsoft software covering basic
use as well as use in a classroom setting. There are numerous examples and
teaching tips provided. Products covered include Office 2001 for Mac, Office
2000, Office 97, Publisher 2000, Publisher 98, FrontPage 2000, FrontPage 98,
MS Works, Windows 98 and Windows NT. In fact the NT section includes basic
setup and administration of NT server in addition to NT Workstation.
----------------------------------------
Taken from GLEF Blast Newsletter, April 2, 2001
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Using Digital Technology to Enhance Social and
Emotional Learning by Roberta Furger

The right computer program can be a boon to self-confidence, compassion, and
understanding. Indeed, one of the most hopeful uses of digital
technologies, says Maurice Elias, co-author of "Promoting Social and
Emotional Learning: Guidelines for Educators" (Association for Supervision
and Curriculum Development: 1997) is in the support of the social and
emotional learning of children with special needs."
http://glef.org/furger.html
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ARTICLES
-----------
Taken from UI Design Update newsletter - March 2001
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Bob Bailey, Ph.D., Chief Scientist for HFI
What screen resolution are you designing for? When is it time to change?

A website is best when it is designed with a monitor resolution that matches
the monitor resolution of the majority of your users. This provides a
full-screen layout for those who desire to use the full width of their
monitor for web pages.

For the past couple of years, most users have had their monitors set to
handle 800x600 pixel resolution. However, based on the studies that are
currently available to us, we may be approaching the point (in the next few
months) where 800x600 will no longer be the most common resolution. The
relative percent of users using each resolution could change fairly rapidly
because some major computer manufacturers are now delivering their new
monitors set at 1024x768.

Also, there are also some smaller studies reporting that the majority of
users are already using 1024x768 (http://seir.sei.cmu.edu -January, 2001;
themes.org; September, 2000). I found these studies about two months ago.
Unfortunately, when I returned to the websites to double-check the numbers,
I could not find the reports on resolution again. I will leave in the
references - you may have better luck finding the statistics.

There are currently at least four (ongoing) studies reporting on monitor
resolution:
Study A Study B Study C Study D
640x480 13% 7% 8% 6%
800x600 54% 53% 55% 50%
1024x768 26% 31% 28% 29%
Other 7% 9% 9% 15%

A - http://dreamink.com/design5.shtml; March, 2001;
B - http://statmarket.com; February, 2001 (click on Systems tab - requires a
subscription - the information for February is in Kalbach, 2001)
C - http://thecounter.com/stats/2001/January/res.html; January, 2001
D - http://websnapshot.mycomputer.com/monitors.html

Designers should have a threshold ("trigger") that, when met, they would
immediately start designing for higher resolution monitors. A reasonable
rule might be: "When demographic studies show that the majority of people
are using a resolution of 1024x768 pixels, we will immediately begin to
design for the higher resolution."

Most designers would benefit by having a quick and easy way to view their
pages in the different resolutions. Monitor resolution testers can be found
at http://dreamink.com/design6.shtml and "applythis.com" These two products
offer fast ways to see what your website looks like at the three most
popular resolutions (640x480, 800x600, and 1024x768).

Because many designers are still using fixed width pages, they must make the
"resolution" decision. Hopefully, this decision will be made using the study
results shown above. If a fixed width is used, designers then must make a
second decision. When the page is viewed by users with higher resolutions,
(a) should the page move all the way to the left and leave white space on
the right, or (b) be placed in the middle with an equal amount of white
space on the left and right? There is no research to support using either
the "left" or "centered" decision, but I suspect that having the image
centered may be best. The http://ebay.com website offers good examples of
being in the center (the eBay "home" page), or on the left (click on "my
eBay" at the top of the home page). Note that these pages are still using
the older 640x480 resolution, even though only a small percentage of users
have their monitors set at this resolution.

There are at least two ways to have the page size adjust to the resolution
of the user's monitor. First, design pages at both of the most common
resolutions (800x600 and 1024x768), have your website determine the user’s
resolution, and then show the pages to that user that matches their
resolution settings. A second way is to simply stretch pages to fit the
higher screen resolutions used by many people (flexible pages).
Unfortunately, "flexible pages" may degrade the readability and/or overall
appearance of certain pages (Kalbach, 2001). Again, ebay.com provides a
good example of pages that adjust to the full screen (click on "site map" at
the top of the home page).

Providing the ideal monitor resolution for users will continue to be a
challenge for designers. To make it even more difficult, any serious
discussion of monitor resolution also should include a discussion of monitor
size. Kalbach (2001) references an article written by "aardvark" that seems
to suggest that as monitors size get larger, offering larger viewable
browsing areas, users tend to concurrently open more pages (the aardvark
reference is shown below). We must consider how many users are opening
websites full-screen, versus having two or more browser windows open at the
same time. There is very little good research to help us answer these
important questions.

References:
Kalbach, J., The myth of 800x600, http://reports.razorfish.com, March, 2001
(thanks to Terrence deGiere at HFI for finding the article)
Aardvark - note that this study reports slightly more users for the 1024x768
resolution
http://evolt.org/article/Real_World_Browser_Size_Stats_Part_II/20/2297/index
.html -
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Telematics for African Development Consortium
P.O. Box 31822
Braamfontein
2017
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +27 +11 403-2813
Fax: +27 +11 403-2814
[email][email protected]
www.saide.org.za/tad/archive.htm
* For resources on distance education and
technology use in Southern Africa visit:
www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Default.htm