Computing and communications in colleges and universities.

Ibrahim Michail Hefzallah has been on the faculty of Fairfield University since 1968. At present, he is a professor of educational technology and the chair of the Educational Technology Department of the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions.

Open Distributed Processing contains the selected proceedings of the Third International Conference on Open Distributed Systems, organized by the International Federation for Information Processing and held in Brisbane, Australia, in February 1995. The book deals with the interconnectivity problems that advanced computer networking raises, providing those working in the area with the most recent research, including security and management issues.

The current era in higher education is characterized by increased need for accountability and fiscal constraint coupled with demands for increased productivity. Higher education is expected to meet the demand of changing student demographics, as well as requests for research and service from government and industry. To preserve the academy's ability to meet these demands, the editors and contributors to this volume argue that, while change is inevitable and desirable, any radical alterations to the practices that have established and upheld the excellence of higher education in the United States must be carefully considered.The editors and contributors cherish the best ideals of higher education: academic freedom, commitment to both inquiry and teaching, and preservation of an independence of mind and spirit in the face of external pressures. At the same time, the authors of these essays also reflect upon the failings of higher education, including problematic historical legacies such as racism, sexism, and anti-semitism. In Defense of American Higher Education is a careful analysis of what we have inherited, undertaken with a critical eye for constructive reform. It will be of interest to anyone concerned about the future of American higher education.

Concerning the changing shape of the university, this book sets out the social, historical and philosophical aspects of the current digital transformation of education.

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

The National Information Infrastructure will bring information to the doorstep of every household. Librarianship must respond to this development through the National Electronic Library. Librarianship as a profession must set the information agenda if it is to be a viable and influential entity in the electronic environment. Traditional library services are being redefined by technology, and the concept of the National Electronic Library must combine the roles of the academic institution, public enterprise, and library education. This professional reference is a guide to assist librarians in planning for the future. The volume maintains that the growing electronic environment is driving a cultural transformation in which libraries must examine and understand what libraries have been, what they are, and what they need to be. Libraries need to participate actively in this transformation in order to remain the central providers of information and related services. The book explores the National Electronic Library as a concept and formal organization. Library services, collections, and the physical facility are examined in terms of present and future needs based on the rapidly changing electronic environment, and the volume relates the future management of information to administrative structures, constituencies, public and technical services, collection development, education, and strategic planning.