Four Online IST courses are available and are currently being revised to provide greater flexibility and ease of use. If you recall, Online IST 110, 210, and 220 all have two overarching Problem Assignments in their recommended designs. Online IST 250 has always consisted of three Modules with three Problem Assignments. Starting in the spring of 2003, all four recommended design models will be based on two Problem Assignments. This is based on lots of feedback from instructors asking for consistency across the courses as well as the overwhelming amount of work to fit three problems into a standard semester. Another key to remember is that the Online IST Course Content Interface will no longer prescribe the Problem Assignments for a given course. As of November 15, 2002 all Problem Assignments will be available from the Online IST Problems Page. We will introduce you all to the Problems Page in the December edition of the eNewsletter.

All of the new materials will be available starting November 15, 2002. Please use Edison's Toolbox to register your section and get a jump start on your instructor and syllabus pages. One last thing -- it is critical that you register and change your instructor page this semester as all old links to Course Content are being updated. This shouldn't happen again for quite some time. See you all on the "My Section" page!

Jim Craft, Director of Information Technology at Raytheon Corporation, was a guest speaker for IST students on October 31st. He was also the first in series of guest speakers who will be participating in the IST Expert Exchange surrounding their visit. IST Students and the IST Expert Exchange community will have the opportunity to "warm-up" to each speaker, developing a better understanding of the subject-matter and enriching their face-to-face meeting. The dialogue need not stop there, as this new service will provide a forum for delving deeper into issues raised during the speaker's visit. If you missed the presentation, it will be available in streaming video format on the SBL Live page.

The IST Expert Exchange is an online community designed to give students access to leading IT experts. We believe that this exchange will help students gain a critical insight into the workings of IT-related professions, from the minds of those who know it best. And it's all available for you to use as an educational supplement in your classes.

Come visit the IST Expert Exchange and sign up if you haven't already.

The agile learning environment provides a customized education for each student by providing them access to a plethora of intellectual resources regardless of their location, eliminating boundaries created by change, and centering learning on each student. Such learning environments, built on a foundation of real-world, collaborative, problem-based strategies, are crucial to the preparation of students for the demands of lifelong learning and our ever-changing workforce.

Over the course of the two-day conference, participants will investigate new learning theories, learn about the latest applied solutions, and actively build hands-on skills to create student-centered, technology-enhanced agile learning environments. Topics will include:

• Empowering computer-mediated communication
• Creating media-rich learning environments
• Building the virtual classroom
• Integrating handheld technologies
• Managing information, data, and learning
• Creating real-world, collaborative, problem-based learning opportunities

For more information, contact Malena K. Moore, Ph.D., Program Director at mmoore@ist.psu.edu or check out the Faculty Academy website.

In addition to providing streaming video of presentations by industry experts, we have created several Discussion Activities directly related to Online IST Courses! This month, we've created 4 Discussion Activities, one for each of our Online Courses, derived from Arthur Esch's presentation at University Park in the Spring, "Internet III and Your First Million". You can go directly to Esch's presentation by clicking here, or by going through the Innovation section of the Exchange to SBL Live.

If you are an instructor and would like to incorporate one of these Discussion Activities into your course, follow the steps outlined to the right by Malena Moore in "Customize your Online IST Communication Space". Even if you aren't teaching any courses, you can participate in a discussion revolving around the same questions at the IST Expert Exchange. Each question is listed at the Expert Exchange in discussion board format.

Arthur Esch: Internet III and Your First Million