Book on: Journey to the Ph.D

Journey to the Ph.D.
How to Navigate the Process as African Americans
edited by Anna L. Green & LeKita V. Scott
Journey to the Ph.D.
Item# 9781579220792
List price: $18.95


Whether or not you're the first in your family to embark on this journey, you are aware that you will meet barriers and prejudice, are likely to face isolation and frustration, and find few sources of support along the way.

This book, by twenty-four Black scholars who "have been there," offers a guide to the formal application process and to the personal, emotional and intellectual challenges you are likely to face. The authors come from a wide range of disciplines -- from computing, education and literature to science and sociology. Although their experiences and backgrounds are as varied as they are as individuals, their richly deserve chapters cohere into a rounded guide to the issues for those who follow in their footsteps.

From questioning the reader about his or her reasons for pursuing a doctorate, offering advice on financial issues, the choice of university and doctoral program, and relocation, through the process and timetable of application, interviews, acceptance and rejection, the authors go on to describe their own journeys and the lessons they have learned.

These men and women write candidly about their experiences, the strategies they used to maintain their motivation, make the transition from HBCUs to PWIs, balance family and work, make the right choices and keep focused on priorities. They discuss how to work effectively with advisors and mentors, make all-important connections with teachers and build professional and personal support networks. They recount how they dealt with tokenism, established credibility, handle racism, maintained their values and culture, and persuaded supervisors to legitimize their research interests in African American issues.

Journey to the Ph.D.
How to Navigate the Process as African Americans
edited by Anna L. Green & LeKita V. Scott

ISBN: 9781579220792
ISBN-10: 1579220797
Publisher: Stylus Publishing
Publication Date: 2003
Format: Trade Paperback, 282 pages
Book Type: New

Study: Blog readers not necessarily opposition sympathisers - The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Jun 17, 2008 By SORAYA JAMAL

A study on the role and influence of the Internet and especially blogs found no concrete evidence that those who read blogs regularly were inclined to sympathise with opposition parties.

The study Peranan dan Pengaruh Internet dan Kewartawanan Bloggers Terhadap Pengundi Semasa Pilihan Raya Umum Malaysia 2008 (The Role and Influence of the Internet and Journalistic Bloggers on Voters during the 2008 General Election) was conducted by Prof Madya Dr Baharuddin Aziz, Dr Rahmat Ghazali and Dr Abd Rasid Abd Rahman from Universiti Teknologi Mara's Communications and Media Studies Faculty.

About 80% of respondents were aware of blogs, which were popular with the middle class and below.

"After making the cross matching, we found that there was no strong evidence that supports the notion that the Internet content had moved people to vote for the opposition," Dr Baharuddin told Bernama here recently.

He said many newspaper readers and television viewers had also switched to supporting the opposition in the March 8 polls.

The one-month study also found that banners, posters and pamphlets played a crucial role in swaying voters' sentiment for the opposition.

The study conducted on 1,100 voters in four zones -- north (28%), south (22%), east coast (19%) and central (31%) used the stratified group sampling method.

Lingam clip the catalyst


It found that issues and comments made in blogs from September 2007 were a key factor.

"It began in September 2007, with the video clip that recorded the conversation between V.K. Lingam and a senior member of the judiciary on the appointments of judges -- this was when voters started to sway towards the opposition," said Dr Baharuddin.

Respondents said they preferred blogs because they wanted something different -- 38% preferred reading blogs as the issues were discussed in a different way, as compared with the mainstream media.

"When ministers and politicians hop onto this phenomenon, it means they admit the clout of blogs and online journalism, hence exposing readers to balanced views and opinions", said Dr Baharuddin.

He said the authorities should view comments and feedback on blogs positively.

The study's field survey was made on polling day, with 57% of respondents being male and 43% female. About 60% were aged below 40 years.

Almost half of the respondents -- at 41.3% -- read blogs in the office while 31.7% did it at home, with 44% saying said they viewed blogs two or three times a day. Only 33% said they never read blogs.

When asked if blog content had swayed their choice in the general election, 55.2% said yes.

Among the issues they considered "hot" were the price hike of petrol and other consumer goods, the Lingam video clip, the judiciary and corruption.

As for the breakdown of voters' choice during the election, 48.6% of the respondents said they voted for the opposition while 41.1% chose Barisan Nasional (BN).

Almost 36% "believed a little bit" in blog content, 16.4% "trusted almost all" the content while 2.8% "believed all." Those who had "total doubt" numbered 4.9%.

Among the blogs and websites considered readers' picks were Malaysiakini, Suara Keadilan, SPR, Harakah Online, Berita Harian Online, Youtube, Utusan Malaysia Online, Malaysia Today, The Star Online and news agencies.

Future elections


Dr Baharuddin said "digital media warfare" and the preference of the younger generation should be given serious thought, particularly with the presence of 1.8 million fresh voters for the next election in 2012 or 2013.

Mobile TV and handphone networks are also expected to play a major role.

"We cannot deny that the digital divide still exists in the country, but we can no longer sweep aside the role of new media.

"During the Ijok and Machap by-elections, bloggers were already active but their impact was insignificant, unlike what happened during the 2008 general election," he said.

Barisan Nasional was at the receiving end as it failed to adequately address issues raised.

"For example, on Feb 13, newspaper front-page reports were not only on the dissolution of Parliament but also on judiciary issues," he said.

Dr Baharuddin said a weak approach did not clarify sensitive issues, causing the public to switch to reading blogs for further clarification, which ultimately had a detrimental effect on the ruling coalition. -- Bernama

3rd International Conference on “Postgraduate Education: Multidisciplinary Perspectives” - December 16-17, 2008

The 3rd International Conference on “Postgraduate Education: Multidisciplinary Perspectives” will be held from December 16-17, 2008 in Gurney Hotel, Penang, Malaysia. It will be hosted by Universiti Sains Malaysia, in cooperation with the Deans Council of Graduate Schools and the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia. The 1st conference on higher education was organized by University Malaya in 2004 while the 2nd conference on higher education was organized by University Malaysia Sarawak in 2006.

This Conference will be a meeting of minds to primarily discuss on significant issues which focus on multidisciplinary perspectives in higher education. The conference will provide a vibrant scholarly space to critically and creatively engage with new ideas and research about teaching and lifelong learning in higher education. In addition to researcher and student presentations, experts of the region will also be invited to give keynote speeches, sharing their insights on challenges and issues facing contemporary scholarship on higher education.

Call For Papers

Participants wishing to give an oral or poster presentation during the conference are advised to submit copies of their abstract for review by the Academic Working Committee. Papers submitted should indicate the sub-theme proposed for the presentation.

Authors are requested to submits soft copies of their abstract to the Secretariat no later than 31 July 2008. Upon acceptance of the abstract, authors are required to submit the full paper within 60 days after indication of acceptance by the Secretariat.

Instruction to authors for the preparation of abstract as follows:-

Authors must register in order to submit an abstract. Abstracts must be submitted in English. The entire abstract (including abstract title, authors and affiliations) must not exceed one A4 size page. Abstracts should be submitted in a Microsoft Word file and using size 12 Times Roman Font.

Abstract title must be in CAPITAL letters. Do not indent.

Author and co-authors names, institutions, cities and countries are to be typed under the title. List each author by institution, city and country. Do not include degrees or professional titles (PhD, Prof., etc.). List the email address of the contact author only.

Leave one line of space between the title/author block and the body of the abstract.

Abstract text must be single-spaced. Do not leave blank lines between paragraphs. Abstracts should be concise, informative and should contain objective, methods, results and conclusion.

Tables, graphs and other types of images should not be included in abstracts. References, credits or grant support should not be included in abstracts.

Submit the abstract via our submission system. Please make sure that you select the topic(s) in which your abstract falls from these following sub-theme:

Internationalisation, Multiculturalisation, Quality Research, Philosophy of Graduate Studies, Breakthrough Research, Supervision Commercialising Research (Click here for more detailed info)

As the selected presentations will be published into proceeding, authors are expected to submit their full paper in a format which will advised by the Secretariat.

Important Dates

Due date for abstract submission - 31st July 2008
Notification of acceptance on or before - 30th September 2008
Closing date for early-bird registration - 31st July 2008
Closing date for late registration - 30th November 2008
Conference 16th - 17th December 2008

More details at: http://icpe3.cs.usm.my/

3rd International Conference on Postgraduate Education

Our ref : USM.IPS/ICPE 2008/JK PENTADBIRAN (01)

Date : 13 June 2008

Dear Sir / Madam,

3rd International Conference on Postgraduate Education

I am pleased to inform you that Universiti Sains Malaysia will be hosting the 3rd International Conference on Postgraduate Education (ICPE-3) on the 16-17 December 2008 in Penang, Malaysia.

2. The ICPE-3 is a biannual conference organized by the Graduate Deans Council, Malaysian Public Universities, in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education. This conference will focus on the theme “Postgraduate Education: Multidisciplinary Perspectives” where the main aims are to stimulate discussions, and foster the exchange of ideas and knowledge on issues pertaining to postgraduate education.

3. I would like to extend an invitation to your institution to participate in the conference as well as the education exhibition on postgraduate studies by public and private universities.

4. Following this, your help in promoting and publicizing ICPE-3 at your institution is highly appreciated.

5. For further inquiries, kindly contact me at 604-653 2930, Fax: 604-653 2931 or e-mail : icpe3@notes.usm.my or visit http://www.usm.my/icpe3. I look forward to your participation.

Thank you.

Yours truly


(PROFESOR DR. ROSHADA HASHIM)
Dean,
And ICPE-3 Main Committee Chairperson

Malaysia ranks high in connectivity study - The Star

PETALING JAYA: Jun 12, 2008 By STEVEN PATRICK

Malaysia is number one in a connectivity study, beating economic powerhouses China and India, in the efficiency-driven market segment of the Connectivity Scorecard study.

The study (www.connectivityscorecard.org) was done by the London Business School and US-based economic consulting firm LECG.

It studied two segments — efficiency-driven markets, such as Malaysia, and innovation-driven economies, like the United States and Japan.

The Connectivity Scorecard measures the extent to which governments, businesses and consumers make use of connectivity technologies — the copper wires, fibre-optic lines, mobile phones and personal computers.

The study was commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks and published last month. Malaysia was the highest scorer in the emerging economies segment of the study, with a score of 7.59 out of 10, beating China (4.45) and India (1.83) in the process.

According to the study, Malaysia may soon be “knocking at the door” of the “innovation-driven” economies.

Malaysia leads the efficiency-driven segment with high broadband subscription levels, high mobile network coverage and subscriptions, and scores very highly on business usage of mobile e-mail and Internet too, the study said.

Malaysia also did well as it has high ICT (Information and Communications Technology) literacy rates and usage scores, comparable in some cases to innovation driven economies, said the survey.

The Connectivity Scorecard could help governments in assessing how ICT policy can be advanced.

In Malaysia’s case, the study states that the country needs to improve connectivity by further expanding broadband penetration.

Bill Chang, country manager of Nokia Siemens Networks said that perhaps the Government could subsidise broadband Internet.

“It all boils down to high-speed broadband for the masses. When this is achieved, there will be a need for broadband applications and this will generate more economic activity,” he said.

Currently, Malaysia has a broadband penetration rate of 3.5 per 100 people, said the survey.

Brand new words - NOTES FROM THE LANGUAGE UNDERGROUND - The Star

Jun 11, 2008 By GRANT BARRETT

THIS is a glossary of words that have recently been used in English and do not yet appear in traditional dictionaries.

1-800 car n. A car outfitted with superficial and expensive modifications that make it look like a fast car but which do not improve its performance. Instead of doing the work from scratch, which is more respected among car fans, the car owner has simply bought all the add-ons from a mail order company. 1-800 is a prefix for toll-free phone numbers typically used by the mail order company.

circus gold n. Elephant dung. For a lucky gardener, it is indeed gold. Use humorously.

citjo n. A blend of the words “citizen” and “journalist”, and indicating a non-journalist who contributes amateur video or other reportage to the established news media.

faux-po n. A security guard, also known in slang as turkey bacon, which in return references pig, the derogatory slang name for police. It comes from the French word faux meaning “fake”, and “po-po”, which is English slang for “police”.

floppy n. A comic book, so-named to distinguish it from a thicker graphic novel which is stiff.

happy sack n. An air-sickness bag, the kind typically used on airplanes. Use humorously.

infant-mortality failure n. In engineering circles, this is the breakdown of a piece of machinery that is new or has recently been rebuilt.

instant ancestor n. An old photograph of strangers used as decoration, the sort of thing you might buy at a flea market, a place where old household items are sold.

oopsie baby n. A baby resulting from an unplanned conception. Oops is an interjection used when one makes a small mistake.

quizzam n. A test that is more difficult than a quiz but easier than an exam. The word is made from a blend of “quiz” and “exam.”

rain garden n. A piece of low, damp ground planted with vegetation suited to handle the rainwater that collects there. It’s usually preferable to plant one of these than it is to simply leave a mud hole.

read-alike n. A (fiction) book whose contents are similar to another book’s. Looking for a read-alike helps library patrons find new authors who are similar to authors they already know.

singlism n. Bias against people who are not married or part of a couple.

snarge n. The carcass or remains of a bird that hits an airplane or passes through its jet engine. It is said to be a blend of the words “snot” and “garbage.”

trashout n. When a tenant who is forced out of a home due to foreclosure or eviction leaves it in a squalid – filthy, disgusting – state, it’s called a trashout. The new owner of the house, or the bank that holds the mortgage, has to send in a cleaning crew to clear out all the debris.

trunk monkey n. A rear gunner in an armed vehicle, caravan, or convoy. This word is used among American military personnel and contractors in Iraq. It’s possible that the term derives from an advertisement from Suburban Auto Group, and others in the same series which first aired in Portland, Oregon, in January 2003. One of the ads features a monkey jumping out of a trunk.

vein brother n. A man with whom you get high on injected drugs, especially if you share a needle.

violin hickey n. A mark left on the neck from playing the violin. These can be bruises, calluses, or sores. While a hickey is known by grade-schoolers across the country as the purple mark left by sucking on someone’s neck, it has historically been used to refer to any mark on the skin.

wannarexia: The desire to have an eating disorder so as to be thin and popular is called wannarexia, according to Dr Richard Kreipe of the Western New York Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders in Rochester.

wasta n. The Arabic word for influence, personal connections; “pull” or “juice”. While not yet fully adopted as an English word, wasta is increasingly familiar to American soldiers serving in the Middle East. A previous surge in use of the term among Anglophones happened during the first Gulf War.

Grant Barrett is co-host of the radio show A Way with Words, waywordradio.org, and a lexicographer and writer living and working in New York City. His e-mail address is gbarrett@worldnewyork.org.

OUM Turned 7

OUM was established in August 2001 with its first intake of 753 students. Today it has grown to over 67,000 students distributed in over 53 locations.

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More details at: http://www.oum.edu.my/v2/eoumtoday/2008/april-issue47-2008/index.php

Rating system for IPTS - The Star

KOTA KINABALU: June 10, 2008

A rating system for private institutions of higher learning (IPTS) will be in place once all them have been audited.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung said the ministry had started an “establishment audit” since last month of 200 IPTS, including 37 private universities and university colleges.

This, he said, was to ensure that their courses were of quality and followed various regulations.

He added that the exercise would see 120 institutions undergoing a full audit with officers going on the ground to check various facilities, while the remaining 80 would have to submit their details to the ministry.

“We will be looking at their staff, courses, student intake, examination process, management and financial capability among others,” Dr Hou told reporters yesterday after a meeting with senior executives of IPTS here.

This is the deputy minister's first meeting with senior executives of such institutions. The next will be in Penang on June 16.

According to Dr Hou, there were no immediate plans to give star ratings to IPTS as was being done for public universities under the Setara system, but it was the ministry's eventual goal to work along similar lines.

“This audit will help them improve their quality,” he said.

For instance, he pointed out, one area the ministry was focusing on was student intake as there had been complaints that IPTS had admitted students not qualified for certain courses.

To a question of students in rural areas of Sabah being cheated by some colleges, Dr Hou said the ministry would always check on advertisements by IPTS and act against those making dubious claims.

However, he urged parents to check the ministry’s websites for accredited colleges to avoid being cheated.

There are more than 500 IPTS in the country.

Proclaimation of OUM's New Chancellor

Dec 8, 2007

YAB Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, the wife of YAB the Prime Minister of Malaysia, was proclaimed as the new Chancellor of Open University Malaysia on December 8, 2007

Space the next frontier for Internet - NST

Internet pioneer Dr Vinton Cerf also talks about a merging between TV and the Net.

KUALA LUMPUR: By Ridzwan A. Rahim

Space is the next frontier for the Internet, says Internet pioneer Dr Vinton Cerf.

The Google vice-president and chief Internet evangelist, revealed that he was working on the Interplanetary Internet, a project of the Nasa Jet Propulsion Lab that aims to extend the Internet into outer space for planet-to-planet communications.

"The project has been going on for about 10 years now and requires some significant development in the new protocols in addition to TCP/IP," he told the New Straits Times at the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), referring to the Internet's common language.

Those protocols, he said, were now stable and were being standardised in the Consultative Committee for Space Data System, a group of international space agencies working together to standardise communications in space.

The group will start doing space-based testing of the protocols at the end of this year using Nasa's Deep Impact spacecraft. This will be followed by testing on a space station which Cerf expects to take place next year.

"If those tests are successful, we will offer these protocols with no constraints whatsoever and hope that all the space agencies will use them.

"If they do, every mission launched, whether its manned or unmanned, will have the ability to communicate with each other."

Cerf is widely known as the "father of the Internet", although it is a title he rejects.

In 1969, while at University California, Los Angeles, Cerf and two fellow graduate students, Bob Kahn and Leonard Klienrock, took the first crucial step of hooking up a computer to a switch in a military-commissioned project known as Arpanet, the predecessor of the global Internet.

Decades later, a new set of protocols called DTN, which stands for Delay and Disruption Tolerance Networking, had to be invented in order to make interplanetary communications possible. It is different from TCP/IP.

"When we originally started this work, we thought we could use the standard Internet protocols but we quickly discovered that they wouldn't work very well.

"For one thing, it takes quite a long time for radio signals to propagate back and forth between the planets because the distances are so big. Between Earth and Mars, for example, the one-way propagation time at the speed of light is between three to 20 minutes.

"It's not like a phone call; when you say hello, the person on the other end cannot hear you say that for three minutes or maybe as much as 20 minutes - at the speed of light."

Cerf said the goal was not to "build a big interplanetary network and hope somebody will use it".

"It simply means that when I launch a mission, if there are previous assets from other missions, or my own, up there still, I can make use of them to support my mission. So in an interesting way, over time we will accumulate an interplanetary backbone of communication using the standard protocols."

Cerf also spoke of a merging between TV and the Internet. He said by 2035, through a technology called IPTV, it would be viable to deliver an hour's worth of TV content through the Internet in just 16 seconds.

"People are going to download the video and play it back whenever they want it, just like the iPod."

Internet Protocol Television will also open up an exciting new form of advertising that is not disruptive, unlike the commercials on conventional television.

In Cerf's version of IPTV, the images in the field of view can be sensitised so that if there is an item of interest, viewers can click on it and find out more about the item.

Calling it a "quite doable" technology, Cerf said conventional broadcast, cable and satellite TV would have to adapt to the idea of people wanting to download and play back their shows.

LYICT Conference - KL, Malaysia. July 7 - 10, 2008

IFIP education has a tradition of organising exciting conferences which stimulate discussion, foster the exchange of ideas and knowledge and generate more informed understanding of the issues of Informatics and ICT in education.

LYICT is a combination of two day Open Conference and a two day Working Conference focusing on aspects related to the following themes that are central to the work of Working Groups 3.1, 3.2 and 3.6:

* Development of informatics and ICT knowledge and practice in secondary and higher education,

* Various aspects of technology based learning and training with respect to related impact on policies, practice, concepts and methodologies,

* Making Lifelong Learning available for all, in order to avoid a knowledge divide.

The goal of the conference is to bring together teachers, researchers and administrators involved in ICT and Learning for Youth to discuss and propose the future direction of activity in this area.

The conference format has been designed to accommodate inspirational keynote presentations, technical papers by participants, panel presentations, workshops, plenary discussions and informal exchanges of ideas among all participants.

LYICT will provide a forum for school and community practitioners, lecturers and researchers, advisers and policy makers. Doctoral students, newly qualified teachers and young people will be invited to contribute their perspectives - as the future is theirs.

Call for Papers for an AGORA Workshop within LYICT

We now invite short papers (3-5 pages) related to "Digital Divide and for Cultural Understanding". These papers will contribute to the success of the AGORA workshop. They will be presented and discussed during the workshop and be published in the LYICT Conference book of abstracts and the workshop documentation on the AGORA Website after the conference. The papers will undergo a short evaluation process to determine their suitability and appropriateness.

Objectives of the AGORA Workshop

The Workshop aims to:
* identify relevant competencies of LLL and IL to decrease digital divide
* identify educational strategies to implement LLL and IL as a sustainable development in organisations and in developing countries
* to scaffold ANDIL by establishing a Local ‘Digital Divide Studio’:

Possible Topics of the AGORA Workshop

* Life Long Learning (LLL) and Information Literacy (IL) as a means to reduce the Digital Divide
* Relationship between LLL competencies and IL and their possible contribution to the decrease of Digital Divide
* Knowledge Building Communities between developing and industrial countries
* Integration of Training and Working through informal learning processes in Business
* ICT-supported Intercultural Learning

Topics and Concepts of ICT-related projects which can contribute to the decrease of digital divide e.g.
* co-operation between industry and educational institutions in the area of IL and LLL,
* national or international co-operation of educational institutions in the area of IL and LLL
* ‘twinning’ or ‘sistering’ projects in the area of ILL and IL between developing and industrial countries
* ILL and IL related projects for the use of ICT in healthcare in developing countries
* Best practice examples of these types of projects (work in progress reports)
Using Web 2.0 applications for Social Networking in and between Digital Divide aware project
* Gender Issues and Digital Divide
* LLL and IL Concepts for sustainable Integration of ICT in different societal domains such as:
- Learning and Education
- Business and Economic Development
- Health and Human Services
- Governance and Citizenship
. . . in order to decrease digital divide.


AGORA Activities at LYICT

Monday 7th 9:30 am - AGORA Keynote (Jan Wibe)
4:00 pm - AGORA Panel

AGORA Workshop Slots:
Monday 7th 10:50 am – 12:30 pm
02:00 pm – 03:40 pm

Tuesday 8th 10:00 am – 10:50 am
11:20 am – 12:40 pm
02:00 pm – 03:40 pm

Since we are planning to discuss regional demands on a Digital Divide Studio intensively local and regional residents are strongly encouraged to submit papers!!!

The papers should be submitted via E-Mail, using the provided template, to:
lyict@oum.edu.my.

Deadline of Submission:
1st of June 2008

Notification of Acceptance to the Authors:
9th of June 2008

Conference Contacts

Professor Dr Zoraini Wati Abas
Chairperson, LYICT National Organising Committee
Centre for Quality Management and Research & Innovation
Open University Malaysia
Jalan Tun Ismail
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.

Tel: +603 – 2616 8811
Fax: +603 – 2694 1853
E-mail: zoraini@oum.edu.my

Ms Norasmahan Abdul Kadir
Event Manager, LYICT National Organising Committee
Faculty of Sceince & Technology
Open University Malaysia
Jalan Tun Ismail
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.

Tel: +603 – 2773 2431
E-mail: norasmahan@oum.edu.my

Ms Hazalina Hashim
Secretary, LYICT National Organising Committee
Faculty of Information Technology & Multimedia
Communication
Open University Malaysia
Jalan Tun Ismail
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia.

Tel: +603 – 2773 2090
E-mail: hazalina@oum.edu.my

More details: http://cidt.oum.edu.my/lyict/index.htm


Registration Policy:

OUM tutors are entitled to a 30% discount of the participation fee.

OUM tutors with accepted papers are entitled to a 50% discount of the participation fee.

All students are entitled to a 50% discount rate of the participation fee. (*Copy of Student ID required)

For group registration of more than 10 persons, an extra person participation fee will be waived.

SEAAIR2008 Conference - Surabaya, Indonesia. Nov 4 - 6, 2008

Welcome to the 8th annual SEAAIR


Conference Theme

Theme :

Institutional Capacity Building toward Higher Education Competitive Advantage

Sub Theme :

* Capacity building through Quality Assurance and Quality Management
* Institutional Research in Higher Education Capacity Building
* Managing and Sustaining Higher Education Competitive Advantage
* Learning and Teaching to Enhance Institutional Capacity
* Industrial Network to Support Higher Education Competitive Advantage

Important Dates

Abstract Submission
31 May, 2008

Abstract Acceptance
30 June, 2008

Full Papers Submission
15 August, 2008

Last Date Registration
15 September, 2008

Conference Dates
4-6 November, 2008

Tour (optional)
7-8 November, 2008

More details: www.seaair2008.com

The 22nd AAOU Annual Conference - 14-16 October 2008, Tianjin, China

First call for Papers

The 22nd AAOU Annual Conference
14-16 October 2008, Tianjin, China

Theme

New Development, New Trends and New Missions of Open and Distance Education in Asia and the World

In order to interpret the theme completely and accurately, the annual conference will generalize systematically and exhibit intensively the following from six aspects: culture£¬system£¬technology£¬learning resource£¬quality and service, especially taking culture and regulation assurance for open and distance education as the sub-themes of the conference. The 22nd AAOU Annual Conference will provide a broad and rational platform for educators and all friends who are engaged or interested in the open and distance education.

For more than 20 years since the establishment of AAOU, Asian and international open education has been making new achievements with the idea of life-long learning, the progress of economic globalization and educational technology, but it is faced with new opportunities and great challenges as well.

It is of great significance to summarize the achievements made so far, grasping the new trends of distance education development, discussing new missions in building life-long learning systems and society, strengthening friendship and cooperation among educators and friends from various social circles, pushing forward the scientific development of open and distance education in Asia and the world and promoting economic development, social progress and human civilization.

Sub-themes

1. The Culture of Open and Distance Education
• Cultural attributes and connotations of open education
• Development of a culture in open universities and some case studies
• Learners' culture in open education
• Cultural characteristics of instructional design in open and distance education
• Research into the culture of cross-border distance education
• The spread of culture and new cultural developments in open education

2. Quality in Open and Distance Education
• The concept of quality in universal education
• Accreditation systems and social appraisal of open and distance education
• The quality of teaching and learning in open and distance education
• Quality assurance in online training
• Quality in cross-border education
• Staff development in corporate universities

3. Educational Technology in Open and Distance Education
• New developments in ICT systems
• New technology in designing online learning platform
• New technology for creating teaching media
• M-learning: design and implementation
• Application of semantic web technologies in open and distance education
• Simulation and its application in online learning

4. Learning Resources in Open and Distance Education
• Research on standards for learning resources and its applications
• Scientific management of learning resources and case studies
• Open access to international courses and sharing of resources
• Development of learning resource libraries for distance education
• Integration of different media in open education
• The way forward for open learning resource development in Asian universities

5. Study Support for Open and Distance Education
• Service models for different types of distance learners
• Support in student-centred education
• Changes in the role of distance education tutors
• Development of public service systems in distance education and examples
• Production chains and logistics support in open and distance education
• Development of information systems and community education
6. Regulation Assurance and Management Innovation in Open and Flexible Learning
• Open education and educational equality
• Systems and mechanisms for sustainable development of distance education
• Comparative study of open educational systems and intellectual property protection in Asia
• Establishment of study centres for online learning and their management
• Reforms in examinations and assessment in open and distance learning
• Cost effectiveness in open and distance education

Important Dates

15 June, 2008 Deadline for Abstracts
30 June, 2008 Notification of Acceptance of the Abstracts
30 July, 2008 Submission of Full Papers
31 August, 2008 Early-bird Registration Deadline
30 September, 2008 Deadline for Registration

Abstracts are to be submitted electronically through:
Email :aaou2008@tjrtvu.edu.cn or aaou2008@yahoo.cn

Contact Us

AAOU2008 Secretariat
Tianjin Radio & TV University
No. 1 Yingshui Road, Nankai District
Tianjin 300191, PR China
Tel: +86 22 23671931
+86 22 23679937
Fax: +86 22 23679972
Email: aaou2008@tjrtvu.edu.cn or aaou2008@yahoo.cn
Website: http://aaou.tjrtvu.edu.cn

Associations urged to help train more scholars

The Star - Jun 2, 2008

CHINESE organisations have been urged to increase study loans for post-graduate studies to train more academics with PhD qualifications, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.

The daily quoted Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Hou Kok Chung as saying that there were very few Chinese lecturers with PhD qualifications especially after the implementation of the New Economic Policy as the number of Chinese students in public universities had dropped.

“Currently, only 12% of Chinese are studying at public universities and few continue with post-graduate studies.”

He said private and public institutes of higher learning in the country had gone through rapid development since the late 1990s.

“Currently, there are 20 public institutes of higher learning (IPTA) and 37 private (IPTS) ones but growth in the number of lecturers, especially those with PhD qualifications, does not match the development of these organisations,” he said.

Dr Hou said the Government was aware that it needed to train more post-graduate students by providing financial aid following the drop experienced by Malaysian universities in global rankings.