EDUCAUSE Now - Show #1 - Premiere Episode

Welcome to the premiere episode of EDUCAUSE Now!

EDUCAUSE Now is a monthly podcast, focusing on the intelligent use of information technology in higher education. Each episode features a variety of stories, interviews, and views that relate to IT in higher education. EDUCAUSE Now will also inform you about upcoming events, report on past events, and feature the movers and shakers in policy, teaching and learning, security, and a whole host of other important topics for our members. Let us know what you would like to hear at podcast@educause.edu.

This episode of EDUCAUSE Now features:

• The EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (ECAR) Study entitled, "Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education"

  We talk about some of the surprising findings with ECAR Fellow and author of the study, Mark Sheehan.

• ELI in Conversation: Future Learning

  A conversation between George Siemens, director of the Learning Technologies Centre at the University of Manitoba, and Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. This conversation was recorded at the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative 2008 Annual Meeting. George Siemens is the author of "Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age", and - Michael Wesch has produced two important videos on Web 2.0, "Information R/evolution" and "The Machine is Us/ing Us." You can listen to the full length podcast of this conversation.

• A Commentary from EDUCAUSE President Diana Oblinger.

  Diana introduces herself as the new president of EDUCAUSE and provides some background information on her career path. She also speaks about her vision for the future of EDUCAUSE.

• The EDUCAUSE Policy Office: Update

  We check in with EDUCAUSE Vice President Mark Luker regarding current hot topics -- federal broadband policy, net neutrality, and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. You can read the EDUCAUSE report, "A Blueprint for Big Broadband", and visit the talking points for P2P filesharing issues.

• Music for EDUCAUSE Now:
  • "Groove IT" by Denis Kitchen
  • "Lorge" by El Ten Eleven
  • "Guitar Suite I, Movement I" by Dan Tharp