Daedalus online (was laptop question)

[becky.rickly@umich.edu (Becky Rickly)]

Katie, Carrie, and anyone else who's interested:

At NCTE I was able to bring an early Internet version of InterChange that
Daedalus allowed folks to preview at the ACE booth.  While the users will
be able to use any platform, I believe, the software itself needs to be
installed on either mac or windows, just like Netscape or Eudora, depending
on the platform the server uses.  It promises to be a nifty program,
IMHO....easy to use like the LAN-based InterChange, but with some other
cool features, such as the ability for everyone to be viewing a single
document and refer to specific lines/segments, and some wonderful ways to
sort the conversation once it's finished:  by school, by class, by
individual (m/f, level, etc.) or by length of message, frequency of
participation, etc.  Great for those of us doing research; I had to do much
of this on my own when I did my diss!  :-)  Because all users can be
viewing/referring to a single document, it seems like a good tool for peer
revision/OWL-type work, in addition to the other InterChange uses already
in place, such as brainstorming, class discussion, etc.

I believe it's scheduled to be beta-tested by spring.  For more info on
this (I really only got to see the program once before NCTE, and I
previewed what I knew for folks there), contact Susan Meigs at
susan@daedalus.com.

--Becky

>Katie:  If Daedalus succeeds in developing a web version, then students
>would "buy" a password and be able to use Daedalus anywhere they could
>access the Net.  I've talked to the Daedalus people, and offered to be a
>beta tester, so I know they are working on this one. Right?  Carrie Leverenz
>
>
>>James, you express several of the questions I have as far as the networked
>>use of these.  How would students have Daedalus capability on their
>>laptops, for example, if we have a site liscense for the college?  Eric,
>>do you know how that works?  Anyone?  From what I understand, they could
>>not all come toting whichever platform they wanted either.  True?
>>Although some folks at our place would be more favorable toward IBM, I
>>wonder if PowerMacs serve students better becasue there is more
>>possiblity of going back to IBM than in going from IBM to Mac.  Some of my
>>colleagues, too, are convinced that Macs are dying and will soon be a
>>thing of the past.  Ideas anyone?
>>
>>Katie
>>
>>On Wed, 26 Nov 1997, James E. Werchan wrote:
>>
>>> hi all,
>>>
>>> individuals using them are one thing;  asking students to use them in a
>>> ritualized classroom way is another.  aside from having LAN wires all over
>>> the CAI classroom, having compatible LAN PC cards in them, having LAN
>>> software configured to hook onto the LAN.  what a pain.   and folks who are
>>> more network-savvy than me might be able to explain IP addresses on a LAN.
>>> Would each student have to reconfigure IP addresses for each class he/she
>>> plugged into?  If not, would bandwidth suffer?
>>>
>>> you know, some hot shot in Texas has pitched the idea of handing out laptops
>>> to ALL public school kids in the whole state , instead of buying gazillions
>>> of texts.  That way, a CDROM of hundreds of books could be issued instead of
>>> individual books.  The break-even price for such computers would be around
>>> $500 per unit.  Optimistic right now, but someday soon it'll be do-able.
>>> Now if they do enough pilot studies and trial runs, they might find a vender
>>> who might custom-build to standard specs. But it will have to be rock-solid.
>>> And acculturating public school kids in such a diverse system will be a
>>> monumental job.   It would make the public school textbook hearings--with
>>> the perennial nattering of Mel & Norma Gabler--into a whole new kind of
>circus.
>>>
>>> So is laptop talk for college the talk of futurists or the talk of
>>> pragmatists?    Geez, I'd be pretty intimidated.   Won't happen for buckeyes
>>> anytime soon, i betcha.
>>>
>>> james w
>>> """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
>>>                     Dr. James Werchan
>>> (or maybe it's just someone who kinda looks a lot like him)
>>>               Ohio State University at Lima
>>>                     4240 Campus Drive
>>>                      Reed Hall #135
>>>                      Lima, OH 45804
>>>                       419-995-8882
>>>
>>>                     werchan.1@osu.edu
>>>jwerchan@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
>>> (for main campus biz)
>>> jwerchan@osulima1.lima.ohio-state.edu  (for local biz only)
>>>
>>>   Come and visit: "http://www.lima.ohio-state.edu/~WACC"
>>> """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>Carrie Shively Leverenz
>Director, Reading/Writing Center
>Florida State University
>Tallahassee, FL 32306-1036
>(904)644-5157
>cleveren@garnet.acns.fsu.edu