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There is an abundance of creative energy in the Harvard community, and much of that energy has been devoted to developing new technological systems to help us teach, learn and communicate. One of the goals of this conference is to introduce you to a variety of web-based projects that Harvard is creating and using, each of which helps to define the University's emerging digital identity. We will be showcasing these projects both here on the conference website and at the conference itself. We would like to hear from you. Are you part of an innovative project that you would like to share? Send us an email and tell us about it. BeST: Basic Electronic Surgical Training Developed in a joint venture between Harvard Medical International, the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and an e-learning company, Intuition, BeST is an online training tool for senior medical students, surgical residents and advanced training for selected allied health professionals. It allows students and residents to choose how, when and where they learn, enables them to track their progress and review basics, and offers a full preparation for the ABSITE exam (the in service exam during medical post-graduate training). The program gives program directors the ability monitor a resident's performance and progress, assign specific content and make efficient use of teaching time. This web tool is available for purchase by universities, teaching hospitals, health care provider organizations and by individual trainees. As a center in the Graduate School of Design, CDI finds itself at the intersection of innovation in information technology and the many aspects of the built environment. The Center conducts research on the impact of information technology and the internet on the real estate, design, and construction industry, on multi-media and visualization, and on internet-based learning. Its Building Envelopes initiative supports preliminary design of energy-efficient buildings using the combined knowledge and efforts of a global academic and professional consortium. Further partnering has led to the development of the Tech Consortium, devoted to assessing the true needs of building process innovation and applying information technology to achieve increased productivity, efficiency, and process enhancements. Other CDI projects include software tools for greater access and experience to art and design and even Internet traffic. The Center also promotes robust design techniques for the Harvard online community, as well as developing pedagogical tools for design and architecture courses. Education with New Technologies Education with New Technologies is a networked community designed to help educators develop powerful learning experiences for students through the effective integration of new technologies. Educators can take advantage of online workshops (offered through the WIDE World program at http://wideworld.pz.harvard.edu), interactive tools for curriculum design that allow for collaborative work with clients, and a wealth of online resources. Online forums, both formally organized and informal, encourage discussion and diffusion of new pedagogical ideas. Designed in a village metaphor, this accessible site is open to anyone interested in education, from teachers to parents to researchers. To see how users have made use of the ENT site, view the ENT Gallery. One of the most useful interactive tools for learning can be found in the ENT Workshop. It is a collaborative curriculum design tool that supports educators in applying an educational model based on research conducted at Harvard. It includes an online tutorial that both reflects this educational model and takes advantage of hypermedia to help users understand how to make use of the features of this tool. This tool and the tutorial can be found here. Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention Devoted to conveying the message that as many as half of all cancer cases are preventable, the Center hosts two Web sites that offer a range of cancer prevention resources. The flagship Web site for the Center is "Your Cancer Risk". This site provides personalized risk assessments and prevention messages for the 12 most common cancers in the United States. Also featured are community action guides to increase awareness of cancer risks and prevention strategies, as well as easy-to-understand information about the disease. To date, over 770,000 visitor sessions and 9.9 page views have been recorded. The Center for Cancer Prevention is also host to a site (www.hsph.harvard.edu/cancer) that provides general information about the Center, consumer education brochures, press releases, online videos that promote cultural awareness, annual reports on cancer prevention, a calendar of Center activities and information about training and fellowship opportunities. Over 4,0000 subscribers receive electronic updates of "Cancer News in Context" and "Video Perspectives" which summarize news coverage related to cancer prevention and screening. Both Web sites are sponsored by the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health. Harvard Extension School Distance Education Program The Distance Education Program makes Extension School courses available to students from anywhere in the world. Lectures are streamed across the internet and include the display of supplementary course material synchronized with the video of the lecturer. Most courses also have web-based discussions to foster dialogue among students and the teaching staff. Currently, 35 courses are available for students on an open enrollment basis, taught by Harvard faculty or experts in their field. Courses range from technical subjects such as biology, computer science and environmental management to history and an introduction to metaphysics. Students can take advantage of online registration services. Harvard/Radcliffe Online Historical Reference Shelf The Historical Reference Shelf is a clearinghouse for historical information about the University and its community. Alumni, students and researchers can browse and search annual reports from the 19th century through 1995 and narrative histories of Harvard and Radcliffe. In addition, they can link from the Reference Shelf to recent facts and figures about the University, and serial publications by and about the University, including Harvard Magazine, the Radcliffe Quarterly, the Crimson, and other alumni, student and University publications. The Reference Shelf is a joint project of the Harvard University Archives and Radcliffe Archives, with support from the Harvard University Library Digital Initiative. The H2O project is building an interlocking collection of communities based on the free creation and exchange of ideas. The recent development of the Internet has been overwhelmingly driven by commercial interests. Commercial websites must ultimately focus on making money. The founding premise of the H2O project is that the academic world has something to add to the growth of the Internet that the commercial world cannot contribute. H2O aims to apply Internet technologies to the underlying aims of the academy—the free creation and exchange of ideas and the communities formed around those ideas—both within and beyond the confines of the traditional university setting. iCommons is a collaborative project between many of Harvard's schools coordinated by the Office of the Provost. The iCommons project brings together academic software developed at Harvard's schools and creates an integrated platform from these modules to support Harvard faculty with online resources to support teaching. Using the excellent work already done in Harvard's schools as a springboard, the iCommons Mission is to:
See iCommons in action by following this link. Intelihealth, Harvard Medical School The Faculty of the Harvard Medical School provides editorial leadership to Aetna InteliHealth.com, an award-winning consumer health information web site. A core group of 15 Harvard physicians and pharmacists and over 80 other faculty members from the Medical School contribute a broad range of content from pediatrics to geriatrics. HMS is helping InteliHealth create new tools and interactive dialogues aimed at providing the next generation of on-line health information that will enhance the patient-doctor relationship. To see how HMS presents health information in a wide range of formats and interactive tools, check out a few in-depth health guides on hot topics: Library Digital Initiative (LDI) The Harvard University Library launched the Library Digital Initiative (LDI) in 1998 to develop the University's capacity to manage digital information by creating the technical infrastructure to support the acquisition, organization, delivery, and archiving of digital library materials. Systems and services developed through the initiative include:
Units throughout the University have been awarded internal funds through LDI to participate in digital projects that:
Twenty-five projects have been funded to date, including:
TECH: Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard TECH is a collaboration between faculty, administration, students and alumni devoted to crossing boundaries between research and entrepreneurship housed at the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The center sponsors or supports many opportunities for the innovation community to gather and exchange knowledge, and encourages the extracurricular exercise of students' entrepreneurial spirit while they continue the pursuit of their formal education. The site will soon feature an online mentorship network and a student expertise exchange for technically and entrepreneurially talented students to connect with one another. WIDE - Wide-scale Interactive Development for Educators WIDE World is an online professional development program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. WIDE World currently offers 11 online courses and has reached over 1,000 educators in 63 different countries. Through WIDE's unique online courses, participants receive regular feedback from fellow students, coaches, and instructors. Courses focus on curriculum development, improving assessment strategies, and integrating technology in to the classroom to improve student learning and understanding. Working Knowledge is an online business magazine and associated email newsletter devoted to spreading the intellectual capital of the Business School to business leaders outside the university. It brings to bear the expertise of faculty and insight from industry leaders worldwide onto a wide range of issues from business history to ecommerce. The 50,000 registered users also log on to read book reviews, coverage of HBS speakers and conferences and other content updated weekly. |
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