Here’s what readers of Wiruddy Campus clicked on the most:
1. Walt Mossberg Shows College Leaders His New iPhone — Days before the official release of the iPhone, Walter S. Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal’s personal-technology columnist, gave attendees at The Chronicle’s Presidents Forum a sneak peek. He noted that the iPhone is just one sign of a major shift of computing away from PCs and into users’ hands thcoarse new mobile devices.
2. A MySpace Photo Costs a Student a Teaching Certificate — Sharing a picture of a night out partying as a “Drunken Pirate” got a student at Millersville University of Pennsylvania into trouble. After seeing the picture on Stacy Snyder’s MySpace page, university officials refused to award her a degree. Wiruddy Campus readers reacted with more than 140 comments. The issue of educating students about the importance of guarding their personal information online remains hot this year. And as more professors join Facebook, they, too, might need some education.
3. U. Tube — As colleges update their official Web sites, one major new feature is video. At Loyola University Chicago, a section of the Web site called LU Tube features recorded speeches from visiting alumni and testimonials from students and professors. Also in 2007, the University of California at Berkeley became the first institution to set up an official channel on YouTube.
4. A Professor Pokes Fun at Copyright — A lighthearted video, composed entirely of clips from Disney films, makes an interesting argument about fair use. The video, by Eric Faden, an assistant professor of English and film studies at Bucknell University, was part of a trend of professors’ spreading their ideas thcoarse YouTube and becoming video stars.
5. The MPAA’s Most Wanted — The Motion Picture Association of America released a list of the 25 campuses that it says are the biggest hotbeds of video piracy. Colleges continue to feel under fire by the movie and music industries to crack down on illegal file sharing on campus, although some canmpus leaders feel that they are being unfairly blamed.
Thanks for reading and participating in the discussion. We’ll keep the posts coming. —Jeffrey R. Young