Phone: +27 21 797 5101

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Dear friends,

Attached please find the latest collection of snippets from the Internet.

Please note that, in addition to an article on 'telepresence classrooms',

there is a strong focus on Y2K Resources, as part of a general contribution

to raising awareness around this challenging set of problems.

Please also note further that the date of the next TAD meeting has been

moved from 27 January to Wednesday 3 February 1999, to avoid clashes with

other events around the country. The meeting will take place at the British

Council offices in Johannesburg (full agenda and directions will follow).

Please enter this new date in your diaries to get fully up to date on the

latest trends in Telematics and Education in South Africa and to catch up on

your networking.

Finally, we are please to be able to announce that there is now a full

archive of TAD circulars and meeting minutes. You can find it at:

www.saide.org.za/tad/archive.htm.

Regards

Neil Butcher

TO CONTENTS
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Building and Using Telepresence Classrooms

Over the past 4 years a consortium of European Universities, working

together within the project "Blueprint for Interactive Classrooms" (BIC),

has been developing prototypes and resource materials for people interested

in setting up and using interactive Telepresence teaching facilities over

ISDN and Satellite networks. While many educational and training

organisations are turning to videoconferencing and other two-way interactive

systems for various teaching purposes, the members of this consortium found

that there was a lack of freely available practical resources for others

interested in setting up their own facilities.

This network of Universities which includes leading higher level

institutions in Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland and Italy are experienced

users of Telepresence facilities for their own organisations and with the

support of European Commission funding under the Telematics Applications

Programme (Education & Training) they built five fully functioning

Telepresence teaching sites. By comparing and contrasting the different

characteristics of each teaching situation, the BIC researchers collected

data on teaching styles, learning environments and the effects of budget.

The end result is the BIC handbook recently published entitled "Classrooms

for Distance Teaching & Learning: A Blueprint" which provides practical

information and advice for other institutions interested in setting up and

using such classrooms. Packed with ideas on everything from furniture

placement to technical guidelines, the handbook is indispensable for

teachers and administrators planning to implement a telematic component to

learning. Complex it is, but this advice is well within reach of educators

and authorities. Most of the equipment is available off-the-shelf, easy to

work with and highly inter-operable. The goal for project implementers was

simple: distance learners deserve greater access to more effective courses

at low delivery costs.

The approach taken by the consortium is that interactive teleteaching, using

for example ISDN based videoconferencing, is only one option in a media mix

which will probably include a wide variety of technologies and scenarios,

but it is one option that can provide a very useful and effective resource

for the institution embarking upon distance teaching. It can be used to

reach remote learners in another campus or study centre, it can be used to

bring in outside or remote expertise and it can be used for group and

collaborative work. Advice is given about general media mix, on matching

your technological approach with your pedagogical objectives and on

designing your facilities in the most cost-effective and pedagogically

sensitive way. The range of functional demonstration teaching facilities

built by each of the participating universities provide a working laboratory

environment for testing and evaluating various technologies and support

systems for teaching at a distance. These include the interactive

teleteaching classrooms, studio and mobile facilities located at Katholieke

Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) in Belgium, the Telepresence classrooms and

other facilities at the Audio Visual Centre in University College Dublin,

the interactive classroom located at the Universite de Nancy II in France,

the facilities for teaching at a distance in the Politechnico di Milano in

Italy and the range of facilities managed by Helsinki University of

Technology (Dipoli) in Finland. All these facilities can be visited by

appointment and staff and users of the systems regularly run Open Days and

offer their experience to others who are interested.

The handbook, published by Leuven University Press, gathers much of their

experience and provides guidelines and advice to both designers and users of

such systems. Laid out in a practical manual style, the handbook provides

information on all aspects of designing, building, using and testing such

facilities from choosing equipment to guidelines for teachers. With plenty

of pictures, check-lists, glossaries and diagrams, it can be used by

technicians and managers alike and includes interesting case studies of the

Universities involved showing exactly how they set up their own facilities.

In an associated project entitled SAVIE (Support Action to facilitate the

use of Videoconferencing In Education), two of the Universities have

developed and published training manuals and videotapes in a number of

different language versions for teachers and other users of Telepresence

classrooms. These are user-friendly guides which can be given to teachers

and other users who are expected to begin teaching using videoconferencing

with little prior experience. The consortium also offers training and

tutoring services either on a face-to-face workshop basis or at a distance

over a videoconference link. They have found that with a realistic

implementation plan and a comprehensive training approach many organisations

are finding that teaching over a videoconference link can be very effective.

handbook contact gee.cammaert@linov.kuleuven.ac.be for a leaflet.

Alternatively you can contact the publishers directly at

university.press@upers.kuleuven.ac.be

If you would like to know more about the SAVIE project, then check the

Mailing address:
K.U.Leuven
Audiovisuele Dienst
Groenveldlaan 3/bus3
B 3001 Heverlee
Belgium

Tel.:
Johan Van Heddegem, Project Co-ordinator: +32- 16- 32.92.53

Sally Reynolds, Project Manager: +32- 16- 32.92.54

Gee Cammaert, Project Researcher: +32-16- 32.92.48

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The best (and unfortunately also some of the worst) information on Y2K is

available on the Net. For more technical help, you're probably going to have

to pay for it. Some links below will take you in the right direction:

Three resources on embedded systems:

i) The National and Global Implications of the Year 2000 Embedded Systems

Crisis by Paula D. Gordon, Ph.D www.year2000.com/archives/action.html

An overview article, somewhat alarming in its tone, but useful for

generalists who want to get an idea of the scope and magnitude of the

problem.

ii) The Institute of Electrical Engineers - a well respected UK industry

group have posted quite a lot of information on embedded systems, covering

the problems, remediation procedures and definitions of Y2K compliance.

www.iee.org/2000risk/

iii) Tava Technologies - a supplier of integrated systems, and a company

actively engaged in fixing embedded systems problems in manufacturing plant,

has posted a useful and informative white paper, "Plant Y2K: A white Paper

that Discusses the Significance of the Effect of the Millenium Bug (Y2K) on

Process Control, Factory Automation and Embedded Systems in Manufacturing

Companies" (www.tavatech.com- for the home page, or

www.tavatech.com/Files/TAVA3_0.pdf, for the paper itself)

iv) For a huge amount of downloadable documentation and information, as well

as links to commercial vendors working on embedded systems, the best

resource I know of has been compiled by Roleigh Martin, "Phenomenal Year

2000 Links http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/roleigh_martin/y2klinks.htm

Roleigh Martin is a writer, technical expert and Y2K activist - very much

involved in raising awareness, particularly on critical infrastructures

(public utilities).

v) Re health systems, the Roleigh Martin site also includes links and

documentation on embedded systems relating to medical equipment. Other

Administration. Site includes introductory material on Y2K and biomedical

equipment, as well as a searchable database of known problems. Similar

databases like this are popping up all the time as national governments and

local authorities try to get the measure of the problem in their health

systems. Try also the Year 2000 Biomedical Engineering Database, published

by the New South Wales Department of Health, Australia

who is building these kinds of database is dependent on the self-reporting

of manufacturers who, mostly for legal reasons, may be reluctant to

participate

vi) The RX2000 Solutions Institute (a non-profit organisation) also

maintains a Y2K web site, "Healthcare's Year 2000 Information Clearinghouse.

A number of health related resources available from this site. One of the

most useful is the moderated discussion list, in which most of the

discussants and posters are hospital and health authority Y2K project

vii) One site worth keeping an eye on is www.year2000.com. This site is

often considered to be the first official Y2K site and is maintained by

Peter de Jager, possibly the best known Y2K activist on the Internet. It is

particularly strong on background articles and resource for commercial Y2K

solution providers.

My own impression today is that we are about to enter a new phase of

preparing for disruption contingencies. Employers, local and central

Governments are going to have to bite the bullet and prepare their

colleagues and citizens for some degree of disruption, possibly even

emergency preparedness. At the present time, nobody I know of in my own

organisation, let alone the UN generally, is thinking, let alone discussing

this possibility (I know, I've asked around and made a nuisance of myself on

the issue - most people think you're going mad!).

I fear we are heading for painful times over the next 13 months, whatever

actually happens after midnight 1999. There are just too many unknowns, too

many factors outside the individual or organisations' control - supply and

customer chains, banks, public utilities, telecoms and transportation

infrastructures. Nobody knows anything for sure, fertile ground for eloquent

fearmongering (check out Gary North, www.garynorth.com, for an "end is nigh"

spin on the issue). But whether an optimist or a doomsday believer, I don't

think anybody can doubt there will be disruption, and in some places it may

spill over and feed into other prexisting problems - poverty, inequality,

the global financial crisis. The only question/dispute is where, how bad,

how long.

Assessing the risk and preparing for contingencies in these circumstances is

very difficult - the picture is not only fuzzy with speculation and

generalisation, but also by its nature a moving object. Systems will get

fixed, people will find workarounds, communities will cooperate and help

each other (or at least their closest neighbours) and recovery will return

sooner or later. Given the incomplete picture, you might find the following

downloadable publications useful.

"Probabilities of Year 2000 Damages" by Capers Jones, Chairman, Software

Productivity Research www.year2000.com/archive/proby2k.html. Surveys the

Y2k landscape in terms of the various industrial and governmental sectors

that may be affected, and based on a calculation of the size of the problem

(in terms of lines of code) and known rates of programmer productivity, then

concludes with a probabilistic assessment of the likelihood of disruption

and the duration.

"Year 2000 Contingency Planning for Municipal Governments", by Capers

Jones - a project template for organizing community preparedness against

Two recent papers from the Gartner Group, consultants to the US Congress and

to UN organisations. Gartner have been surveying and tracking Y2K project

progress internationally and across industries for some time now:

i) Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Science,

James L. Cassell, Group Vice President, Director of Research, GartnerGroup,

November 4, 1998. The Gartner Group view on international commerce and

security. This is a useful paper, if only because it is the first of its

kind that makes a pop at assessing the readiness of countries across Asia

and Africa.

ii) Year 2000 Risk Assessment and Planning for Individuals

This paper is a counter to the doomsday/TEOTWAWKI pundits, aimed at

reassuring individuals planning to empty their bank accounts and head for

the hills. (October 1998)

Best regards,

Chris Byrne

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Below you will find various resources on the Y2K problem and developing

countries.

**** ARTICLES, BOOKS, REPORTS ****

"Le passage a l'an 2000" - Le Monde Informatique

YEAR 2000 RECESSION? "Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best." by Dr.

Ed Yardeni, one of the world's leading experts on the millennium bug.]

"The Year 2000 Problem: Global Dimensions" by Ed Yardeni

"The Year 2000 Problem in Mexico, A Perspective" by Maria Cristina Padron

"Year 2000: who will do what and when will they do it? Towards actions" by

"Latin America & the Year 2000 Problem: It is Time to Take Action" by

Juan-Francisco Roque

**** LIST SERVS, NEWSLETTERS ****

SURVIVE Mailing list

This mailing list discusses Y2K in Africa. To join the SURVIVE mailing list,

send a message to lists@cinderella.co.za, leave subject blank, and enter

JOIN SURVIVE in the body.

**** WEB SITES ****

[Analyses and fixes for the Windows operating system and various Microsoft

software applications]

most comprehensive source on Y2K issues around the world]

Y2K panellist Doug Carmichael]

Information Center, an initiative by Y2K pioneer Peter de Jager. This is

probably the definitive site on the Millenium Bug. Is updated regularly.]

WEB SITES PRESENTING GOVERNMENT Y2K PROGRAMS:

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Y2K WEB SITES:

[Extensive web site, including a Year 2000 Tool Kit. In English only.]

United Nations: http://www.un.org/members/yr2000/ [Includes some resolutions

by the General Assembly on Y2K plus an overview of the year 2000 compliance

of all UN agencies.]

**** TOOL KITS *****

Y2k Starter Kit

This toolkit by the Cinderella Project (South Africa) is intended for those

who do not have ready access to the Internet and consists of selected Free

Tools (freely available for download on the Net), Procedures and Documents

to enable Home users and Small Businesses to modify their systems for use

after 1999-12-31. The toolkit can be downloaded from

InfoDev Y2K Toolkit This toolkit was developed for infoDev (the Information

for Development Program, a multidonor grant program managed by the World Bank) to provide a

resource to Governments for understanding the implications of the Year 2000

problem, for assessing the risks and possible strategies for managing the

risk, and for potential Government action including developing a national

plan, and establishing a Year 2000 organization. The Toolkit also provides

resources for conducting inventories, risk assessments, contingency

planning, vendor management, check lists and references to other relevant

sources of information. Download from

TO CONTENTS
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Telematics for African Development Consortium

P.O. Box 31822

Braamfontein

2017

Johannesburg

South Africa

Tel: +27 +11 403-2813

Fax: +27 +11 403-2814

neilshel@icon.co.za

www.saide.org.za