Complexity Theory: CALL @ The Edge of Chaos by Stephen A. Shucart 

venturing out... with Mitchel Resnick by Scott H. Rule 

Email Options for Students by Paul Daniels 

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As the number of on-line courses increases, CJO will try to keep you in touch with the latest trends in our field. One example came across Elin Melchior's desk last month. It is from Syracuse Language Systems, based in Rochester, New York. 

LCU Graduates May Receive College Credit! 

Students who have successfully completed Language Connect University Spanish I may now qualify for up to four semester hours of undergraduate college credit at over 1,600 colleges and universities across the US. This decision follows a rigorous review of the course by the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service. In addition to being able to apply these potential credits toward a degree, many LCU graduates will now qualify for tuition reimbursement from their employers. 

LCU is a distance learning course combining multimedia software, speech recognition technology, personal instruction from a professional instructor, and guided cultural excursions on the World Wide Web. Earlier this year, LCU received two prestigious awards from International Digital Media for Best Overall Corporate Application and Best Corporate Education & Training Application. 

To access Language Connect Workplace, go to http://www.syrlang.com. and click on Workplace. 

Hypertext in Atlantic Magazine 

Eastagate Systems, one of the leading producers of hypertext fiction has some very interesting views on hypertext. Check out their "Storyspace" writing software for simple yet powerful access to hypertext while still "word-processing." They sent out this announcement last month. 

John Barth's "Click" 

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The December issue of the Atlantic Monthly includes a fascinating short story by John Barth that explores a variety of hypertextual issues. The story is available on the Web http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97dec/barth.htm.but has even more impact in print. The story is filled with simulated hypertext links, a clever fantasia on the theme of "this is not a link". (A controversial HypertextNow essay argues the distinction between blue text and hypertext, see http://www.eastgate.com/HypertextNow/archives/ShowingLinks.html. 

Barth's story, like Coover's famous "The Babysitter", is a metafiction, not a hypertext, but Barth creates expressive link anchors with great skill and dexterity. This is a charming and delightful story that repays thoughtful reading. 

ALSO from Eastgate: 

New Markets for Hypertext Fiction 

Two print magazines are seeking Web hypertexts for publication. (As you doubtless know, Eastgate is always seeking the best new hypertexts, in any form.) 

The Little Magazine has announced a Call for Submissions for a 1998 Hypermedia CD-ROM Issue. They ask for experiments and finished pieces in the following areas: 

- web art and web based projects 

- hypertexts: hyperpoetry & hyperfiction 

- animations & digitized pieces 

- sound texts and toys 

- manifestos & theoretical work 

- multimedia explorations 

For information, see http://www.albany.edu/~litmag/. 

B&A New Fiction, a Canadian fiction magazine, has announced a new hypertext section, "Interrobang". Editor Neil Hennesey sends word that "we are seeking short Web hyperfiction from any and all writers. B&A appears quarterly, and authors will be paid $100 per story on publication." Interrobang purchases exclusive electronic rights, as well as first serial and anthology print rights; the first issue is slated for Fall of 1998. http://www.interlog.com/~fiction/netedit.html. 

A review from the Chronicle of Higher Education posted on JALTCALL  by Thom Simmons gives us something to think about. 

A glance at the January, 1998 issue of "First Monday": 

Historian says computers will replace professors 

University administrators are using technology to replace professors and to automate higher education, writes David F. Noble, a history professor at Canada's York University, in this electronic journal about the Internet. Dr. Noble writes that "universities are not simply undergoing a technological transformation"; in fact, "beneath that change, and camouflaged by it, lies another: the commercialization of higher education." 

The first phase of that trend, he says, began 20 years ago, when changes in U.S. patent laws gave universities greater incentives to market their research. With the advent of multimedia, Dr. Noble argues, universities are "becoming the site of production of -- as well as the chief market for -- copyrighted videos, courseware, CD-ROMs, and Web sites." He says that many university administrators in the United States and Canada are pressuring professors to transfer their knowledge to computers, so that professors might one day be replaced by machines. His conclusion: "A dismal new era of higher education has dawned. In ten years, we will look upon the wired remains of our once great democratic higher education system and wonder how we let it happen." (The journal's World Wide Web address is http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_1/index.html.)