“LearningWeek Live” Guest Discusses Tug-of-War Between Learning Institutions and Corporate Technology Providers

July 18, 2001

New York July 18, 2001 This weeks guest on LearningWeek Live, the first interactive weekly webcast featuring stories about the people, technology and business of learning today, is Farimah Schuerman, Senior Associate for The TLT Group.

Schuerman will discuss the increasing tug-of-war between education institutions and corporate technology providers, and explore how some of this tension stems from differences between academic and corporate “change cycles”. Software companies make periodic product releases, while learning institutions maintain their respective academic calendars and class schedules. Schuerman will discuss what happens when windows of opportunity do not or can not overlap.

Schuerman is an educational technology expert who provides strategic planning, business development, sales, marketing, and other services for both K-12 and higher education markets. Her twelve years of experience includes sales and marketing positions with leading educational publishers including Pearson Education, Simon and Schuster, and CEL Communications.

The TLT Group, a non-profit corporation, is the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Affiliate of The American Association for Higher Education (AAHE).

LearningWeek Live (LWL) airs every Wednesday at 1:00 pm EDT at LearningWeek.com. Each show features a dialogue on a learning news story, the LearningWeek Business Report, and a special guest interview.

Guests and show topics are drawn from the worlds of primary, secondary, and higher education, corporate training, publishing, web-based instruction – anywhere concerted teaching and learning efforts are taking place.

The show concludes with the selection of the “LearningWeek Site of the Week”, recognizing achievement in providing access to quality learning in a connected world. The “Site of the Week” announced on the previous episode of LWL was the Museum of Tolerance Online Multimedia Learning Center, which provides a rich collection of resources for teachers and learners who are studying the Holocaust. The site is run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center of Los Angeles, an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. LearningWeek recognized the Museum of Tolerance Online for their efforts in providing interactive online access to the images, facts, resources and stories that contribute to meaningful learning moments about the Holocaust.

LWL is co-hosted by Jonathan Finkelstein and John Walber, recognized experts in the learning and technology fields.

“Live human interaction is a basic ingredient for creating effective learning experiences,” said co-host Finkelstein. “We think its important to bring this approach to the discussion of learning issues themselves, live on the Internet.”

The format of the live video-based webcast, which runs 30 minutes, allows participants to offer their perspectives, ask questions of the featured guest, and recommend topics for future shows.

Previous guests have included: Richard Katz of Educause, Bill Evans of Cal-State Chico, Michael Preston of New Visions for Public Schools, Denise Easton of ULiveandLearn.com, Deb Bennett of TAFE South Australia and Donavan Vicha of the American Library Association. Upcoming live episodes of LearningWeek will include visits by Juliana Lutzi of FIRE Online Training, Casey Green of the Campus Computing Project, Brian Mikesell of St. Johns University Libraries, Kristin Hirst of About.com and Ann Kirschner of Fathom, among others.

Sponsorship of the weekly show is provided by HorizonLive.com, Inc., Distance-Educator.com, and The Employment Channel. Registration for events is free of charge at LearningWeek.com.

For additional information, visit LearningWeek.com or email learningweek@learningweek.com.