I just learned that Winnie Chen will be visiting us from Taiwan after 10 February. Winnie works at Transworld Institute of Technology in Taiwan. Their motto: "Cherish honesty; practice integrity."  Looking forward to Winnie's visit!

I have been busy. It is the start of the Spring Semester here at Penn State. Lots of things to start, finish, and pursue.

I started some new blogs to aid in project management: the Penn State Idea Futures Blog, the Journal of Information Markets Blog, and the Information Market Book Blog, all of which have RSS feeds. These blogs support work we are doing in my Penn State graduate-level course, Evaluation of Investments in Workforce Education & Development, which is focusing on (you guessed it) information markets.

Tomorrow I will make a presentation at Penn State's Exploring the Potential of Blended Learning Initiative Symposium, described in a brochure as having the primary outcome "to share information on blended and hybrid learning models and assess the potential impact on serving new and existing student populations. Faculty and staff currently involved in blended/hybrid program delivery will share their experiences as well as identify lessons learned. Initial sessions will include defining the scope of blended/hybrid learning models as well as addressing limitations in course design, development, and delivery." Title of my presentation: Data Analysis in Workforce Education & Development: An Example of Design of Blended Learning.

Plenty on the agenda for the start of 2006:

• Rose Baker and I will wind up the details for our almost totally online graduate-level course, Evaluation of Investments in Workforce Education & Development. We will feature use of information markets in evaluation. The course starts on 9 January. Sang Hoon Bae will help us with this course. Sang Hoon is a director in the Korean Ministry of Education. He currently is on a sabbatical leave, and he has just finished his PhD in Workforce Education and Development at Penn State.
• I will update my CD-ROM book, Data Analysis Fundamentals, and other matters for my graduate-level course, Data Analysis in Workforce Education & Development. The course also starts on 9 January, but it has its first of six class meetings on Saturday, 14 January. Yuki will be my graduate assistant for this course. This will be Yuki's last semester at Penn State because she will finish her PhD this Spring. Assisting Yuki and I as grading assistants for this course are: Yi Xue, Yongho Park, and Yeonsoo Kim (all three are graduate students in the Workforce Education & Development program at Penn State).
• On 20 January, Rose Baker and I will present at Penn State Harrisburg the second of four public programs on the Nuts & Bolts of Your Regional Economy. We will offer this program again on 24 February in Pittsburgh and on 17 March in Great Valley, Pennsylvania.
• On 24 and 25 January, officials from Weyerhaeuser will travel from Seattle, Washington to meet with Rose Baker and me about the use of information markets for sales forecasting. This meeting could result in a joint plan of research work between Weyerhaeuser and us.
• On 25 January, I will participate in Yuki's final oral examination for the PhD degree. On 21 February, I will participate in Tobin Lopes' final oral examination.
• From 7 through 10 February, Rose Baker and I will travel to St. Pete Beach, Florida, and stay at The Don CeSar Beach Resort
  and Spa to attend the Human Resources Institute's 34th Annual Issue Management Conference, "Next Practices" in People Management. We will be rolling out the Penn State Idea Futures Market, which we described at the Human Resource Institute's Futures Forum in October.
• On 5 January, I speak at the Penn State Exploring the Potential of Blended Learning Symposium sponsored by the Penn State Blended Learning Initiative. From the brochure: "The primary outcome of this symposium is to share information on blended and hybrid learning models and assess the potential impact on serving new and existing student populations. Faculty and staff currently involved in blended/hybrid program delivery will share their experiences as well as identify lessons learned. Initial sessions will include defining the scope of blended/hybrid learning models as well as addressing limitations in course design, development and delivery."
• Rose Baker and I might be evaluating the economic and demographic impact of a scheme outlined by Pennsylvania Senate Resolution 3, which involves determining the amount of revenue needed to eliminate all local property taxes levied by school districts, county governments and local governments in Pennsylvania for all homesteads in this Commonwealth and assessing the amount of revenue generated by increments of each 0.1% increase in the Personal Income Tax and each 1% increase in the Sales and Use Tax.
• We are developing a post baccalaureate Workforce Development Certificate and a Professional Masters Degree in Workforce Education & Development.
• Depending on funding, we could have projects involving podcasting, information markets, curriculum development, and economic modeling.

Yes, busy is the word.