OLDaily

By Stephen Downes
September 10, 2004

Downes Wiki
I have added a wiki to my website. As I write, it's still mostly empty. But it adds for me something my website has been badly missing - a scratch pad, where I can jot down ideas. I'm going to use it in the short term to plan my talks for my trip to Australia (you should feel free to add your thoughts and ideas). Longer term, who knows? The software I used is called berliOS:ErfurtWiki. This is not an endorsement - It didn't install cleanly and I had to rewrite some code myself to make it work. That said, now that it works, I really like it. A lot. The page design formatting is still a bit off, but that will be improved over time.

Speaking of Australia - I leave for Canberra on Monday. I will try to get a Daily issue out on Monday, but no guarantees. There will be no issue Tuesday. After that, there may be additional disruptions, depending on internet access. Readers of OLWeekly should not expect any major disruptions (and I'll get the newsletter title fixed as soon as I can). By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 10, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Reshaping Scholarly Communication
Via Open Access News, which summarizes: "The University of California Office of Scholarly Communication has launched a very useful site, Reshaping Scholarly Communication. It has tips for scholars on how to maximize impact, retain copyright, and influence publishers. It recommends both OA archiving and OA journals. It offers background on the economics of publishing and the open-access alternatives. It links to a wealth of detail about what the University of California itself is doing. And finally, it maintains an incredible table of 3,300+ journals, showing the publisher, the list price, the impact factor, the number of online UC uses, and the average price increase over the past two years" By Various Authors, University of California, september 10, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Skype Offers Pocket PC P2P Telephony Software
Skype has released software for the pocket PC, making free IP telephony possibly from any wifi hot spot using a device that fits in your pocket. Mobile phones, without the fees. By John Tilak, Digital Media Europe, September 10, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Thoughts on Stephen Downes’ ITI Keynote
More on my presentation in Utah. D'Arcy Norman picks out some good bits (not necessarily the bits I would have picked - but that's why commentary is so interesting). Here are the links to the Apollo and Pachyderm projects he mentions. I don't think they're it, but we need to talk about it more. Also on the same topic, Rod Savoie has created a 13 megabyte version of my talk (which sounds fine - I listened to it this afternoon). By D'Arcy Norman, D'Arcy Norman @ The Learning Commons, September 10, 2004 8:38 p.m. [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Intrallect Newsletter
Martin Morrey of Intrallect just sent me the first issue of their newsletter, and while I'm not thrilled by the format (PDF, so I can hardly read it; no RSS, so I can't syndicate it) the content is good and it is overall a good example of how companies should be communicating with customers and news aggregators such as myself. In this issue, after the obligatory 'wins big contract' PR piece I read a basic-level article on learning object repositories and a more interesting piece on repository networks (the diagram is quite useful). The newsletter also links (well, displays the URL of) their white paper on digital rights management they did for JISC. By Various Authors, Intrallect, September 10, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Realize the Full Potential of Recognition of Prior Learning
Papers from the VET Research Conference, held in July 2004 at Southern Cross University, are now available. Topics range from learning assessment to literacy to knowledge representation. I list two papers. This first paper, written mostly in point form, surveys the motivations for recognition of prior learning (RPL), surveys the landscape in Australian states, recommends wider use of RPL, and suggests success factors: clarity of definitions, removal of financial disincentives, improved support services, and publicizing known examples of good practice. PDF. Via NVCER, which has a job opening, by the way. By Kaye Bowman, Brian Knight, Jo Hargreaves, Nhi Nguyen and Davinia Woods, 13th VET Research Conference, July, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Self-pace Learning. Nothing to Write Tomes About
RTF File (ick). By Vic Dunncliff , 13th VET Research Conference, July, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Remember...
[Refer] - send an item to your friends
[Research] - find related items
[Reflect] - post a comment about this item

Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter?

Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list at http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/subscribe.cgi

[About This NewsLetter] [OLDaily Archives] [Send me your comments]