Edu_RSS 2.0
Stephen Downes,
Jan 02, 2006
Tomorrow I go back to work, and since my productivity will therefore nosedive (more on that below) this seems like a good time to release the current version of Edu_RSS 0.2. In the last few weeks I've gotten a lot done, and the system is now a complete whole, rather than scattered bits of hopes and ambition. This link is to a description; I also provide links to screenshots and downloadable code. People subscribed to Edu_RSS by RSS will notice a change in their feed as well, probably later today - the new aggregator is purring smooth as silk, the output validates, and so it is time to retire the cpu-munching older version. The list of feeds is changing too; I've tried to be inclusive, but have a look, and if you notice anyone missing that should be included, please send me a note.
Edu_RSS is important to me, because it's a concrete manifestation of the things I have been talking about over the last year as theories. You won't find classes or courses or any of that technocratical overhead in Edu_RSS. It's not an institution-based (and controlled) system, nor is it a learning management system, nor even (strictly) a personal learning environment. It's just you, your community, and the web, an environment where you are the centre and where your teachers - if there are any - are your peers. It is, I believe, the future - and where, one day, the next generation of Blackboards and WebCTs and Moodles and Sakais will make their mark. It's totally not what my employers wanted me to create - it's not proprietary technology, it doesn't lock down content behind a subscription wall, it doesn't embed eight levels of access and authorization. But I created it anyways, because I believe in it.
Edu_RSS is important to me, because it's a concrete manifestation of the things I have been talking about over the last year as theories. You won't find classes or courses or any of that technocratical overhead in Edu_RSS. It's not an institution-based (and controlled) system, nor is it a learning management system, nor even (strictly) a personal learning environment. It's just you, your community, and the web, an environment where you are the centre and where your teachers - if there are any - are your peers. It is, I believe, the future - and where, one day, the next generation of Blackboards and WebCTs and Moodles and Sakais will make their mark. It's totally not what my employers wanted me to create - it's not proprietary technology, it doesn't lock down content behind a subscription wall, it doesn't embed eight levels of access and authorization. But I created it anyways, because I believe in it.
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