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OLDaily
By Stephen Downes
April 29, 2002

Community Connect Today's newsletter is coming to you from the Community Connect conference in Fredericton. So far it has been all bandwidth and data networks. By Anonymous, April 29, 2002 5:52 p.m. [Refer][Reflect]

Technological Innovation and Intellectual Property Newsletter Just launched and still displaying its inaugural issue, this newsletter may change its name as a result of an email (posted) from Richard Stallman suggesting that "intellectual property" is "a propaganda term" (I am inclined to agree with him). The newsletter simmarizes and links to recent important papers in the field. By Various authors, April 29, 2002 4:55 p.m. [Refer][Reflect]

Create Change - Challenging the Crisis in Scholarly Communication This website created by the University of Glasgow is intended to address the crisis in the process by which researchers publish their work and access the work of others. The crisis, according to the article, is as follows: "You, your colleagues, and your students have access to less and less of the published literature in your field. Institutions are being forced to cut back on acquisitions because their resources are not keeping up with price increases." By Anonymous, April 29, 2002 4:37 p.m. [Refer][Reflect]

EU Copyright Directive Finally on the Road The EU Council of Ministers has adopted the European Copyright Directive (ECD) giving member countries until 2003 to adopt the legislation. The directive impacts on a number of previously free uses of copyright information including quoting and deep linking. As the article says, "It is clear however that the copyright gates are closing slowly but surely." By Arthur Graaff, Content Wire, April 22, 2002 [Refer][Reflect]

Europe Catches Up on E-learning The headline really has nothing to do with the story, which is about the creation of the eLearning Industry Group, a coalition of 15 European companies which met for the first time last week. The story does not mention the numerous European initiatives that have been under way for several years, nor does it comment on the irony in the fact that the list includes mostly the European divisions of American companies. Perhaps a better title for the story might be, "Industry catches up on European e-learning." Nah, that would be too cheeky. By Andrew Swinton, ZD Net UK News, April 25, 2002 [Refer][Reflect]

Space for Species This is very cool. It is a joint project of the Canadian Space Agency, the Canadian Wildlife Federation, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, and the Canadian Wildlife Service. The idea of Space for Species is to allow students to cooperate online with researchers tracking migratory patterns. As the site says, "You will create migration maps, record climatological and habitat data, and keep your own field notes as part of a tracking journal, science project, or even a recovery plan. You can explore the role of scientific inquiry in conservation, get acquainted Bob Thirsk, and an array of other experts, and learn about careers in the field where space and species meet." What attracts me about this site is that it takes students from the realm of dry classroom instruction and allows them to do real research on a real - and cutting edge - project. Viewers will note that this is not a simple site - it is not "Biology made EZ." I don't think that this will be a problem, though. By Anonymous, April 29, 2002 9:12 a.m. [Refer][Reflect]

Travelling Elk Project From the European Schoolnet Newsletter: "A Swedish school is looking for schools from all around the world to host their "elk" for a couple of weeks. We have this teddy bear (teddy elk to be correct) and we have given him the mission to travel all around the world to find answers to different questions and learn more about different cultures. If you chose to take part in the project we will send the elk in a package to your school. When he arrives he has some assignments with him and he needs your students’ help. Your students should take digital pictures of him in different settings and situations and also write his diary, in English, for the days he spends at your school. After one week we would like you to send the material (images and text) to us by e-mail and we will put it on our project website for all the world to see and read." The website is in Swedish; contact Magnus Johansson by email at magnus.johansson@zonline.ostersund.se By Magnus Johansson, European Schoolnet, April, 2002 [Refer][Reflect]

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