By Stephen Downes
August 25, 2003
Meaning, Use and Metadata
The only
way you can be certain that a word has a given meaning is
when the word is used in some context. The only way,
therefore, to determine whether a learning object has
anything to do with 'rabbits' is to determine that it was
actually used in that context. There is no prior
determination that will tell you that this object is used
correctly, or incorrectly, in that context. By Stephen
Downes, Stephen's Web, August 25, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Open Access, Content, Publishing,
Learning
Web Tools newsletter steps right up to
the mark this week with coverage of open access content and
publishing. The coverage begins, naturally, with Creative
Commons but runs the gamut, beginning with a historical
perspective (including some important work by Sam Williams
and George Siemens) and looking at some major contemporary
arguments. After looking at some problems and solutions,
the article provides a good set of links describing
developments in the world of open access journal
publishing, including links to PLOS and an open access
initiative from Oxford. The list of open access projects in
education will not surprise OLDaily readers, including
MIT's OpenCourseware project and the Open-Education
project. By Graeme Daniel and Kevin Cox, Web Tools
Newsletter, August 25, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Sharing Leads to Abundance
"The
days of knowledge hoarding are coming to an end." So begins
this article by Don Tapscott and if we could only transfer
this bit of insight from the corporate sphere to the
commercial sphere society as a whole would be better off.
But let's deal with the argument where it's based. "The
modern corporation requires internal transparency,
essential for effective knowledge work. Employees must
share unprecedented amounts of knowledge, be given the
latitude and authority for making decisions, and be
self-motivated. As such, most need high visibility into the
values, strategy, business processes, and operations of the
firm to collaborate and work effectively." Exactly. Now
replace the word corporation with the word
society and you get the same result. Practices that
are harmful to corporations are harmful to society as a
whole. By Don Tapscott, Intelligent Enterprise, September
1, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
A Second Proposal
Discussion has
heated up again at Creative Commons as David Wiley has
posted a second proposal for an education-only
Creative Commons license (and also on his blog). I have stated my opposition to
such a license - an opposition he doesn't want to consider
- and I will state it again: such a license favour
educational institutions at the expense of
individual learners, such a license begs the question of
how 'educational' is defined and who will define it, such a
license opens the door to the pervasive monitoring of
'educational use', and such a license allows commercial
publishers to push more legitimate open and free content
from the marketplace by protecting the commercial sale of
such content in other domains. Moreover, there is no
mechanism or principle for deciding on the nature or domain
of such an educational license: it will be, essentially,
whatever David Wiley says it will be. Some people may
consider my comments to be like "hand grenades tossed your
way from the peanut gallery," but I don't think the
establishment of free content as some kind of charity from
(and at the beck and call of) commercial publishers to be a
good thing, and while the publishers would no doubt find
the free publicity an educational CC license would bring to
be worthwhile, it would in the long run come at the expense
of students. David Wiley may have, as he says, a "personal itch," but some itches should
perhaps not be scratched without due consideration of the
consequences. By David Wiley, Creative Commons, August
22ff, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Microsoft Sends OneNote to
School
Odd. I haven't received mine yet (the
constant barrage of criticism probably hasn't helped -
heh). But Microsoft is giving away its note-taking
software, one-note, to certain academic institutions. The
Academic edition will sell for $US 49 at academic
bookstores, and $99 (after a $100 rebate) for non-academic
users. Reviews of the beta version of the
product were positive: "you can write, draw, annotate,
highlight and edit anywhere on a page just as you would on
paper. When used with a Tablet PC, it really can replace
paper." Would I use it? I don't know: I have my own idea of
what such a system should look like, and my intuitions have
almost never aligned with Microsoft's. But like I say, I
haven't received my version yet (or, for that matter, a
tablet to use it with). Grumble grumble grouse grouse. By
Joris Evers, infoWorld, August 25, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Microsoft Eats Crow to Protect
Users
Even I feel something for Microsoft these
days. As the article says, "the Lovsan, Sobig-F and Nachi
worms that spread like wildfire this week showed that the
hole left open in the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) protocol
of Windows was big enough to drive a truckload of worms
through." More importantly, the attacks have been
devastating, bringing numerous enterprises (not to mention
my own in-box, which is getting more than 1,000 SoBigs a
day) to their knees. So much so that even Microsoft bailed
and deployed a Linux system to handle requests for its web
pages. It is, ironically, a good start - I think that
Microsoft could build a masterful Linux distribution and
make good money doing it. If Microsoft could somehow make
the transition from selling proprietary software to adding
value to freeware, it could carve an outstanding business
from what is today still a niche market. This is what IBM
is trying to do, but it doesn't have the strength to muscle
into the desktop. My lesson for Microsoft for this year:
change the mantra from "own" to "serve" and you will have a
much more secure future - as, for that matter, will the
rest of us. By John Hogan, Yahoo! News, August 22, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Free ride over for VoIP?
The state
of Minnesota has ordered VoIP (Voice over IP) providers to
file for a telephone operator's license in a move which,
while it will be welcomed by telephone companies (facing
devastation as their primary business disappears), seems
otherwise inexplicable. Minnestoa is only the first of a
number of states to make the move. But there is some sense
to the move: the state would like to collect taxes from the
companies, and as well, would like to enforce such things
provision of wiretaps for law enforcement. But of
course such regulation has a way of getting out of hand,
and if the purpose (as with so much internet regulation)
becomes nothing more than the protection of existing
businesses and pricing levels, then it becomes regressive.
By Ben Charny, CNet News.com, August 25, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Hi-tech Tome Takes on
Paperbacks
It's like this thing that never dies:
the e-book returns with a new brand (Hewlett Packard) and a
new sales pitch (it can hold a whole library) but it's
still the same single-function device it always was. If you
want to do anything with text other than read it, this
device is not for you. Then again, if you want something
reasonable portable and with cute page-turning graphics,
then you might be convinced to fork over for this latest in
the e-book line. Chances are, though, the minute you want
to clip an excerpt for a friend you will realize what a
mistake you've made. By Jonathan Fildes, BBC News, August
24, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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