By Stephen Downes
October 2, 2003
The Digital Media Manifesto
This
interesting document kept me working late today. Organized
by the founder of MPEG, Leonardo Chiariglione, a group
composed of a number of DRM experts drafted a document intended
to end the DRM "stalemate" currently stalling the digital
content industry. I'm dissatisfied with the final document,
as it incorporates a proposal to monitor compliance with,
ahem, "business rules." Look, it's like photo radar and
keystroke monitoring: people don't want 'Big brother'
watching their every action to make sure they comply with
the rules (goodness knows, there's enough latitude on the
provider side of the equation). The system won't work until
the business rules (and the business models) themselves are
rethought, but this proposal doesn't address that.
So-called content consumers do not want (sharply
delineated) "rights" - they want freedom - the
freedom to access, the freedom to share, the freedom to
create, the freedom to publish. If you don't get this, you
don't get the internet. And you don't get DRM peace. By
Leonardo Chiariglione, September 30, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Directions for Future Research in On-line
Distance Education
More detailed study of the
range of research into online learning currently being
conducted with an eye toward the identification of future
trends. The author writes, " The above review of research
in on-line learning shows that the Web support interactive,
cost-effective, easy to access and user-friendly learning.
However, Web-based distance instruction can be done well or
poorly. Developers should investigate these different types
of learning and the factors related in designing for
learning." By Alaa Sadik, Turkish Online Journal of
Distance Education, October, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Issues and challenges for Non Formal
Education
Interesting snapshop of non-formal
education in India, and in particular Jammu & Kashmir
(located in the northern part of India, bordering Pakistan,
Afganistan and China). Provided for free, the classes,
offered through correspondance and radio, have been
increasing in popularity. Issues remain, such as the
scheduling of radio counselling anmd the delivery of
learning materials. By Renu Nanda, Turkish Online Journal
of Distance Education, October, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Electronic Databases and Google: How do we
Promote Quality?
Peter Suber points to this
discussion: "With libraries paying more and more each year
in subscription fees for on-line databases, what are
librarians doing to drive traffic to these resources rather
than to Google and the web?" If it were up to me,
universities and research organizations would cease buying
books and periodicals, spending the money instead to fund
online access of their own materials. That way, everybody
would gain access to everything, and the overall cost would
drop sharply. But would librarians actively work
against public access by supporting these online
databases instead? There isn't a lot of discussion on this
thread, but the issue is well worth a few moments' thought.
By Blake, LISNews, September 30, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Australian Public Broadcasters - Educational
Resources
A bit of a departure for WWWTools this
week as they look at the state of the debate surrounding
the role of Australian public broadcasters in education. As
readers Down Under will know, in August Australian
Broadcasting cancelled 'Behind the News', a weekly summary
of events accompanied with printed and online learning
materials. The protests soon followed. The bulk of this Web
Tools article is devoted to bringing to light ABC's online
educational resources. The only thing really missing in
this article is some sense of context: the pressure on
ABC's educational services is not isolated. Just consider,
for example, the ongoing campaign to force the BBC out of
learning, documented in these pages. The supposition is that the
provision of educational resources is not the proper role
of a public broadcaster, but what's the alternative? This? By Graeme Daniel and Kevin Cox, Web
Tools Newsletter, October 1, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Star Series
Via elearningpost
comes this interesting site consisting of monthly
discussions with knowledge management 'stars'. As Maish
summarizes, "Dave (Snowden) was cornered on his use of
complex language to describe his version of KM! The last
conversation was with Victor Newman, author of The
Knowledge Activist's Handbook - Tales from the Knowledge
Trenches . Here Victor defends his Super Knowledge
Declaration - the deliberate management of knowledge to
deliver specific outcomes." By Jerry Ash, Association of
Knowledge, October, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Radio Community Health Education Proves
Effective
The most effective distance learning
technology in Zambia, according to this article, is radio.
This is especially the case for Neighborhood Health
Committees (NHCs), which "help explain and convince their
fellow community members understand available health
services and also know their role in the health reform
programme." By By Saphira Nachizya And Lamba Simpito,
allAfrica.com, September 29, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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]