By Stephen Downes
November 18, 2003
. . . A Simple Question:
This
article kind of sets the tone for today's issue, which
didn't start with a plan or a theme but seems to have
acquired one. The author poses the question, "Why are there
so few literary translations published each year in the
United States?" Fair enough, but it's the answer that is
shocking: it's all the fault of those foreign governments,
who don't subsidize American publishers' translation costs.
What? By John O’Brien, Context, November, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
The Digital Death Rattle of the American
Middle Class: A Cautionary Tale
This title may
seem to have little to do with either learning or
technology, but the author draws the connections exactly
where I would draw them. First, "the neoliberal
redefinition of higher education as a private good
precisely at the time when U.S. intellectual laborers are
seen as too expensive, as increasingly not economically
viable in a transnational corporatist order (with)
consequent reductions in the number of U.S. 'symbolic
workers' will be line with the declining competitiveness of
U.S. intellectual labor in a global intellectual labor
market." Second, "our techno-corporations are our
contemporary colonial powers, restlessly traversing the
rhizomatic arrangement of people and places in search of
profit and performative nirvanas. By doing so, they
aggressively reshape social routines, values and
relationships in the process." By Dion Dennis, CTheory,
November 18, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Scope For Replicating BPO Success Model In
E-Learning
Short article touting the potential
for India's e-learning industry. "The resource base of
highly-educated English speaking workforce, vendors
offering competitive rates and quick turnover time, is
likely to make India a profitable and attractive
destination for global corporates." E-Learning also
received positive coverage in yesterday's Times of India, indicating a wider
awareness of the potential in that country. Very definitely
something to keep an eye on. By Various Authors, Financial
Express, November 19, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Top 10 Innovative Projects
I
sincerely doubt that the top 10 innovative projects of the
year in online learning were all American projects. Most
likely, the authors of this piece did not look beyond their
own borders. Too bad; while this list is a valuable
contribution and worth taking a look at, the authors could
have provided an even more valuable service to their
readers had they looked further afield. But for the rest of
us, this is an insightful glimpse into some of the valuable
contributions being made by organizations across the United
States. By T&L Editors, Tech-Learning, November 15, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Send Back Your MP3s!
If something
has been stolen, then the right thing to do is to send it
back, right? That's the premise - and the absurdity -
behind this new campaign to get people to send back the
MP3s they had illegally downloaded. Obviously, the music
publishers would not be able to cope with the millions of
MP3s they say were 'stolen'. Because these aren't 'stolen'
MP3s - they're copies, which is a very different thing.
Nice anti-meme. By Various Authors, November, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Learning About Learning
Objects
This new site intended for instructors
in California is designed to facilitate the creation of
learning objects. Some are already on display. Alas, no RSS
feed. By Various Authors, November, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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