OLDaily

By Stephen Downes
September 1, 2004

USU Instructional Technology Institute
Yesterday's unscheduled interruption in the smooth flow of newsletters was caused by travel from New Brunswick to the ITI in Logan, Utah. Internet access has been a bit of a challenge (though I'm fine now) - if you sent me email, it will be a day or two before I respond, as my email client can't cross the proxy server here in Utah. I'm typing right now during Trey Martindale's interesting talk on categories of learning websites - no summary, but he will post his list on his site. Meantime, I'm going to keep today's newsletter short; more stories and pictures tomorrow. By Various Authors, September 1, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Free Culture
Lawrence Lessig outlines the history of remix - the practice of using materials from previous works to createnew works, and contrasts this with the copyright "insanity" that has come to characterize the legal environment today. Summary of his talk at ITI in Utah. By Stephen Downes, Stephen'sWeb, September 1, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Granularity in Learning Objects With Analogies From Engineering and Language
Interesting talk by Jacques du Plessis drawing a comparison between how language uses basic objects, such as sounds and morphemes. Summary of his talk from ITI in Utah. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 1, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

OOPS! A Free Model for Open Knowledge
Description of OOPS, a site that invites people to create Chinese translations of MIT's OpenCourseWare courses. Goof discription of how a chaotic, non-managed project can produce good results. Summary of a talk given by Luc Chu and Meng-Fen (Grace) Lin at ITI in Utah. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web, September 1, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Redwood Group Maps Managed Learning Environments
After eWeek's take on the Redwood Group, covered here a few days ago, Wilbert Kraan of CETIS constributes with his own, less sensational, take on the group's work. Readers will want to note his reference in this context to the E-Learning Framework (ELF) being undertaken by Industry Canada, Australia's Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and JISC/CETIS. Kraan also notes that "the Redwood Group is open and pretty informal." I can attest to that - they let me join, even though all I really do is lurk. By Wilbert Kraan, CETIS, August 30, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

ISE launches E-learning Tool
This is interesting mostly for the trend it signifies. " A new e-learning tool has been launched by the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE) which aims to make trading on the exchange much easier to understand. It is accessible, free of charge..." There is substantial motivation for private industry of all sorts to release a wide variety of learning for free. By Unattributed, Business World, August 30, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

An Open Letter to the U.S. Congress
The open letter to the U.S. Congress signed by 25 Nobel prize winners has been released. It calls for support for open access to scientific materials. "When a woman goes online to find what treatment options are available to battle breast cancer, the cutting-edge, peer-reviewed research remains behind a high-fee barrier. Families looking to read clinical trial updates for a loved one with Huntington's disease search in vain because they do not have a journal subscription. Libraries, physicians, health care workers, students, researchers and thousands of academic institutions and companies are hindered by the costs and delays in making research widely accessible. There's no question, open access truly expands shared knowledge across scientific fields -- it is the best path for accelerating multi-disciplinary breakthroughs in research." Via Open Access News. By Various Authors, August 26, 2004 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

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