Edu_Rss

In Case You Forgot
I'm here and here today.  Maybe I'll cross-post everything over here later. From A Copyfighter's Musings on June 27, 2005 at 10:45 p.m..

links for 2005-06-27
Open Tech 2005 - 23rd July in Hammersmith, London. Ted Nelson, BBC Backstage and more - all for a fiver. Looks great! (tags: Events)... From Monkeymagic on June 27, 2005 at 8:47 p.m..

"Hi, I like your view, so I'm taking your house"
On Thursday, June 23, the Supreme Court of the United States made a ruling which didn't move the United States leftward, or rightward, but simply away from individual rights, as both conservatives and liberals would define them, and towards a rather noxious form of authoritarianism: plutocracy. It was a decision that was remarkable in the uniformity of outrage at it from across the ideological spectrum. Greens, Libertarians, Democrats, and Republicans were all equally baffled and angry. Archconservatives like George Will and Archliberals like Ralph Nader were suddenly of one voice. Simpl From kuro5hin.org on June 27, 2005 at 7:45 p.m..

Muslim-US diplomacy - one teen at a time
Ruba, an Iraqi, loved being a junior 'ambassador' as part of a US government student exchange program. From Christian Science Monitor | Learning on June 27, 2005 at 7:45 p.m..

Big expectations for after-school hours
As demand grows for the supplementary programs, so do questions about their purpose: should they be educational or recreational? From Christian Science Monitor | Learning on June 27, 2005 at 7:45 p.m..

Patent Absurdity
This is a good explanation of why software patents, as currently employed in the U.S. and as proposed (repeatedly) for Europe, are such a bad idea. Consider what would happen if they applied to novels. Instead of protecting specific text, the patent would protect, say, "the concept of a character who has been in jail for a long time and becomes bitter towards society and humankind." Or worse, "Communication process structured with narration that continues through many pages." These are the sorts of patents being filed in software today, and just as they would have prevented the publication of From OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Guanxi
Some interesting working coming out of the Bodington open source learning management system (LMS) community. Guanxi "supports federated authentication and authorization services. It includes OS implementations of the SAML specification and the Shibboleth extended profile specification for the IdP..." It will let students sign on to one LMS and use resources and services from another LMS. Guanxi code is available on OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Our Welcome From (and to) the Community
The RSS list amendments proposed by Microsoft are in a state of flux right now as the proponents react to changes sugegested by the community. It is welcome news that the specifications are proving to be fluid, not just because the result will be something that meets wider needs, but because it demonstrates a willingness by Microsoft to engage in the (very fluid and mostly chaotic) RSS development community. Bill Brandon, meanwhile, surveys reactions to the Microsoft initiative from the RSS community. her From OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Blogs in the Classroom
Dig this post-PowerPoint presentation tool. OK, that said, this presentation at Gnomedex outlines the case for blogging in the classroom, stipulates some practices (eg., have students use only one blogging tool), and makes some development requests (eg., a means of countinbg comments and posts). Via Will Richardson. By Kathy Gill, Gnomedex, June 24, 2005 [Refer][OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Don't Click It: Clickless Interface Site
If you want to feel like you're learning how to use the mouse all over again, try out this nifty clickless interface. Via InfoCult. Speaking of nice interfaces, check out this Ajax-enabled interface for del.icio.us called direc.tor. By Unknown, DontClickIt, June, 2005 [Refer][OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Google Video Launches Today
Still some bumps to smooth out, but Google's video search launches today. Google's special video viewer, based on the open source VLC Viewer, installed easily but is for Windows only (no doubt ports will soon be available). Second, despite having signed on a number of providers ("PBS, CNN, Fox News, C-SPAN, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the Learning Channel") all the searches I tried resulted only in screenshots and a "video not available" message. Coming soon, I guess. More info at OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Let the Experiment Be Made
The author of this column argues against professors resisting online learning by saying, as the title suggests, let the experiment be made. After all, he argues, "The slippery-slope scenario says less about online education than it does about the lack of trust that exists between faculty members and administrators." Fair enough. But the experiment? "That means a commitment to maintain small classes online... limits on the percentage of a student's overall education that can be completed entirely online... online courses should be taught by the regular, full-time, tenured faculty members.. From OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Lansbridge University Receives Accreditation
Got a note today from Lansbridge University to advertise their accreditation. "Lansbridge University was notified this week by the DETC that it has met the DETC's stringent accreditation requirements to become the first and only on-line business management university in Canada to earn DETC accreditation." By Press Release, Lansbridge University, June 15, 2005 [Refer][Research][OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Packing Up the Books
Here's a scare headline if I've ever seen one. "U. of Texas becomes the latest institution to clear out a main library to make room for computers." Oh no, they're getting rid of books! Well, not exactly - they're just moving them to another facility. Of course, the main message in this piece from the Chronicle is that "Critics worry that all of the money and attention being spent on digital libraries leaves less money for books, and that the days when a scholar could spend hours wandering through the stacks." Sheesh. But hey, it's the Chronicle - let's ramp up the From OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Grokster Loses Copyright Case
Americans are still weighing the impact of today's Supreme Court essentially ruling against Grokster and other file sharing services. "We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement," wrote Justice David Souter in the majority opinion. Michael Geist says it's not so bad: "P2P techno From OLDaily on June 27, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

AIED 2005 program is available
The 12th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education will be held July 18-22 in Amsterdam. The programme is now posted at: http://hcs.science.uva.nl/AIED2005/program.html We have a paper entitled "Mining Data and Modelling Social Capital in Virtual Learning Communities" (Ben Daniel,... From Rick's Café Canadien on June 27, 2005 at 4:53 p.m..

In case the Grokster decision didn't depress you enough...
...read Susan Crawford on the BrandX decision that gives the FCC regulatory control over all bits. [Technorati tags: fcc grokster]... From Joho the Blog on June 27, 2005 at 4:48 p.m..

A Birthday and a Blog Book
So I was hoping to "officially" announce this bit of news before NECC, and since I haven't left for Philly yet, I guess I made it. I've just signed an agreement with Corwin Press to publish an Ed Blogwikirssfurlflickrmediacast Book which will hopefully be at a bookseller near you by the end of the year. The tentative title is "The Educator's Guide to Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Cool Tools That are Transforming the Classroom." Long, I know. I wanted something more Read/Write Webby From weblogged News on June 27, 2005 at 3:46 p.m..

Marratech Video Virtual Office Goes Free
Hello Robin, when we met in Rome, I remember that you mentioned that a free version of Marratech might be something really important to create awareness and increased usage of Marratech's collaboration tool. I brought the idea with me back... From Kolabora.com on June 27, 2005 at 1:53 p.m..

Save Time and Money on your Degree
Five tips on streamlining the degree process so you can save time and money.... From Adult/Continuing Education on June 27, 2005 at 1:49 p.m..

Formative evaluation: Midcourse feedback procedure
Formative evaluation: Midcourse feedback procedure. Implementing a Midcourse Feedback Procedure in the Online Learning Environment - Kelly Bruning, Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Research indicates that formative evaluation tools serve as a justifiable assessment tool that allows for honest student feedback and an opportunity for the instructor to redirect the class based upon that feedback while also nurturing the learning. [Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

India as outsourcing destination: Not a sure bet
India as outsourcing destination: Not a sure bet. How far will India's tech juggernaut go?. Having already built a huge successful business on outsourced services, India now has ambitions of becoming an international powerhouse in all forms of technology. Will it become a signficant threat to other technology leaders, such as China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and even the United States? [CNET News.com] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

More reaction to Microsoft RSS announcement
More reaction to Microsoft RSS announcement. Microsoft's RSS announcements continue getting reactions. My comments are down again. Sorry. The reaction to MS's RSS announcements continue to roil the Internet: Marc Canter (the guy who started Macromedia): "Incredible things happened!" Marc, I agree, but the credit doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the RSS team who coded this stuff. I hate it when o From Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 11:49 a.m..

State sales taxes coming to e-commerce
State sales taxes coming to e-commerce. Days of Tax-Free Online Sales May Be Numbered. A recent court decision, along with other efforts by state tax collectors to focus on Internet sales, could signal that the era of tax-free online sales is nearing an end. By BOB TEDESCHI. [NYT > Technology] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 11:49 a.m..

Microsoft giving a major boost to syndication
Microsoft giving a major boost to syndication. Brent Simmons: "Will Microsoft's support of RSS help make syndication more and more popular? Yes indeed, and that's a good thing." [Scripting News] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

WebEx Automatic Record Retention
WebEx Automatic Record Retention. WebEx unveils compliance package. At the collaborative Technologies Conference last week, WebEx Communications introduced a Web conferencing application designed to record and archive all meeting content in accordance with compliance requirements for financial services companies. Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

Incoming college students are already blogging
Incoming college students are already blogging. Gnomedex Does "Blogs in the Classroom". [T]he even bigger news was that there was a presentation on "Blogs in the Classroom" as well! Kathy Gill at the University of Washington gave it, and she gave some surprising stats about the blog knowledge of her incoming students: 89% had sipped the blog juice in one form or another, but only 7% had ev From Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN)
Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN). Asnyncrhronous Learning Network (ALN) WebCenter. "Sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, this research program aims to increase the quality, quantity, and dissemination of results of research on the effectiveness of Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN)"            [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on June 27, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

del.icio.us direc.tor
del.icio.us direc.tor An alternative web-based rich UI for del.icio.us. Features: * In-browser handling of del.icio.us bookmarks (tested up to 12,000 records) * Find-as-you-type searching of all your bookmarks, with basic search operators * Sort by description, tags, or timestamp * Ad-hoc tag browser... From Education/Technology - Tim Lauer on June 27, 2005 at 10:50 a.m..

NECC talk - New Shape of Knowledge
I'm keynoting the National Educational Computing Conference today in Philadelphia. Here's a sketch of what I plan on saying. (The first two paragraphs are a variation on my "stump" speech, and you may recognize bits from elsewhere.) Knowledge is being shaken to its roots. Knowledge began in ancience Greece as a way of sorting through conversations to discover what's the right advice for guiding the state. Over time, it got associated with certainty and became more and more restricted and less in touch with the messy human context. In fact, it took on four properties, two of whic From Joho the Blog on June 27, 2005 at 10:48 a.m..

Steven Johnson in the funnies
Everything Bad Is Good for You got an oblique reference in the Sunday Doonesbury. That, along with appearing on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, has to be on Steve Johnson's life list... [Technorati tag: SteveJohnson]... From Joho the Blog on June 27, 2005 at 9:49 a.m..

Gnomedex Does "Blogs in the Classroom"
If I wasn't at iLaw last week, I would have sure liked to have been at Gnomedex. The big news, of course, was Microsoft's announcement that RSS was going to be integrated into the next version of IE. (Wonder what Firefox will have by then.) But the even bigger news was that there was a presentation on "Blogs in the Classroomweblogged News on June 27, 2005 at 8:47 a.m..

Curso de verano: Web semántica y redes sociales
Me recuerda Eduardo Sánchez que el 30 de junio vence el plazo de inscripciones para el curso de verano: Nuevas Tendencias en Internet - La Web Semántica y las Redes Sociales Virtuales, que tendrá lugar en la Universidad de Santiago... From eCuaderno v.2.0 on June 27, 2005 at 7:49 a.m..

The cyborgs are coming - The China Standard
A scene from the movie Artificial Intelligence: A.I. that shows a world where flesh fuses with mechanics and brains with circuitry. Such a scenario is closer than most people understand, claim transhumanists. Sitting in his office at Trinity College, Har From Techno-News Blog on June 27, 2005 at 7:46 a.m..

Japanese robot guards to patrol shops, offices - Reuters
Burglars beware, robot guards are here. In an idea straight out of science fiction, robots could soon begin patrolling Japanese offices, shopping malls and banks to keep them safe from intruders. Equipped with a camera and sensors, the "Guardrobo D1," de From Techno-News Blog on June 27, 2005 at 7:46 a.m..

An Army of Soulless 1's and 0's - Stephen Labaton, New York Times
For thousands of Internet users, the offer seemed all too alluring: revealing pictures of Jennifer Lopez, available at a mere click of the mouse. But the pictures never appeared. The offer was a ruse, and the click downloaded software code that turned the From Techno-News Blog on June 27, 2005 at 7:46 a.m..

The FAQ - revisited
Denham Grey has written a blog entry on the value of FAQs. To quote: FAQs share many characteristics with patterns & canned helpdesk answers - proven effective solutions to common problems, steps and actions to be taken, 'see also' links... From Column Two on June 26, 2005 at 11:47 p.m..