Edu_RSS
Macquarie a review: The Bad & the Ugly
This is a multi-part review of my experience as a distance student in the Macquarie Applied Linguistics (TESOL) program. Go to the table of contents. The Bad, & the Ugly There really isn’t much to say that is ugly, but there a number of flaws with the Macquarie program that need to be addressed. It is the large number of flaws that add up to something that if not ugly is at the very minimum homely and unpleasant. The first is WebCT. This is a very expensive proprietary piece of web software with many features that were not utilized at all. And the ones that were utilized were done in a From
Language, teaching, and all things EFL on July 4, 2005 at 10:47 p.m..
Scientology Critic Keith Henson Seeking Refugee Status
After laying low for several years in Brantford, Ontario, maverick transhumanist thinker and anti-Scientologist activist Keith Henson is trying to get Canada to formally grant him refugee status, even as the Church of Scientology seems to be renewing its attack on him. From
kuro5hin.org on July 4, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
How To Win At Life
Life is a difficult and arduous game to play. There are not many ways to win that don't involve cheating, and most of them involve cheating. But it can be done, and I'm going to show you how. What follows is a definitive guide to how to win at life in the easiest possible way. Also outlined are the criteria for winning, so you will know whether you have won or not. Continuing to try to win after you had already won would mean you had lost. All great thinkers, including but not limited to Sartre, Jesus, Chairman Mao, and Billy Joel, agree that to win at life one must achieve at lea From
kuro5hin.org on July 4, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Blonde Joke
Guy gets on a plane and finds himself seated next to a cute blonde. He immediately turns to her and makes his move. "You know," he says,"I've heard that flights will go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger. So let's talk." The blonde, who had just opened her book, closes it slowly and says to the guy, "What would you like to discuss?" "Oh, I don't know,"says the guy. "How about nuclear power?" "OK," says the blonde. "That could be an interesting topic. But let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff--grass. Yet From
Language, teaching, and all things EFL on July 4, 2005 at 7:46 p.m..
English Teachers low TOEIC scores
According to the Joongang Ilbo the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development said that "Low scores by more than 270 middle and high school teachers on the Test of English for International Communication do not reflect their ability to teach English.The government was reacting to statements from Grand National Party lawmaker Lee Ju-ho who pointed yesterday to an average TOEIC score of 718 by 272 middle and high school teachers. That figure was below the average score of 841 for new employees of 12 public companies on exams in the first half of this year.I don't hold much stock From
Language, teaching, and all things EFL on July 4, 2005 at 7:46 p.m..
Immersive Learning Environments
Nice take on the
article I posted Friday, showing how the network-based approach to learning theory I outline can be applied in the field of health care education. "What better way to develop these proficiencies than to have health professions' students working and studying together in immersive and collaborative environments. Why educators think that we could possibly educate students in silos and release them into healthcare environments where they are expected to demonstrate and maintain competency i From
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
National Game Study 2005
Just came online today. As the summary says, the study presents of a study of Canada's video game industry. "This study is the first to provide a national overview of the growing gaming sector. NRC partnered with New Media BC to survey companies from across the country." Breaks the industry down into types, size of companies and projected growth. Don't miss the
map, which surveys the gaming industry across Canada. By Unattributed, National Research Council, Industrial Research Assistance Program, March, 2005 [
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
New Cornell Study Suggests That Mental Processing is Continuous, Not Like a Computer
As I said in my
recent paper, the trend in research is away from cognitivist theories of mind. "For decades, the cognitive and neural sciences have treated mental processes as though they involved passing discrete packets of information in a strictly feed-forward fashion from one cognitive module to the next or in a string of individuated binary symbols -- like a digital computer," said Spivey. "More recently, however, a growing number of studies, such as ours, support dynamical-systems approaches to the min From
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Gizmo SIP client hopes to break Skype silo
I like Skype a lot, but as others have noted, Skype needs to be open, so that we're not all depending on this one company. This item links to Lindows (aka Linspire) producer Michael Robertson's attempt to break that silo, Gizmo. The verdict? Not ready for prime time. Look, but don't download unless you're an adventurer. By Boris Mann, B.Mann Consulting, July 3, 2005 [
Refer][
Researc From OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
New Benchmarking Approach: Open Educational Resources
Surface-level overview with a relentless U.S.-focus, this is nonetheless worth viewing to get an idea of what's happening in open access south of the border. Slideshow created in Macromedia Flashpaper, which (as it turns out) is even more useless than PDF (a new low). Mentions OCW, Creative Commons, Connexions, and some others. Not sure where the benchmarking bit comes in, except for a couple unrelated slides near the end. From the same author,
Trends in North American e-Learning (the title From
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
The 'Object' of Content Management
The meat of this article is in the bottom quarter with a set of useful tips for those looking at content management. Start small, put someone in charge, network with pioneers, use metadata, focus on design and involve faculty. By William H. Graves, Campus Technology, July, 2005 [
Refer][
Research][
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Mobile Computing - Imagination on the Move
Mobile computing has become the new 'in' thing, capturing tghe attention of writers and designers throughout the field of e-learning. Not that there's anything wrong with that; the advent of wireless makes support for mobile computing an imperative. This article surveys some pioneering mobile computing initiatives in U.S. universities, including Seton Hall, Georgetown and Carnegie Mellon. Some stupid stuff, though, like this supposed "great idea": "They fired up the access points, but left them unconnected to the network at large, creating a "dead zone" of connectivity inside ea From
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Packetville
ADL writes: "Cisco Systems is rolling out a web portal this week that it hopes will help more young students become interested in math and science careers as well as education in general." It's not really a portal; there aren't any outside links. It's not really a gaming site either, despite
this notice. It's a site with activities and games for young computer users. There's a really weird vide to this site, though, with the whole 'hacker busters' theme (who thought of that?). It's like the h From
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have
OK, they aren't talking high level skills here - more like things like word processing, spreadsheets, digital cameras, and the like. And it's not a bad list (but 'copyright' is not a technology skill - sheesh). But even better: along with each skill there is a short description and - get this - links that take you to places where you can elarn the skill they're talking about! Great stuff! That's the way online articles (and for that matter, online learning) should work. Via ADL Co-Lab News. By Laura Turner, T.H.E. Journal, June, 2005 [
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Using Discussion Webs to Develop an Academic Community of Learners
This is a good article, even if the authors leave the term 'discussion web' undefined throughout (I assume they mean a discussion board with a linking capacity). Essentially, it is an analysis of the use of online discussion in a teacher course with an eye toward the development of community. Mostly I'm uncomfortable with this sort of analysis - 17 people dicussing things in isolation hardly seems like a community, and when things like 'chit chat' are classified as 'failures' I think the analysis is missing the point. But mainly I'm uncomfortable with st From
OLDaily on July 4, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
So just why is there no new Einstein?
A recent article in Physics Today, by Lee Smolin, has stoked and the embers of an age old debate. Smolin uses Albert Einstein's work as a motivation for proposing new ways of funding scientists who want to work on creative approaches for difficult and fundamental problems. The article can be obtained here. Smolin's porposals are very specific to the theoretical phsyics community, but the article prompts reflection by academicians in other fields. From
kuro5hin.org on July 4, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..
Virtual Team Types To Improve Organizational Performance
The bioteams collaboration between Ken Thompson and Robin Good has produced knowledge that should be considered in the rapidly changing environment of using collaboration to get results. Photo credit: Jeremy Henderson Having spent a great amount of resource on the... From
Kolabora.com on July 4, 2005 at 4:54 p.m..
wikiHow to Open Content (Ross Mayfield)
wikiHow is one of the more interesting cases of opening a proprietary content and community site. A couple of entrepreneurs bought eHow (editorially produced How To Guides, a dot com showcase) out of hock and appended a wiki to... From
Corante: Social Software on July 4, 2005 at 4:48 p.m..
Air frickin' France
On the flight home from Paris a few days ago, one of the attendants announced over the intercom the creation of a new frickin' flyer program. It took me a few seconds to realize she wasn't cursing at us, but was instead talking about a frequent flyer program. (Yes, I understand that I am in no position to make fun of the accent of a French woman speaking English since my point-and-grunt grasp of French sounds like the noise made by a drunk monkey.)... From
Joho the Blog on July 4, 2005 at 3:49 p.m..
Live 8: Cause or fashion statement?
Ethan responds reasonably and forcefully to Brian's response to his snarky-but-telling post about Live 8. For me it comes down to this: I can't imagine that people going to a big rock concert will change the mind of any G8 leader, but if Live 8 makes debt relief trendy, I'm all for it. After all, trendiness seemed to have an effect on ending Apartheid in the 80s.... From
Joho the Blog on July 4, 2005 at 3:49 p.m..
Bloggers: Don’t Forget Your Backlinks
I don't expect that anyone reads every single article I post to this weblog -- let alone plows through my voluminous archives. I also realize that I, more than anyone else, grasp the wealth, history, and diversity of CONTENTIOUS. I understand how what I'm writing today builds upon what I've written before, here and elsewhere. This is why I believe in weblog backlinks to relevant earlier articles... From
Contentious Weblog on July 4, 2005 at 2:55 p.m..
Happy Overload Day!
So I'm back into serious catch up mode with no sign of actually catching up in sight. I absolutely wanted to frame David Weinberger's "
No, I'm Not Keeping Up With Your Blog" post because it's just rings so true for me (and a lot of other folks as well, it seems.) But we're now well past the point where any of us can keep up with all the blogs worth reading from the people worth keeping up with. Even with an aggregator. I just can't do it any more. I've been faking it for From
weblogged News on July 4, 2005 at 2:47 p.m..
Missing Stephen Jay Gould
Thanks to alert commenters Katherine Bertolucci and Richard Carter, I spent yesterday morning reading Stephen Jay Gould's The Lying Stones of Marrakech and remembering how much I miss him. What a mind and what a writer! And I admired his political engagement as well. In the essay Katherine points to, Gould finds a marginal change Lamarck made in one of his own books. From that Gould shows how Lamarck's intellectual honesty led him not only to undo his own theory, but to come to a new vision of the role of contingency (history, accidents) in the development of species —... From
Joho the Blog on July 4, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..
Getting attention for your RSS feeds
Getting attention for your RSS feeds.
Where to Submit your RSS Feeds. If you want to promote your RSS feeds there is only one way to accelerate the time it takes for your potential readers to find out about you: make your RSS feed information available in as many RSS directories and search engines as possible. The RSSTop55 contains over 120 RSS search engines and directories where you can immediately submit your RSS / Atom feeds. The mini-guide, which is continuosl From
Bill Brandon: eLearning on July 4, 2005 at 12:48 p.m..
A Brief Introduction to Horary Astrology
The serious practice of Astrology is poorly understood outside of a small circle of dedicated fanatics. The construction and interpretation of a Horary Chart is a craft requiring considerable skill, and of a much different nature than most people realize. This is not a full HOWTO with enough information to start doing proper Astrology, but rather a brief tour of the symbolic system and basic method of use. I expect it will be equally interesting to the paranormally oriented people who might be inclined to take up the craft, and the scientific materialists who would rather debunk From
kuro5hin.org on July 4, 2005 at 12:45 p.m..
Social-informatics
What seperates Social Software from Social Informatics? This mission statement makes ist quite clear I think.
Social-informatics: "From most general prospective the notion of social informatics relates to interaction between society and information-communication technologies (ICT), what can be observed in three directions: - interaction between society and ICT, i.e. social aspects of computerizat From
thomas n. burg | randgänge on July 4, 2005 at 11:47 a.m..
Fuck Natalee Holloway
Does the name "Natalee Holloway" ring a bell? If you follow the news media in the United States, particular the 24-hour cable stations, it certainly ought to. On the other hand, if you've been living in a cave for the past month or so, here are the highlights: Natalee Holloway is an 18 year-old girl from Alabama who vanished on May 30th from the island of Aruba, where she was vacationing with some of her classmates to celebrate their high school graduation. Based on the amount of coverage that this story has received from the national media (Fox News in particular), one must draw the c From
kuro5hin.org on July 4, 2005 at 11:45 a.m..
Podcasts taking off
Will Apple do for podcasts what it did to popularize digital music? Who knows, but they're off to a pretty good start. Here is an item I picked up today from apple.com. CUPERTINO, California--June 30, 2005--Apple® today announced that in... From
Rick's Café Canadien on July 4, 2005 at 10:54 a.m..
Competition is Good, Copying Is Bad
Before I delve into the article, I want to address a specific issue related to copying. While the first article deals with clear copyright violations, there is also a rabid problem in the industry related to the cloning of applications. I have more ideas than I can keep up with, I don't know why this behavior is condoned nor do I understand why developers can't be innovative, rather than cloning another's application. Cloning may not be illegal, but its certainly not ethical. Competition is Good, Copying is Bad I've always been of the opinion tha From
Software Marketing Articles and Marketing Tips on July 4, 2005 at 9:49 a.m..
Intellectual Property Is Costing Me My Life
In an unbelievable twist of fate, a combination of terrible drug laws, intellectual property laws, and misguided patents and copyrights have come together to prevent me from receiving lifesaving medecine. I need your help to publicize this issue, take it to the mainstream, and let it start the ball rolling to take out this immoral copyright system. The story of the death of my family and my current life-threatening illness, caused in no small part by IP law, is a perfect starting point to bring this into the next level of public discourse. Let's expose the copyright barons for what they a From
kuro5hin.org on July 4, 2005 at 8:45 a.m..
Monday, June 27, 2005
I added a new forum where people can share links to funny, interesting, or odd stories from around the Web. From
RHPT.com on July 4, 2005 at 7:59 a.m..
Graeme Daniel
"Please don't recount this vote," Al Gore, on accepting his Lifetime Achievement Award at the Webby Awards. From
wwwtools on July 4, 2005 at 7:57 a.m..
Graeme Daniel
'...any child who leaves school without adequate computer skills by 2010 may be setting themselves [sic] up for a life of poverty.' - Edward Mandla (Australian Computer Society: Media Release, May 2004) From
wwwtools on July 4, 2005 at 7:57 a.m..
Usabilidad en el Proceso de Diseño de Software
Interesante la charla que ofreció ayer Nigel Bevan en la Facultad de Informática de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid: "Usability Integration into the Software Process". Bevan es muy conocido por ser uno de los principales impulsores de la estandarización de la usabilidad (acuñó, por ejemplo, el concepto de "calidad en uso"), y ha participado en numerosos proyectos de ámbito internacional en los que la medición de la usabilidad era el aspecto crítico. En la actualidad trabaja para la división de usabilidad de (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:57 a.m..
La AUI convoca los premios "Día de Internet"
La Asociación de Usuarios de Internet (AUI) ha convocado la primera edición de los premios "Día de Internet", con el objetivo de fomentar la participación abierta en la jornada del 25 de octubre, el primer "Día de Internet" que se celebrará bajo el impulso de la AUI y el patrocinio de instituciones públicas y privadas. El premio constará de siete categorías, en las que se valorará la incorporación de nuevos usuarios, la participación y la accesibilidad. Las candidaturas están abiertas en www.diadeinternet.es tanto a la (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:57 a.m..
Sinónimos y definiciones
He descubierto hoy por casualidad un par de páginas web de esas que, de puro sencillas y prácticas que son, sé que me acompañarán durante mucho tiempo. Me refiero a sinonimos.org y definicion.org, ambas creación de Antonio Rodriguez Estrada. No sé cuántas veces (miles, desde luego) me habré interrumpido mientras escribía a la búsqueda de un sinónimo, para no repetir una misma expresión demasiadas veces. Y eso es lo que me ha pasado hoy (bueno, le pasó a una compañera de trabajo y ella me preguntó, para el caso es lo mismo). (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
El contenido basura
Todas las empresas coinciden en la importancia de los contenidos. En un mundo en el que "los mercados son conversaciones"; en el que las grandes corporaciones gastan fortunas en conocer los hábitos de sus potenciales cosumidores; en el que el contenido, incluso el contenido personalizado, es el rey... en este mundo, aunque parezca mentira, sigue habiendo pifias de campeonato. Hay ejemplos para todos los gustos, pero para muestra traigo aquí dos botones. El primero es de la Fundación Vodafone. He (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
Luces y sombras del nuevo madrid.org
A través de un mensaje de Alberto Lacalle en la lista de correos de Cadius tengo noticias de la remodelación del portal institucional de la Comunidad de Madrid. Como suele suceder en estos casos, el Gobierno ha presentado esta remodelación como un gran avance en la relación entre la institución y los ciudadanos, mientras que la oposición critica que el sitio no permite a los ciudadanos "interrelacionarse con la administración, más allá de rellenar formularios y de la burocracia pura y dura". El propio Alberto (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
El factor humano y la seguridad
Según Deloitte, la principal amenza para la seguridad de la información en las entidades financieras es el factor humano, por encima de la tecnología. En el denominado "Estudio de Seguridad Global" realizado por la consultora, concluyeron que los ataques internos, el phishing y el pharming son las principales amenazas para las entidades financieras en materia de seguridad, por lo que sugieren que la formación y concienciación en materia de seguridad es la solución para evitar las amenazas provocadas por el (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
Ya están disponibles los datos de la II Encuesta para bloggers y lectores de blogs
Ya me he descargado los datos de la II Encuesta para bloggers y lectores de blogs que han realizado Tintachina y Blogpocket. Estos datos están disponible en formato XML y también en formato texto (TXT), y cualquiera puede descargárselos y utilizarlos libremente (dentro de los términos de la licencia CC a la que se han acogido los autores). Desde luego, tengo la sensación de haber llegado demasiado pronto, porque aún no he visto ningún resumen o comentario sobre el resultado final de la encuesta. Y, la (...) From
martinalia.com | Gestión de Contenidos on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
NECC Day 2 Recap
Day 2 of NECC found me spending lots of time in the exhibit hall, scouting out new offerings from the huge array of vendors present, watching presentations, and talking to technical support folks from our existing suppliers. Apple had a great hour-long presentation from two teachers where they demonstrated science and productivity tools.
NoteTaker from AquaMinds is a very cool little tool that allows teachers to... From
Brain Frieze on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
Amercian School Board Journal on Blogging by Educational Leaders
What's in a Blog?: Craig Colgan has done an outstanding job detailing the educational uses of blogs, with particular emphasis on educational leaders who have taken up the mantle of conversing with their constituents rather than just talking to (or at) them. Craig and I had a fairly lengthy e-mail conversation about the topic and it was nice to see a couple of quotes from little old me that made... From
Brain Frieze on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
Live 8 Now Avaiable at the iTunes Store
Just downloaded the London concert from
iTunes Music Store with what sound to be some awesome songs by great artists. Proceeds benefit the effort to end poverty in Africa and get members of the G-8 to address these and other problems in African nations. For those not wishing to use iTunes there are downloads available at the... From
Brain Frieze on July 4, 2005 at 7:56 a.m..
Lawmakers move to help telcos offer video - Reuters
U.S. House and Senate lawmakers on Thursday unveiled two measures designed to make it easier for telephone companies to launch video service to compete with cable and satellite services. The measures would eliminate the need for companies like Verizon Com From
Techno-News Blog on July 4, 2005 at 7:49 a.m..
US holds onto key internet role - BBC
The US government has said it intends to maintain its role in overseeing how the internet is run. It means the US will continue its oversight of the machines that serve as the net's master directories. These computers tell browsers and e-mail programs how From
Techno-News Blog on July 4, 2005 at 7:49 a.m..
Ted Nelson
Very chuffed to get a mail this morning from Ted Nelson - he who coined the terms "hypertext", "intertwingularity" and the like - offering to kick off the Network Enabled Organisation seminar next week and join us for the first... From
Monkeymagic on July 4, 2005 at 6:53 a.m..
Libros libres
Jordi Mas i Hernàndez: Software libre: técnicamente viable, ecónomicamente sostenible, socialmente justo David Bravo: Copia este libro Ver también: COPYFIGHT... From
eCuaderno v.2.0 on July 4, 2005 at 6:52 a.m..
Análisis de datos de la II Encuesta
Primeros análisis de datos de la II Encuesta Weblogs: Martinalia: Ya están disponibles los datos de la II Encuesta para bloggers y lectores de blogs TintaChina: II Encuesta: detectadas irregularidades MaskusPlanet: Resultados II Encuesta a webloggers Ver: II Encuesta: resultados... From
eCuaderno v.2.0 on July 4, 2005 at 5:47 a.m..