Edu_Rss

True cause of Jedi downfall: crappy IT
Shane Schick of ITBusiness believes that Star Wars holds a hidden parable on the powerful role of an intelligent technology strategy in your organization. Schick muses that Jedi and Sith should have ganged up against their common foe, that crappy Holonet: I like to imagine that a consortium of vendors in the Star Wars republic created a standard to make holographic conversations a reality. Maybe they called it Wow-Fi, or something like that. Then, even though it didn’t do the job properly, it achieved widespread adoption – except on the planet Tatooine...Everyone in the George Luca From silentblue | Quantified on July 9, 2005 at 8:54 p.m..

Podcast a novel
Podcast a novel: After seeing some blogged novels, it was only a matter of time until we came across the podcasted novel: Las Gafas de Platon. I don't read Spanish yet, nor can I From Seblogging News on July 9, 2005 at 8:50 p.m..

A familiar voice is coming back
Dale Pike writes in a recent email that he is "making a tentative attempt to return to the blogging world". Nice to have his voice back! His "new" Weblog carries the old title Stand Up Eight. [Sebastian Fiedler] From Seblogging News on July 9, 2005 at 7:49 p.m..

Wikipedia vs. Wikinews
In an email to a mailing list, Wikipedian SJ Klein suggests comparing the coverage of the London bombings at Wikipedia and Wikinews. And he provides some stats: The cluster of news article(s) had around 300 edits yesterday, trailing off to 30 today before noon, and effectively none since then; it remains the lead story on the main page. The Wikipedia article has had 500 edits today, compared to around 3000 yesterday, and is still getting 10-20 an hour. It remains the second of three active current events bullets on the main page. [Technorati tags: wikipedia wikinews media]... From Joho the Blog on July 9, 2005 at 7:48 p.m..

A Vision as An Integrating Guide for Students (and the Teacher).
Summary: Your first job as master teacher is to wake them up. After the last echo of the wake-up call has fallen silent your students will be left with a hunger and a vision. The vision will enlighten each act of specific learning. The vision is necessarily new and the hunger is for its realization. The vision is a context, a framing, a meaning system within which all of the specific content of your teachings will fit. As with pieces of a jig saw puzzle, each teaching is seen, by the awakened, to be a specific and partial realization of the vision, "big picture". The struggle to acquir From Connectivity: Spike Hall's RU Weblog on July 9, 2005 at 6:48 p.m..

Careful Blogging
A couple of links today that highlight the complexity of blogging: Tom points to a Chronicle of Higher Education piece that recounts the work of a college hiring committee choosing a new professor. A number of the finalists had a blog. None of the blogging professors got the job not simply because of their online practice but it certainly didn't help. The blogs were too political or too narrow or shed too much light. None of the candidates are named in From weblogged News on July 9, 2005 at 6:47 p.m..

Adult and Workplace Education Journal
The summer issue of Vertex, the Online Journal for Adult and Workforce Educators is available free online at http://vawin.jmu.edu/vertex. Targeted toward adult and workforce educators, topics range from "Ninety Days to a GED" to "Examing the Use of Technology in... From Adult/Continuing Education on July 9, 2005 at 5:50 p.m..

Peak Oil: the next big thing. (Part One.)
In between shark attacks, missing persons, Michael Jackson, and who knows what else, you might have missed a few important stories. On the 4th of July, a power plant in Grati, on Indonesia's island of Java, was shut down after it just plain ran out of its stored fuel oil. Another power plant on the island is going to close next. This should not be all that surprising. Oil is now trading at $60 a barrel, and the first to suffer from this are those who can't cough up that kind of dough. But this is just the beginning. The price won't come back down, and soon enough you will From kuro5hin.org on July 9, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Remodeling the political spectrum
With the rise of ideologies such as paleoconservatives, neolibertarians, and radical centrists, creating a political spectrum model that can describe them all has become more challenging. No longer does the simple left-right axis suffice, nor even the ever popular Nolan Chart. This article proposes a new model that attempts to accurately describe all known ideologies using a three dimensional spectrum. From kuro5hin.org on July 9, 2005 at 4:45 p.m..

Drupal: Security
Drupal: Security. (Comment from Bill: Drupal is, "an open source dynamic web site platform which allows an individual or community of users to publish, manage and organize a variety of content, Drupal integrates many popular features of content management systems, weblogs, collaborative tools and discussion-based community software into one easy-to-use package.") Drupal.org downtime and comment security issue. Taran mentions that there's a security issue with Drupal conm From Bill Brandon: eLearning on July 9, 2005 at 3:46 p.m..

University of Wyoming: Use of online courses grows
University of Wyoming: Use of online courses grows. UW online enrollment grows by 16 percent - AP. Online enrollment at the University of Wyoming grew by 16 percent during the 2004-05 academic year, school officials said. Almost 2,300 students took a total of 3,937 courses online last year, up from 3,391 online courses taken during the 2003-04 school [Online Learning Update] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on July 9, 2005 at 3:46 p.m..

Explaining The Open University
Explaining The Open University. Online Learning Is Open For All - Kate Watkins, FE News. If you watched primetime television over the last few months, you have probably seen those advertisements about that university where you can study from home while working at the same time. Yes, the Open University (OU) has made its mark on the UK with it [Online Learning Update] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on July 9, 2005 at 3:46 p.m..

Everything you ever wanted to know about distance learning.
Everything you ever wanted to know about distance learning. REVEIW of the Encyclopedia of Distance Learning - Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education. The topic of distance teaching and online learning associated technologies and applications covers a vast amount of ideas, concepts, issues, concerns, and opportunities. The innovations in computer and communications technologies combined with on-going ne [Bill Brandon: eLearning on July 9, 2005 at 3:46 p.m..

It's probably spam
Terry Heaton, who writes smart stuff about the intersection of post-modernism and the modern media, also is a funny guy. Here's his list of signs that you're reading spam. [Technorati tag: TerryHeaton]... From Joho the Blog on July 9, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..

Information Technology position at U of S
This is a term position to provide ID support to the Department of Computer Science. PRIMARY PURPOSE: To provide instructional and administrative support for undergraduate Computer Science programs by conceiving, developing and deploying novel learning environments for the Department's programs,... From Rick's Café Canadien on July 9, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

More Islamic Global Voices on London
Global Voices rounds up more Moslem voices blogging about the recent attempt to frighten London. [Technorati tags: globalvoices london]... From Joho the Blog on July 9, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

In Retrospect: The Difference Between an Awakening and Objective Mastery
Summary: Your first job as master teacher is to wake them up. After the last echo of the wake-up call has fallen silent your students will be left with a hunger and a vision. The vision will enlighten each act of specific learning. The vision is necessarily new and the hunger is for its realization. The vision is a context, a framing, a meaning system within which all of the specific content of your teachings will fit. As with pieces of a jig saw puzzle, each teaching is seen, by the awakened, to be a specific and partial realization of the vision, "big picture". The struggle to acquir From Connectivity: Spike Hall's RU Weblog on July 9, 2005 at 11:48 a.m..

You can't go home(page) again
So, I tried to delete a post because it was based on a humongous and irresponsible misreading I committed. I discovered my error about 15 minutes after I posted it, so I figured if I deleted it right away, I wouldn't be breaking anyone's links. Except that trackbacks to it went out immediately. Except with MovableType you have to rebuild your site to get rid of the post, which takes another 15 minutes or so. Except that the post is still part of my RSS feed. I don't mind the post being available so long as the fact that it... From Joho the Blog on July 9, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..

Blogging and Jobs
Things to consider when applying for a job if you are a blogger. Worst of all, for professional academics, it's a publishing medium with no vetting process, no review board, and no editor. The author is the sole judge of what constitutes publishable material, and the medium allows for instantaneous distribution. After wrapping up a juicy rant at 3 a.m., it only takes a few clicks to put it into global circulation. We've all done it -- expressed that way-out-there opinion in a lecture we're giving, in cocktail party conversation, or in an e-mail message to a friend. There is a s From Language, teaching, and all things EFL on July 9, 2005 at 8:50 a.m..

A Tax to Surf? - Robert MacMillan, Washington Post
I can think of no better way to start July 5th than with the promise of a new Internet tax. Don't rush out and start dumping fiber-optic cable in the nearest harbor, mind you. A new tax to subsidize rural high-speed Internet access is still at the discuss From Techno-News Blog on July 9, 2005 at 8:45 a.m..

IM Threats Skyrocket - Tim Gray, Internet News
Threats targeting instant messaging and P2P networks exploded last month, as reports jumped nearly 400 percent, according to security firm Akonix. The second-quarter increase, the largest hike since Akonix has been recording threats, saw hackers launchin From Techno-News Blog on July 9, 2005 at 8:45 a.m..

Soaring malware levels hint at criminal activity - Graeme Wearden, CNET News
Security company Sophos has seen a dramatic rise in the number of viruses, worms and Trojan horses this year as more organized criminals turn to cybercrime. The company reported last week that it had detected 7,944 new pieces of such malware in the first From Techno-News Blog on July 9, 2005 at 8:45 a.m..

Riding Herd With a Database
The cattle industry hopes to have a database in place for tracking its animals by January, at least three years earlier than a similar system proposed by the government. From Wired News on July 9, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Cell Phones Capture London Blasts
The most searing images to emerge from the London bombings came not from photojournalists but from amateurs toting digital cameras and cell phones. The photography may have been second rate, but you couldn't beat them for immediacy. From Wired News on July 9, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Fantastic Four: Fluff to Forget
The best that can be said about Fantastic Four, Hollywood’s latest superhero flick, is that it's not trying to be a great film. Given all the self-important comic adaptations out in recent years, the tackiness is almost refreshing. By Jason Silverman. From Wired News on July 9, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Europe Goes Gently on P2P Piracy
EU members enact a number of laws to ban online trading of pirated content. But privacy protections and a reluctance to prosecute peer-to-peer users make Europe a comparatively friendly place to swap files. By Bruce Gain. From Wired News on July 9, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Informe eEspaña en Actualidad Económica
La revista Actualidad Económica (nro.: 2.456, 14 de julio de 2005) distribuye en soporte CD-ROM el Informe Anual sobre el Desarrollo de la Sociedad de la Información en España: eEspaña 2005.... From eCuaderno v.2.0 on July 9, 2005 at 4:46 a.m..

Leading Cardinal Redefines Church's View on Evolution
Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has suggested that Darwinian evolution might be incompatible with Catholic faith. From New York Times: Education on July 9, 2005 at 1:45 a.m..

Going to Singapore
Tomorrow, I'm going to Singapore for a week. I'll finish the Macquarie review when I get back. While I"m gone I'll be turning on comment moderations. I probably don't need it, but since I won't be around to monitor, it's probably better to be safe. See you all in a week. From Language, teaching, and all things EFL on July 9, 2005 at 12:51 a.m..

Radio Userland: Podcasting Powerhouse
Radio Userland: Podcasting Powerhouse. "We're working additions to Radio's RSS publishing to support Apple's "extensions" and podcasting ... This function is part of a larger initiative to create a dedicated "podcast" category in Radio, allowing new users an easier path to create RSS feeds and publish them to the web.  ... Finally, I'll be writing the definitive 'How to podcast with Radio' next week to go with these new changes." [house of warwick] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on July 9, 2005 at 12:46 a.m..

Education Secretary Backs End to Student-Loan Loophole
The loophole allows lenders to use the income from loans that receive a 9.5 percent government subsidy to make new loans that then receive the subsidy, too. From New York Times: Education on July 8, 2005 at 11:45 p.m..

Education Official Suggests Expansion of Testing
Margaret Spellings, the education secretary, suggested that the federal No Child Left Behind law could be expanded to include other subjects. From New York Times: Education on July 8, 2005 at 11:45 p.m..