Edu_RSS
RSS Feeds College Students' Diet For Research
Learning technology that was almost unthinkable just a few years ago is now everyday news in USA Today, as this story describing the use of RSS by students to keep up on their research illustrates. Links to a couple of related services that may be new to readers,
Pluck and
OnFolio. Via
University Business. By Anh Ly, USA Today, August 1, 2005 [
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Licenses, Features and the Open Source Community in Higher Education
Good presentation emphasizing not only the size of the e-learning market (about 30 billion USD (+/- 30%)) and the importance of open source in serving that market. The author emphasizes several times that open standards, rather than open source, will be key to accessing that market. Some good discussion near the end of the presentation describing open source business models. Via
Scott Leslie, who also provides a link to the rest of the presentations from the
Building Open Sourc From OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
edublogs
James Farmer's edublogs service - free weblog hosting for educational weblogs - has taken off, with (as of this writing) 92 edublogs listed... when Farmer wrote about it
earlier today there were 61. By James Farmer, July, 2005 [
Refer][
Research][
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Bill Gates Looks Ahead, Defends Software Security
The Chronicle's interview with Bill Gates is now on available on the free section of the site (it was behind the subscription barrier yesterday). For all that, it's a pretty tepid interview. Gates's view of e-learning seems to be students in class holding tablet computers. Three questions on security (oh yes, everything is fine) were followed by one on open source. According to Gates: "the technical-research things we (Microsoft) do with universities are done where the source code is open, shared collaboratively, and worked on." One wonders how true that statement is. By Andrea From
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
The Internet at School
The latest Pew study is all over the internet. The main news is that "Teen use of the internet at school has grown 45% since 2000" and that they are more likely to use instant messaging than email. Though the telephone survey is of American teens only, it is usually repeated (for example
here) without that qualification. One suspects it also favours broadband users (as the modem users will give the surveyers nothing but a busy signal) and therefore instant messaging users (as instant messaging works much better with always-on access). PD From
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Digital Pioneers?
I like Konrad Glogowski's idea that there may be 'digital pioneers' between 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants'. And this seems to be right as well: "The 'digital natives' do indeed find the acoustic world, that world of 'oral listening,' more natural but this does not mean that they do not need to be introduced into that world, that they do not need a facilitator who will help them master their voice, online or off." Well, except for the 'accoustic' and 'listening' part - I think that's just the wrong analo From
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
The Hidden Power of Who Matters
Jay Cross runs through some familiar ground, applying social network analysis to an understanding of workflow. But worth noting is the discussion of the sort of communications that occur in a workplace network - some people are 'energizers' while others are 'toxic workers'. We need more than mere network analysis, the syntax of networks - we need an understanding of network semantics, the meaning transported through, and created by, social networks. By Jay Cross, Internet Time, August 2, 2005 [
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Mobile Blogs, Personal Reflections and Learning Environments
The latest issue of
Ariadne is now available, with most articles in this issue focusing on accessibility. In this article, the author argues that "that blogs are generally very useful support for personal reflections and that this can be further enhanced by the mobility of PDAs. These and other blogs can be read into VLEs using syndicated newsfeeds, for which a new Bodington tool offers considerable flexibly." I think the idea of reading student content into an LMS is an important one, especially when that content is produced in any of doz From
OLDaily on August 2, 2005 at 9:45 p.m..
Categorizing the planets
Example of the conventionality of scientific classifications: We can't even agree on what counts as a planet. According to an editorial in today's NY Times, Michael Brown, a Caltech astronomer, declined to call the object he found last year a planet and suggested that neither is Pluto. Now he's found something bigger than Pluto and suggests that we call it and Pluto planets. According to The Times: "There was still no good scientific rationale for the judgment, he admitted, but this was a case where habit — 75 years of calling Pluto a planet—should trump any scientif From
Joho the Blog on August 2, 2005 at 7:48 p.m..
Learning to Compete in a Knowledge Economy
Einen komprimierten Überblick über die "global competition in a knowledge economy" bietet dieser Report des SHRM Research Departments. Die Stichworte sind: "Global Competition", "Managing Knowledge Workers" und "Knowledge Work and Productivity". Die Lektüre lohnt sich allein deswegen, weil SHRM... From
www.weiterbildungsblog.de on August 2, 2005 at 6:51 p.m..
Portland Informal gathering about education and open source
Clarity Innovations, the folks who provide my school with technology support, are sponsoring a get together for folks interested in Open Source software and education.... The event will be held this Thursday, August 4, 2005 at 5:00 pm at Old Town Pizza which is located in NW Portland, not far from the MAX lightrail train line... From
Education/Technology - Tim Lauer on August 2, 2005 at 6:49 p.m..
The Complete Jailhouse Diaries
For the past two weeks I have been cataloguing my experiences in jail on K5. Though all of these posts can be found in the Diary section, I have decided to collect them all into one story along with the newly written conclusion. Those who have been following these entries from the start should probably just skip down to the end. If you want to learn why I got thrown into jail, you should probably check out some the entries on my previous, anonymized ID. These diaries are a cautionary tale, and I hope that my experience encourages all of you to do what you can to stay out of jail. From
kuro5hin.org on August 2, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Blog software comparison chart
For those trying to decide which blog software to use, here is a blog software comparison chart and article about choosing blog software, from the Annenberg Online Journalism Review. I’ve found Wordpress to be fairly easy to use (if you’re a bit tech-ish), well supported, and flexible. And of course the price is right ($0.00). [...] From
Martindale Matrix on August 2, 2005 at 5:50 p.m..
Tags vs. Trusted Sources
There has been a post brewing in my brain for quite a while now about tags and tagging and tapping into the social power of folksonomies. Like podcasting, the whole tagging thing is not something I've been able to fully embrace, partially because it just leads me to that information overload part of my brain. I've tried adding Technorati tags here, but, obviously, it hasn't caught on. Aside from the occasional
conference tag, I've never felt like what I've subscribed to tag-wise at
T From weblogged News on August 2, 2005 at 5:47 p.m..
The Internet at School
A new
Pew Internet and American Life report says 68% of all teenagers have used the Internet at school. While that's a 45% growth in the last four years, that still puts my school so far detached from reality that it's not even funny. It's 100% here, no doubt. Another reminder of my fortunate circumstances that I know I forget to appreciate more than I should. Other findings: 87% of all youth 12-17 use the Internet. 32% of teens do not use the Internet despite 99% of schools having access. < From
weblogged News on August 2, 2005 at 2:47 p.m..
New O'Reilly Publication - Using Moodle
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/moodle/ As if more proof was needed that Moodle has "
crossed the chasm," along comes this new publication from O'Reilly written by Jason Cole. The majority of the content you could likely glean yourself from Moodle's various online communities, help docs and demo courses, but if for instance you have an administration that remains skeptical about the widespread nature of Moodle adoption, maybe this might help convince them. - From
EdTechPost on August 2, 2005 at 1:50 p.m..
What's wrong with this photo?
The NY Times today runs this photo of Mitt Romney, our GQ-perfect governor, in his office. Can you spot what's wrong with it: As I believe a letter in the Boston Globe pointed out, the framed photos of his lovely family are all facing out from the desk, perfect for photos opps but leaving Mitt staring lovingly at the backs of the frames. A fitting picture of Mitt as just yet another political phony... [Technorati tags: MittRomney]... From
Joho the Blog on August 2, 2005 at 12:48 p.m..
Who's Using RSS
Marketers are interested in RSS, but few North American adults currently use it. From
ClickZ Stats on August 2, 2005 at 12:45 p.m..
Colonoscopy Report
I hope this article should help people over the age of 50 to make the wise decision to obtain a colonoscopy test. Early detection of colon cancer is a "good idea". From
kuro5hin.org on August 2, 2005 at 11:45 a.m..
Muni wifi and competition
The city of Denver plans on building a 52-square-mile wifi network even though the state of Colorado has passed a law ( SB 152) making it illegal for municipalities to offer telecommunications services. (Pennsylvania passed a similar law after Philadelphia announced its plans to provide muni-wifi, but the bill exempts cities that began within a particular, short deadline.) It seems that Denver will use the network for its own city services, at least initially cutting off public access to it because the Denver legislature is owned by Qwest. During the Howard Dean campaign, some on the informal From
Joho the Blog on August 2, 2005 at 10:46 a.m..
Paul English's anti-spam proposal
My friend Paul English, has a proposal for reducing spam that he summarizes thusly: Summary: The major email service providers have been working on "sender identification" systems to stop spammers from hiding behind other email addresses. This document attempts to outline how these sender identification systems should be rolled out so they can be effectively used by non-technical consumers and small email service providers. This is one of the many sorts of things of which I don't trust my understanding, but I do know that Paul is exceedingly smart and good-hearted. Also, he says his propo From
Joho the Blog on August 2, 2005 at 10:46 a.m..
Social Bookmarking for Educators
In keeping with the "Read/Write Web Software for Educators" meme, seems Todd Slater is developing
scuttlEDU. ScuttlEDU is different in that it is designed to make tagging easier for educators. When you register for the service, you are asked to provide your grade level and subject area. When you add a bookmark, these two pieces of information become tags. You have the option of not using these tags as well. He's looking for test drivers, and I just volunteered. Another step toward s From
weblogged News on August 2, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
Feds look to hire at Defcon - Joris Evers, CNET News Blog
Jim Christy, director of the U.S. Department of Defense's Cyber Crime Center, has been to eight Defcon events. One reason he attends the hacker event every year is to find talent. "I'm hiring 21 people in the next month," Christy said. The cybercrime cent From
Techno-News Blog on August 2, 2005 at 8:47 a.m..
Big storage on the cheap - Michael Kanellos, CNET News
Enthusiasts learned to build their own PCs decades ago. Now you can assemble a storage system in your living room that could make the Pentagon jealous. San Francisco-based Capricorn Technologies has crafted, and released under an open-source license, blu From
Techno-News Blog on August 2, 2005 at 8:47 a.m..
A Blog a Second
Dave Sifry over at Technorati is doing some numbers crunching this week, and the latest update notes that 80,000 blogs are being created each day. That's one a second. Every 5.5 months, the blogosphere doubles, meaning that right now they are tracking somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 million blogs. By 2006, it should be over 20 million. Most interesting to me is that 13% of blogs are updated at least weekly, which means there are somewhere around 1.5 million of us writing publicly on a regular basis. If the trends continue, From
weblogged News on August 2, 2005 at 7:45 a.m..
Hacking the A-List (Ross Mayfield)
Following Liz's read of BlogHer, one of the more interesting points to come out of the conference is the need for constituent algorithms -- ways of revealing hidden groups. For the BlogHer community, the Technorati 100 was more than... From
Corante: Social Software on August 2, 2005 at 4:46 a.m..
How NOT to use blogs in education
Vorneweg: Es gibt auch das Gegenstück ("How you SHOULD use blogs in education"). Aber in diesem Artikel mit vier knappen Ratschlägen findet sich einer, der eine längere Diskussion provozierte: "Group blogs are a bad idea and don't work: Sure there's... From
www.weiterbildungsblog.de on August 2, 2005 at 2:51 a.m..
blogher from afar (Liz Lawley)
I was very disappointed not to be attending BlogHer, but I’m delighted to see the level of discourse that it has been generating online. That’s an excellent sign of a good conference, and was one of the stated goals of... From
Corante: Social Software on August 2, 2005 at 2:49 a.m..
Breaking into the blogging scene
Nice comprehensive article by Stephen Downes on the how (and why) of publishing your own blog. Lots of details and suggestions on how to build an audience. The last line says basically if it isn’t fun, don’t do it. Life’s too short. This article is particularly applicable if your goal is to be a “national voice” [...] From
Martindale Matrix on August 2, 2005 at 12:46 a.m..
Untitled
WebEx hangs in there.
WebEx to buy Intranets.com for $45 million. (
InfoWorld) - NEW YORK - WebEx Communications Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy collaboration software developer Intranets.com Inc. for $45 million in cash. The deal allows WebEx to take out a rival that had aggressively chased the smaller end of WebEx's core market, Web conferencing services. From
Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 2, 2005 at 12:45 a.m..