Edu_Rss

University as Author?
Coverage of a case in Kansas in which the state's supreme court is to decide whether public universities can simply assert that it owns all intellectual property produced by professors, in effect treating their books, inventions and other work as 'work for hire'. Related: Distributed Learning Meets Intellectual Property Policy: Who Owns What?, covers the issues in general but not this specific case. By David Epstein, Inside Higher Education, August 8, 2005 [OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Rich Media >> Get Rich Quick
Though the term 'rich media' has been around for a while it is only recently that the push toward rich media has begun to acquire meme status. Of course 'rich media' could mean anything from a lecture streamed using Breeze to a podcast to an immersive simulation. This article covers the push to introduce rich media and outlines some of the 'stumbling points' - bandwidth, of course, but also pedagogical issues. "There's a huge difference between a technology-centered approach and a learner-centered approach... few, if any, schools actually use the technology t From OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

What Education Can Learn From Open Source
Short article summarizing a slightly longer article that outlines three major lessons education can learn from open source: the use of OS technology, the value of 'amateur' work, and the nature of 'bottom-up' knowledge and development. Best quote: "At this point, anyone proposing to run Windows on servers should be prepared to explain what they know about servers that Google, Yahoo, and Amazon don't." By Alec Couros, Couros Blog, August 7, 2005 [Refer][OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

More About Designing for the Long Tail
Michael Feldstein offers a couple of posts that reflect exactly the issue I am working with as I try to compose my talk at SAC tomorrow. "We need a system that is optimized toward slotting in new pieces as they become available, not as an after-thought or an add-on, but as a fundamental characteristic of the system." Yes, yes, but what does that mean? Feldstein explores the case of Google maps. But what are the more general principles? By Michael Feldstein, e-Literate, Aiugust 7, 2005 [ReferOLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

The Learned Man!
I was drawn here by this blog's interview with Jay Cross but stayed for the website's uniquely Indian point of view on e-learning. The Learned Man! has been publishing since May, 2004. By Unknown, August, 2005 [Refer][Research][OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Break Down the (Fire) Wall!!
I was at a government office not too long ago (the nature of which shall remain hidden) and during some of the discussions the subject of Flickr came up. Imagine my surprise to find access to the site blocked by network administrators. Leigh Blackall comments on this increasingly pervasive trend, a trend that is characterized as much by its ridiculous application as by its fundamentally undemocratic nature. I know people have strong feelings about what it is appropriate to read or view in the workplace. But to try to enforce those views through a regime of site blockage is dangerous and dictat From OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Of Course the Curriculum Will Be Free -- It Always Has Been
Discussion of Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales's contention that the curriculum must be free. Most of the article examines "the real gap that exists between what Jimmy Wales predicts and where we are currently," pointing especially to the entrenched role played by publishers. The "gap" involves the participation of instructors, better repositories, and some way to make money. I think there's a lot of internal inconsistency in this article - the assertion, for example, that a free curriculum must make money. Or even in the assumption - not really tested - that the existing curricu From OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Reference Models, BPEL and Stitching Web Services Together
Summary of a recent E-Learning Framework (ELF) developers' forum. The 'BPEL' in the title refers to "Business Process Execution Language" and is used "to orchestrate assessment rendering, sequencing and packaging web services to deliver an adaptive learning sequence." Several other projects are described; the author concludes, "through the reference model projects and the use of BPEL, the community is now unpacking the detail of each of the ELF bricks and working out how services can be stitched together to support common processes in HE and FE, including learning." By Christin From OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Aspen, Colorado
I am at the mountain resort of Snowmass, Colorado, today, attending the EDUCAUSE Seminars in Academic Computing, where I'll be talking on 'Principles of Distributed Representation' tomorrow. Yesterday I had the opportunity to take the bus to Aspen, where I spent a nice Sunday afternoon wandering around the town (leaving me a bit worn out today, I might add). Anyhow, this link is to my collection of photos, and for those of you with really good broadband, I made a (32 megabyte WMV format) OLDaily on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..

Digital Audio Player Adoption To Decline In 2006
Installed base of digital audio players will continue to increase, but new unit growth will begin to decline next year. From ClickZ Stats on August 8, 2005 at 5:45 p.m..

Wikipedia: truth has to be stable ?!
Get back to stable truth and knowledge. I'm not sure if this move isn't to much a concession to move from the margins of innovation the center of recognition. Could be a commercial argument. The wikipedia was meant to be a testbed for an encyclopedia in the first place.Wikipedia and the editorial rules: "[...] In an interview with German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung,Wales,who launched Wikipedia with From thomas n. burg | randgänge on August 8, 2005 at 4:45 p.m..

Group collaboration tool
Group collaboration tool. Profile - Chalk. In a short but interesting announcement, Chalk was introduced to the world. Chalk is a Ruby on Rails and Ajax-powered web application to collaborative manage your daily life. Quoting the introduction: Designers, programmers, writers, family, friends - anyone. We all want tools that make us more productive, especially when were working in groups. Chalk gives any [...] [TechCrunch] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 2:48 p.m..

Thinking outside the "course" box
Thinking outside the "course" box. Theories for Informal Learning Design?. Many different theories exist which try to explain how we learn. Based on those theories, we have numerous approaches to learning design. The whole field is quite connected (inbred?)...and boring. [Connectivism Blog] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 2:48 p.m..

Knowledge management basics
Knowledge management basics. Sharing Knowledge. Sharing Knowledge (.pdf) has been receiving quite a bit of attention in various knowledge management blogs. It's essentially a case study of how to create a knowledge sharing environment in smaller organizations. Most of the suggestions are basic and should be familiar to those who have been following KM developments. The document does provide a nice overview of wikis, communit From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 2:48 p.m..

Blank of blank WWII games
WWII-based PC video games: Company of Heroes Brothers in Arms Medal of Honor Hearts of Iron Call of Duty See any pattern in the titles? Nah, me neither.... From Joho the Blog on August 8, 2005 at 2:48 p.m..

3 años de eCuaderno
Cuando el 8 de agosto de 2002 publiqué esta historia sobre el Primer Congreso Online del Observatorio para la CiberSociedad, estaba lejos de anticipar hasta qué punto los weblogs se convertirían en una parte importante de mi vida profesional y... From eCuaderno v.2.0 on August 8, 2005 at 1:52 p.m..

Read the fine print: Have you given away your rights to your own intellectual property?
Read the fine print: Have you given away your rights to your own intellectual property? Distributed Learning Meets Intellectual Property Policy: Who Owns What? - Veronica Diaz, Campus Technologies. The rise of eLearning and technology in higher educationâincluding distance education, digital repositories, and electronic courseware productsâhas changed the way faculty and institutions regard ownership and control of these materials. A new market exis From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..

People learn more when they enjoy the experience
People learn more when they enjoy the experience. Please note: you must join in order to read the article ($15/yr) or pay $5 one time to read the document. An interesting study, but not earth-shaking and I'm not sure it's worth the five bucks to read the details not in the abstract. Psychological Type and Asynchronous Written Dialogue in Adult Learning - Lin Lin, Patricia Cranton & Beatrice L. Bridglall, Teachers College Record. This study explores how adu From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..

Ukulele blog and spam music
The uniquely talented Wikipedian, teacher, and singer-songer writer Oliver Brown has started a blog about ukuleles. The first thing I learned: I've been making the inverse of the "nucular" mistake, spelling "ukulele" as "ukelele." (I wish more of Oliver's music were available for download. You have to hear more than a couple to appreciate his whimsical seriousness.) [Tags: OliverBrown ukulele] Canadian superstar BradSucks has put together a CD called Outside the Inbox: Outside the Inbox is a compilation of songs inspired by and titled after the subject lines of mass-email (spam). I a From Joho the Blog on August 8, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..

Order of Magnitude Quiz: Parking Meters
According to The Boston Globe, how many times a year does the average downtown Boston parking meter require repair? You win if you get within an order of magnitude of the answer. The answer is in the first comment to this post. [Tag: OrderOfMagnitudeQuiz]... From Joho the Blog on August 8, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..

Worst (major) director in history
Thinking that we could laugh our way through the bad parts and enjoy the sweeping battle scenes, we rented Alexander last night. Omigod. We had to watch the second half of the third Lord of the Rings afterwards just to get the bad bad movie out of our brains. Try comparing the two elephant battles. Peter Jackson's LOTR's battle with the oliphaunts is a masterpiece of story-telling. Alexander's is barely coherent, making it far better than the first battle scene in Alexander which we spent asking "Are those the good guys?" and "Wait, weren't they just coming from the left?". From Joho the Blog on August 8, 2005 at 1:48 p.m..

Doing well by doing good
Doing well by doing good. Being able to customize is what the Internet is all about. If you aren't, you're missing the boat. To Internet Stores, It's All About the Personal Touch. Robert Beaver, the chief executive of Zazzle.com, said that contrary to rhetoric about how customization can kill profit margins, margins at Zazzle "are very good." By BOB TEDESCHI. [Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

Relayed from InfoWorld: Macromedia marks release of Studio 8.
Relayed from InfoWorld: Macromedia marks release of Studio 8. (InfoWorld) - Macromedia on Monday takes the wraps off Studio 8. The new suite includes enhancements to Dreamweaver and Fireworks, and now houses Contribute and FlashPaper, as well. Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

US only: Phone co. DSL gets a boost against cable
US only: Phone co. DSL gets a boost against cable. FCC: DSL, Like Cable, Now an 'Information Service'. Phone companies need not provide high-speed internet lines to competitors that provide similar services, the Federal Communications Commission ruled by a 4-0 vote on Friday, saying that digital... [MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online Marketing] From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

mLearning Introduction
mLearning Introduction. Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning. An extremely useful introduction to the subject of mobile learning technologies.  Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning (via Smartmobs): "Newer developments in mobile phone technology are also beginning to offer the potential for rich multimedia experiences and for location-specific resources. ... The challenge for educator From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

A new meme: Connectivism
A new meme: Connectivism. Staying Connected. If you're not reading the Connectivism Blog by George Siemens you should. I find his theories of learning and education as influenced by the Read/Write Web to be really interesting and in many cases profound (at least for my feeble brain.) But it's just such a mind shift when you start thinking about how these technologies are all about connections, connections to people, to ideas and to information. As a From Bill Brandon: eLearning on August 8, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

Me on marketing and PR at the FastCompany blog
I'm the subject (object?) of a 3-question interview over at the FastCompany blog. And here's a lagniappe: Brian actually uses the word "lagniappe"! [Tags: marketing FastCompany pr cluetrain]... From Joho the Blog on August 8, 2005 at 12:49 p.m..

The joy of the outdoor shower
A common feature at beach houses in New England is the outdoor shower. (It may be common at other beach houses in other places too, but I don't have experience with that.) It's supposed to keep people from getting the inside of the house all sandy after a day at the beach, make it easy for a quick rinse off of salt, etc., and probably a From megnut on August 8, 2005 at 12:45 p.m..

Instructional Technologies Summit, Fanklin, IN
So I'm on the road again, today at Franklin College in Indiana to do a four-hour workshop with IT types from colleges around the state. Unlike my last trip (shudder), this one has been going a little better...free upgrade to a convertible last night when I got here and the whole newly renovated college alumni house with a cable modem connection all to myself last night and this morning. (Believe it or not, it has a "Richardson Dining Room.") The plan is to talk about wh From weblogged News on August 8, 2005 at 11:47 a.m..

Staying Connected
If you're not reading the Connectivism Blog by George Siemens you should. I find his theories of learning and education as influenced by the Read/Write Web to be really interesting and in many cases profound (at least for my feeble brain.) But it's just such a mind shift when you start thinking about how these technologies are all about connections, connections to people, to ideas and to information. It's that last that he is writing about today: As a learner, I need a way to have a connection back to the original kno From weblogged News on August 8, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..

Piggybacking on Skype - Colin C. Haley, Internet News
A Cambridge, Mass., startup has introduced software to broaden the already considerable reach of Internet phone phenomenon Skype. iSkoot's software, which is designed to appeal to frequent international callers, allows users to connect their regular cell From Techno-News Blog on August 8, 2005 at 8:49 a.m..

Half of all Americans support a national ID card - Dibya Sarkar, FCW
Half of all Americans have a favorable view of a national identity card while an overwhelming number support adding biometric data to government-issued identity documents, according to a new Internet survey. Fifty percent said the introduction of a nation From Techno-News Blog on August 8, 2005 at 8:49 a.m..

You Say You Want a Web Revolution - Ryan Singel, Wired
The Netscape threat that led Microsoft to wage the browser war and cross swords with antitrust regulators around the world is -- at long last -- poised to become reality. Software experts say recent innovations in web design are ushering in a new era for From Techno-News Blog on August 8, 2005 at 8:49 a.m..

Mapping scientific literature
Students often ask for reading recommendations. The question of where to start is a question of what one already knows and what one is up to. There is no single path to take on. So most of the time I first try to give an overview about different types of literature. Now I found this mapping of sociology literature (via Sebasti&ampeacute;n Paquets del.icio.us links) that seems to me a very useful classification in general - a very useful addition to the topical classification you From owrede_log on August 8, 2005 at 8:47 a.m..

How to hire a product manager
Here is someone with a lot of experience in hiring product managers talking about how to hire one:So what do I look for in a PM? Most importantly, raw intellectual horsepower. I'll take a wickedly smart, inexperienced PM over one of average intellect and years of experience any day. Product management is fundamentally about thinking on your feet, staying one step ahead of your competitors, and being able to project yourself into the minds of your colleagues and your customers. This post is well worth a read. I'd like to see a similar text about designer From owrede_log on August 8, 2005 at 8:47 a.m..

GED Program Design
By Kate Walter - GED Instructors at the City University of New York (CUNY) succeed with theme-based curriculi.... From Adult/Continuing Education on August 8, 2005 at 7:46 a.m..

Listening System May Help Whales
Only 350 North Atlantic right whales still exist, and each year many of them die from ship strikes or become tangled in fishing gear. Scientists may have a way for ships to 'hear' them and avoid collisions. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

NYC: See How the Wind Blows
Scientists will release harmless gases in New York City subways and streets and track them. They hope to produce a computer model of air flow patterns that could help with evacuation plans after a bioterrorist attack. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Analyze This: Combining Data
Businesses use data-mining to detect manufacturing problems or track competitors, the government to detect links between terrorist groups. A new open-source standard will let multiple computing engines for sorting unstructured data work together. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Saving the World With Sunbeams
A U.S. chemist wants to use the sun's energy to split water into its basic components and harness that energy to produce enough power for the world's needs -- without pumping insane amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Nigerian Net Grifters Doing Fine
'Congratulations, you are our lucky winner!' Tens of thousands of e-mails originating in Nigerian internet cafes announce riches to recipients. Some fork over lots of cash, never to hear from the senders again. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Turning Bugs Into Drugs
Bacteria are so good at evading medicines, scientists are exploring ways to get them to make therapeutic substances inside your body or nudge your immune system. By Monya Baker from Wired magazine. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Koreans Find Secret Cybersauce
Social-networking service Cyworld is taking South Korea by storm. Nearly a quarter of the country's population has joined. By Jonny Evans. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin Tax
Religious groups aren't rushing to support a proposed tax on pornography, fearing that a focus on collecting fees would discourage the government from controlling production and distribution. By Randy Dotinga. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Hearing Aids for the Unimpaired
Technology may soon give us superhuman hearing, recorders that prompt names at cocktail parties and even ear devices that look fashionable. Robert Andrews reports from London. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Amazon Eyes DVD Rentals
Information on Amazon.com indicates the retailer might be preparing to enter the U.S. online DVD rental game, taking on Netflix and Blockbuster. By Holly J. Wagner. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

Riding With the Urban Mappers
Amazon.com's A9.com search engine hopes to set itself apart from the competition one block at a time. But getting ground-level photos of every small business in America is a complex task. By Jeff MacIntyre. From Wired News on August 8, 2005 at 6:45 a.m..

the biases of links (danah boyd)
I have a hard time respecting anyone who believes that science or technology is neutral. Unfortunately, even when people consciously know that they are not, they give credence to the biased outputs without questioning the underlying assumptions. This is why... From Corante: Social Software on August 8, 2005 at 2:49 a.m..

In New York's Smaller Schools, 'Good Year and a Tough Year'
Principals, parents, students, teachers and education officials said students in 53 new small high schools were better off this year. From New York Times: Education on August 8, 2005 at 2:45 a.m..

Knowledge Sharing Toolkit
David Bartholomew has released a Knowledge Sharing Toolkit, which includes a 49 page how-to manual and a number of case studies. To quote: The 'Knowledge Sharing Toolkit' is the result of a two-year DTI-funded project carried out by innovation consultancy... From Column Two on August 8, 2005 at 1:45 a.m..

Balancing fidelity in prototyping
Henrik Olsen has written an article on balancing fidelity in prototyping. To quote: Deceived by their ideas of what clients will accept, many web development teams build prototypes that are too costly and doesn't serve the purpose prototypes are supposed... From Column Two on August 8, 2005 at 1:45 a.m..

Improving Intranet Search (Sydney, August 31)
Just a quick reminder that it's only about 3 weeks until the free afternoon session on Improving Intranet Search, being held in Sydney on 31 August 2005. We've had over 65 registrations so far, and expect to meet (or exceed)... From Column Two on August 8, 2005 at 1:45 a.m..