Edu_RSS
Die LMS die! You too PLE! , Teach and Learn Online
Some interesting reaction to the advocacy of the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) that has been floating around recently. "The VLE, LMS and PLE are the same. A suggestion that the Internet, and informal networked learning are not enough. That people still need to come to school to learn. That people need to distinguish learning from life, that people need to download and install an application that will solve their learning needs." I am sympathetic to this view, and wonder whether we would need a PLE at all if we had a more generic application (we don't, yet) that performed the same fu From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Gizmo
Gizmo is an online telephone service, like Skype, but which supports open protocols. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm about to, so if you have a Gizmo ID please let me know so I'll have someone to call. [ From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
eLearning Summit
Trey Martindale offers some notes on the recently concluded eLearning Summit ( From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Technology as Epistemology , Academic Commons
Good article challenging traditional conceptions (in a way I support) of truth and knowledge. "Not only do our students posses skills and experiences that previous generations do not, but the very neurological structures and pathways they have developed as part of their learning are based on the technologies they use to create, store, and disseminate information. Importantly, these pathways and the categories, taxonomies, and other tools they use for thinking are different than those used by their teachers." More good content from From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Oxford University Opt for a Library System Based on Open Source , EDUCAUSE Blogs
Stuart Yeates reports, with links, "Oxford University libraries have announced that their new Library Management System (LMS) will be from VTLS. The VTLS product range incorporates open source components such as FEDORA digital object repository and the Mckoi or MySQL databases. So what are is Oxford paying for, if the software is based on free and open source software? Training, integration, installation, customisation, maintenance and so forth, and none of these are trivial, especially when you consider that Oxford University has 80 libraries, including the Bodleian copyright repository libra From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days: Tips and Tricks from 4 Grad Students Who Made Over 50 Games in 1 Semester , Gamasutra
This is a fun article, and not simply because of the goofy games described in passing. It offers some good insights into things like game design, such as: "You only need a few days. It seems like a natural and comforting thing to say, 'Hey we made a great game in one week. Therefore, if we spend TWO weeks, it will be TWICE as good!' Of course this isn't the case. We found that generally any gameplay idea can be prototyped effectively in less than one week. Extra slop time tends to yield diminishing returns." Via Peter Rawsthorne, who also sent along From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
New Digitisation Report Calls for Cross-sectoral E-content Strategy
Press release announcing a new report issued jointly by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and the Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles (CURL). As the title suggests, the report calls for greater standardization and coordination of digitization efforts in britain, tied to research into user needs. The reasoning behind this call emerges about half way through the report: "the introduction of such a system would keep track of resources, aid discovery and prevent duplication... significant gaps in provision remain in many disciplines... (and) it will never be possib From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
The Open Learner
New blog by Joseph Hart. Well, in all honesty, he sent me an email about it about a month ago, but it lay buried in a stack of items requiring action. Over the last couple days I have burrowed through about 500 emails (90 to go) and this means that some people did not get responses - I feel badly about that, because I appreciate the time people take to write to me, and you should know that I have read the email even if I didn't answer. Anyhow, I did enjoy The Open Learner and have added it to the aggregator. It's worth noting that this is the first Bloglines blog I have aggregated - From
OLDaily on November 25, 2005 at 6:45 p.m..
Biometric USBs
In some ways this seems like a bit of a kludge, but
I'm interested to hear if anyone is seriously investigating using biometric USBs on their campus as a combined way of providing authentication to network resources, secure data storage for personal files, and customized 'thicker' clients for end users. Given how low some of these prices are getting (see
here, and
here and
EdTechPost on November 25, 2005 at 5:49 p.m..
Why I'm taking my Thinkpad, not my Powerbook, with me on the road
I'm enjoying my new Powerbook G4. Really. I'm not finding it magical or worthy of religious veneration, but it's been running continuously since I got it, it feels good, and I'm not done discovering all its nice touches. Nevertheless, when I go to Europe next week, I'm taking my Thinkpad X40 with me instead of the PB (assuming my ThinkPad is back from the shop — ulp). I'm sorry to do it, which is an indication of the bond I'm forming with my Mac, but when you put it all in the balance, the TP wins — given my idiosyncratic... From
Joho the Blog on November 25, 2005 at 4:46 p.m..
Clipmarks - Bookmarking smaller pieces
Clipmarks are like delicious bookmarks except: 1. You can bookmark portions of pages; 2. The clipmarked content is kept on the Clipmark servers. 3. It requires you to download a toolbar. Like del.icio.us, it's free. Unlike del.icio.us, the tags default to private. Looks quite cool — it automatically selects units of the page — and possibly quite useful. It works with Firefox (Windows, Mac, Linux)and Internet Explorer (Windows). Here's the blog of the founder, Eric Goldstein. He's got an adorable baby, so clearly Clipmarks contains no spyware :) [Tags: clipmarks taggi From
Joho the Blog on November 25, 2005 at 4:46 p.m..
Seconds out, round two
"The explosion of new web services - such as 'blogs' and 'wikis' - has led many to believe that the internet is now entering a second phase. It's finally beginning to resemble a truly interactive learning tool," says Stephen O'Hear From
ScotFEICT on November 25, 2005 at 1:46 p.m..
Get Back in the Box
Thought Virus #4: Follow the Fun
Here's another thought bomb from the upcoming book: work should be fun. And the more fun it is - the more truly and rewardly and deeply fun - the more good it will do for the world, and the more prosperity it will bring the player. I mean worker. Don't follow the money; follow the fun!In a renaissance society driven by the need to forge connections, play is the ultimate system for social currency. It's a way to try on new roles without committing to them for life. It's a way to test strategies of engagement without being defined by them forever. It From
rushkoff.blog on November 25, 2005 at 10:45 a.m..
Slow reading and knowing questions
12/34. 12 hours by train in 34 hours – some sleep, first gluntwine this year and lots of talking in between :) Somewhere between Frankfurt am Main and Köln I detach myself from the book I’m reading and look around. Upper shelves are packed with black cabin-size suitcases; seats under then are packed with dark suited businessman. They look strange – not reading, not sleeping, not clicking around through emails – just sitting and staring into nowhere. I wonder if they are jetlagged or just spend the day negotiating big deals… I go back to my book. It’ From
Mathemagenic on November 25, 2005 at 9:48 a.m..
In Russia 23 Nov - 8 Dec
I'm hardly blogging anyway, but just in case: I'm travelling to Russia 23 Nov - 8 Dec. In Moscow most of the time, in St. Peterburg on 25 Nov, in Ekaterinburg on 4-6 Dec. If you are there and want to meet -
let me know. From
Mathemagenic on November 25, 2005 at 9:48 a.m..
WiFi in St.Petersburg - Cafe Soiree
What could be better when you get off the train from Moscow in the morning? 10 min walk, fresh orange juice, free wifi, pancakes and all the time you want... Unfortunately couldn't find any website or info in English. The address is Zhukovskogo, 28; phone +7 (812) 272-35-12. You can check
plazes or maps:
in English - crossing of ul.Zhukovskogo and ul.Vosstaniya in the lower right corner
Mathemagenic on November 25, 2005 at 9:48 a.m..
E. Coli Can Take Your Picture
Scientists announce they have genetically manipulated E. coli bacteria to make photographic images by splicing light-sensitive genes from algae to the bacteria. The technique won't put Kodak out of business anytime soon. From
Wired News on November 25, 2005 at 8:45 a.m..
Space Pioneers' DIY Thanksgiving
If Mars travel becomes a reality in a few decades, the hardy souls that go will have to grow their Thanksgiving dinner on the way there -- no room for the insta-food the astronauts enjoy now. From
Wired News on November 25, 2005 at 8:45 a.m..
La forma del post
Acabo de descubrir Bocaditos de Diego Agúndez: Un bocadito son 12 lÃneas de texto. 30 segundos. Sorbos de realidad a la distancia de un vistazo, y me ha recordado otros buenos proyectos en los que el autor del blog se impone condiciones formales. Destaco en especial el desaparecido Sonrisa de ... From
eCuaderno v.2.0 on November 25, 2005 at 7:47 a.m..
iTunes 'outsells' US music stores - BBC
It is predicted that downloading music will continue to increase. Download retailer iTunes now sells more music in the US than some of the country's biggest traditional retailers, according to analysts. The Apple-owned computer store made the top 10 US From
Techno-News Blog on November 25, 2005 at 1:47 a.m..