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Aug 2, 2001
Courses for Profit
Quotes from and essentially follows some recent articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education cautioning against the commercialization of learning in an online environment. The proposed solutions are not surprising: focus on synchronous learning, pay royalties to faculty, pay market rates to faculty, employ tenured faculty in e-learning, and recognize e-learning for tenure. What the article does not answer is the question, "Why would administrators do this?" Because it's not obvious that universities exist to serve the needs of the professors, and it may be that better, cheaper education is possible by ignoring the needs of professors. The debate continues, but not in this article. By Randy Accetta, E-Learning Magazine, August 1, 2001.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
[Refer] How to Teach Online
Another one of those handy guides for people about to enter the world of teaching online. Reasonably good, but takes an 'online as just another classroom' approach. By By Judith M. Smith, E-Learning Magazine, August 1, 2001.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
[Refer] Trolling for Dollars
It looks like I'm not the only one fed up with abuses of copyright and patent protection. Law.Com weighs in with a series of articles examining how a multi-million dollar shadow industry has developed as lawyers use the mere threat of lawsuits to claim their royalties. Sorry about the super-long URL... Various authors, Law.Com, July 31, 2001.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
[Refer] Government Departments Embrace Learning Alternatives
The United States government is adopting e-learning in a big way as it looks at alternative for employee training. By Michael Welber, E-learning magazine, August 1, 2001.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
[Refer] Adobe and Leading Education Publishers Team...
Today's press release from Adobe was essentially a nothing item: it plans to have a line of e-books ready for the fall. We knew that. What the press release really signals is that Adobe is firmly on the side of publishers in their efforts to make people pay for online versions of texts and other books. Here's the plan: students will be able to download the Reader for free and then buy their e-textbooks directly from publishers' Web sites, campus bookstores, online book sellers, and Adobe.com.Will they save any money? probably not.Adobe Press Release, August 2, 2001.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
[Refer] Coding
Subtitled: The art of Computer Programming as seen by other people with experience. I think one of the big differences between me and other people who design online learning is that I view an online course or module as a computer program, not a document. That's why I recommend that anyone who designs online courses read this article. Forget the bad grammar, spelling and page layout: this article documents the essentials of good software design. Which, translated, means the essentials of good online learning design.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
[Refer] Senator Targets School Hackers
A proposed U.S. law to protect school computer systems and websites from hackers is being criticized for being too broad. "If I send an e-mail to my student's teacher and I didn't have her permission, I violate the act." By By Declan McCullagh, Wired News, August 1, 2001.
Submitted on Aug 2, 2001
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