Symbiosis Grows for Small Businesses, Marketplaces The concept is taken from online insurance sales but applies equally to online learning. The idea is that an online marketplace can allow distribution of, in this case, insurance, through a wide variety of distribution channels. The same holds true for the distribution of, say, learning objects. The technology and design of a learning object marketplace is essentially the same as described in this article. Do follow the 'Related Research' link at the bottom of the page as well. By Molly Upton, EBusiness Trends (IDC), September 6, 2001.[Refer]

A Tale of Two Classrooms Interesting perspective about online learning from outside the profession. Note the benefit he perceives: the ability to take education 'on the road' and the ability to instrantly retrieve educational materials as the circumstance warrants. Also note the problems he perceives: problems related not only to accessibility but also to how the technology will be used. I think this article is an insightful look at what will be a growing public perception of online learning. By Robert Scoble, Scobleizer, September 4, 2001.[Refer]

Dreaming Wildly A response to Scobleizer (see above) taking him to task for his 'other-worldly' view of teachers. It's not so much that teachers are holding back the introduction of technology in the classroom, writes the author, it's that they're held back. "If teachers had true power... the mudflinging would change from 'Why aren't our teachers teaching and why aren't our children learning,' to 'How can we as parents, citizens, legislators, higher ed, and industry keep up with and support the amazing things happening in our schools?'" By Chris Ashley, Edu&Tech, September 5, 2001.[Refer]

That Darn Content You may not like it, but: "deliver everything on the Web in small pieces. We have the attention span of hyper kindergarten kids when we surf the Web ... a plain old fact of life that designers must acknowledge and accept." Good article on how to present content on the web. By Wendy Peck, WebReference, September 6, 2001.[Refer]

Most Learning Objects Aren't Article that seeks to promote a narrow definition of learning objects, pegging the granularity at between one and ten web pages and requiring that learning objects be completely self contained andmust have a clearly instructional function. I don't think that the definition of learning objects needs to be so narrow: learning objects should allow sequencing and pre-requisites, for example. Still, a good read. By Dan Daniel, NYU Online, 2001.[Refer]

A Valuable Technology Tool for Student Teachers Palm Pilots and similar handhelds can help a teacher in training (or for that matter, any teacher at all) in a multitude of ways - teachers can electronically jot down their observations about individual students as they walk around a classroom, input grades, coordinate schedules with colleagues, read papers on the run, share lesson plans and more. Good article, part of a comprehensive set of teacher preparation resources just released by the George Lucas Educational Foundation. By Anna C. McFadden, Barrie Jo Price, and George E. Marsh II, George Lucas Educational Foundation, September 4, 2001.[Refer]

Issues of Education and Roles of Teachers in the Future A statement of some perceived problems in Japan's educational system and a discussion of how teachers' roles are changing in the light of these problems and Japan's new educational policy. Readers of OLDaily will note some familiar themes: the idea that teachers are engaging students, acting in a role similar to "TV producers" or as knowledge management experts seeking to develop both explicit and tacit knowledge. By Reiji Takashina, Child Research Net, August, 2001.[Refer]

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