OLDaily By Stephen Downes June 18, 2002 802.11b Homebrew Antenna Shootout More on kitchen counter wireless networking, courtesy of Bill St. Arnauld (who was told today that Pringles cans are so last year). This article compares the relative effectiveness of several home built solutions. A couple are criticized for being "only" as good as a Lucent commercial range extender. Turns out that it's really hard to beat a Nalley 40oz. "Big Chunk" beef stew can Waveguide. By Gregory Rehm, Homebrew, February 14, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] The Online Disinhibition Effect Disinhibition is one of the more frequently mentioned effects of online learning. It is sometimes described as the increased liklihood that a shy student will speak up, for example, or that students will be more forthright. This quick little article describes the disinhibition effect in terms of a half dozen sub-classes: anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociation and neutralizing of status. Good read. Written last year but just revised. By John Suler, Psychology of Cyberspace, June, 2001 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Cyber Schools Legal, Pa. Court Rules A Pennsylvania court has ruled that online charter schols are legal. "The charter school law authorizes the creation of any charter school, as long as the entity complies with the requirements for a charter school set forth in the statute," the judges said in a 26-page decision. "Based on our reading of the statute, we see no reason why a cyber school cannot meet the statutory requirements." The decision has been appealed. By Martha Woodall, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 18, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] The New Frontier of Learning Object Design There's nothing really new in this article about learning objects (though this is the first time I've seen the learning objectives snowflake diagram), but it's a pretty good overview of learning objects. This link is directly to the PDF; maybe it will demand that you register at the ELearning Guild, maybe it won't. By Ellen D. Wagner, ELearning Developer's Journal, June 18, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Infrastructure: The Things We Take for Granted Interesting definition of 'infrastructure' as that which you can "take for granted" and would be more surprised by its absence than its presence. Obviously a culturally sensitive definition. The advantage of definition, writes the author, is that "you can perform an increasing number of things without having to think about how you do them." By Espen Andersen, Ubiquity, June, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] FranklinCovey and EDS Launch The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Online Edition I'm not sure what to say about this item but I want to pass it on. Some things of note: one is the prediction in this press release that the e-learning market will reach $23 billion by 2004 (IDC, from a widely cited study). Another is the report that the FranklinCovery course has attained the "prestigious" ASTD certification. And finally, for those few of you who haven't read the book, the course: priced between $425 and $895. Let me give you the $1.95 version of the course: take initiative and responsibility, set team goals, focus on key priorities, build effective collaborative relationships, communicate effectively, leverage diversity and achieve continuous improvement. By Press Release, Yahoo Finance, June 18, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Know a friend who might enjoy this newsletter? Feel free to forward OLDaily to your colleagues. If you received this issue from a friend and would like a free subscription of your own, you can join our mailing list at http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/website/subscribe.cgi [ About This NewsLetter] [ OLDaily Archives] [ Send me your comments]