OLDaily By Stephen Downes July 25, 2002 Discussion: Are You Blogging Yet? OK, just to allay any fears: I have no intention of stopping publication of OLDaily. I get even more out of it than the readers. So don't worry. For those of you who wondered why I would even ask the question: I was prompted a little bit by the article and started wondering what it would be like if professors began writing blogs instead of papers. Then I thought about my own unfinished work (and some very patient people who are expecting papers from me (who I think about every day)). I have a lot of trouble with long and linear - none of this stuff is linear and the traditional essay format makes it very difficult to convey interwoven themes and ideas the way I can in this newsletter. It has occurred to me that the set of newsletters taken together would make a fascinating read - but a terrible book. By Various Authors, Stephen's Web, July 25, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Kanari : le premier «napster» de l’éducation Their claim to be the "first Napster of education" is a bit exaggerated (perhaps they've never heard of POOL), but this is nonetheless an ambitious and innovative project allowing educators and their students to work in a peer-to-peer collaborative environment. In French. By Denys Lamontagne, Thot, July 5, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] O'Reilly: Microsoft .Net Comes to Apache for a Price Covalent Technologies has announced a set of software tools that allows developers to write Microsoft .Net services for the Apache server. Previously.Net would only run on Microsoft's IIS. By Matt Berger, InfoWorld, July 25, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] TCPA / Palladium Frequently Asked Questions From the site: "TCPA stands for the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance, an initiative led by Intel. Their stated goal is 'a new computing platform for the next century that will provide for improved trust in the PC platform.' Palladium is software that Microsoft says it plans to incorporate in future versions of Windows; it will build on the TCPA hardware." This is an exceptionally useful FAQ that gives a straight and honest assessment that looks at both the advantages and risks of the proposed technology. I am tempted to comment that while Real Networks is creating software that will run all existing media formats, Microsoft is created software that won't run any. By Ross Anderson, July 9, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Web Services Enabling Technology for Application Integration and Assembly Strong white paper from the Higher Education Knowledge and Technology Exchange (HEKATE) project that "attempts to broadly define the primary issues and visions for the future of higher education that surround Web Services." Short and clearly written, the article defines the HEKATE mandate to create a common basis for educational web services and outlines a plan web services enabled content repositories. "The issue of how this relatively new technology can save higher education dollars is perhaps what computer technologists need to emphasize much more forcefully, over and above all the great technological potential of Web Services." By George Lorenzo, HEKATE, July 25, 2002 6:03 p.m. [Refer][Research][Reflect] Technical and Vocational Education and Training for the Twenty-first Century This is a sweeping and ambitious document, and which I can (and will) quibble with the details, I am in general support of its overall ambitions and direction. No nation should form a vocational education strategy without consulting this document. This is a revised version of an earlier document. A flavour: "The challenges facing technical and vocational education in the twenty-first century demand learner-centred innovative and flexible approaches including a reoriented curriculum to take account of new subjects and issues such as technology, the environment, foreign languages and cultures, entrepreneurship and the requirements of rapidly growing service industries. Theory and practice should form an integrated whole and be presented in a manner that motivates the learners. Experience in the laboratory, workshop and/or enterprises should be linked to mathematical and scientific foundations, and conversely, technical theory, as well as the mathematics and science underlying it, should be illustrated through their practical applications." By Sir John Daniel, UNESCO and ILO, June, 2002 [Refer][Research][Reflect] Vocabulary of E-Commerce Listing of English and French terms in the field of e-commerce published by the government of Canada. This is a comprehensive reference and will be essential for government employees and useful in bilingual environments around the world. By Various Authors, Government of Canada, December 31, 200-31 8:33 p.m. [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]