By Stephen Downes
September 3, 2003
About Stephen's Web
I have
revised, updated and greatly expanded the 'About' page for
my website, making clear its design goals, technology,
organization, features, and (some not so humble statements
about) impact. It's about as exciting as an 'About' page
can get, which is to say, not very. By Stephen Downes,
Stephen's Web, September 3, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Changing Places: Instructional Designers
Become Online Classroom Participants
A few weeks
ago I ran a listing for this site describing instructional
designers' experiences as online students during a series
of presentations. I reported that the series was hosted by
e-Learning Guru, however, it was actually hosted by the
eLearning Guild. My apologies to the eLearning Guild for
the error and any inconvenience it may have caused. In
addition, "your readers may want to know that we plan on
keeping this article in the open access area of The
eLearning Developers’ Journal archives." Très cool. By
Ariana B. Bianchi, Ann M. Busby, john DeCore, Susan Horsey,
Kathleen M. Hueser, Kimberly Hill, and Valerie LeBlanc, The
eLearning Developers' Journal, August 4, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Sidebars
I haven't had time to
read the articles in detail, but via Slashdot today came
this link to Sidebars, a wonderful publication out of BCIT.
I love the 'outside-in' and 'inside-out' theme for the
articles. I had a quick look at a few of the articles and
found them to be crisp, well written and informative. Have
a look. (Note: because the site is being 'Slashdotted' it
is unavailable as I write, but it was working fine this
morning and will no doubt be accessible as you read this.)
By Various Authors, BCIT, September 2, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Science of Learning Centers
(SLC)
This has been out for a while but I only
heard of it today (happily, there's still two weeks before
the deadline for funding). The U.S. national Science
Foundation (NSF) is setting up a network of "Centers that
will extend the frontiers of knowledge on learning and
create the intellectual, organizational, and physical
infrastructure needed for the long-term advancement of
learning research." By Unknown, National Science
Foundation, May 27, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Colleges Making Dent in Campus
P2P
It seems to me that there is something
fundamentally wrong with the joining of a campaign of
lawsuits and criminal charges with a marketing campaign
directed towward an essentially captive audience. But
that's what's happening on campuses today. By John Borland,
CNet News.com, September 2, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
MIT's OpenCourseWare Initiative - I Just
Don't Get It
Kevin Kruse asks the question
that's been on many people's minds: "I just don't see
what's so great about MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative."
After all, he writes, "I'm just not sure how MIT is
different than a lot of other schools who's professors
already put all this stuff up on the web for their
students." But as I commented in the discussion of this
item at the Learning Circuits Blog, "From where I
sit, the strategy is very clear. The OCW site is the most
convincing demonstration you could have that, as MIT
representatives say, you have to go to MIT to get an MIT
education. Is MIT holding back, keeping the site short of
what it could be? Probably. Is is a good marketing
strategy? Yup." P.S., while trying to find the link for
this particular blog entry (which, by the way, I never
found) I stumbled on the best error graphic ever. By Kevin Kruse,
E-Learning Guru, August 29, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Blackboard Expands Reach in Deal to Set Up
Chinese Colleges With Its Software
It was a
banner day for Blackboard yesterday as the company reached
a deal to provide software for the Chinese public-private
education company Cernet, which in turn provides software
for more than 1,000 universities in the People's Republic.
The deal was announced in a press
release Tuesday. By Brian Knowlton, New York Times,
September 3, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
The Current Status and Potential Development
of Online News Consumption
Interesting article
that describes the rise and potential ascendence of online
news. The most interesting bit is here: "It is in the
workplace where the Internet as a news medium truly
overwhelms its competitors. The Web’s strengths of 24-hour
availability, immediacy and updates are most needed at
work, where other media with comparative capacities for
immediate updates like television (today’s most important
source of news) and radio are generally not available." Now
if you view the news to be a type of learning, as I do,
then this statement should have a special resonance to you.
By An Nguyen, First Monday, September 2, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Hack Attack Winners: Makers of Anti-virus,
Worm Software
A series of hack attacks, viruses,
worms and barrages of spam have plagued the internet in
recent months, bringing some services, such as email, to
the brink of ruin. Trust the business community to see an
upside. This author looks at the surging fortunes of
anti-virus and filtering software companies. Another
report, rather more disturbing, from Business Week suggests
that the recent spate of attacks could convince people to buy name-brand
software and eschew free or pirated products. If it's
so good for business, one wonders, why haven't these
companies adopted poor security and the staging of computer
attacks as a core business strategy? One wonders. By Jon
Swartz, USA Today, September 3, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
A Campus Fad That's Being Copied: Internet
Plagiarism
The 'newspaper of record' covers the
plagiarism survey reported here a week or two ago. Notice
that the article does not mention when the survey was
released. By Sara Rimer, New York Times, September 3, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Higher Education Loads up Students With
Debt
More back-to-school related coverage of
rising (and by now unreasonable) tuitions. "The average
undergraduate debt has increased 66 percent, from $11,400
in 1997 to $18,900 in 2002, the survey found. Students
attending graduate school borrowed an extra $31,700, up 51
percent (figures in $US)." And this is about as lame as one
can get: "Education is very expensive," said Sandy Baum, an
economics professor who is co-author of the Nellie Mae
survey. "Someone has to pay for it." Well, d'uh. But: does
it have to be this expensive? And is it reasonable
to demand that students themselves pay this amount? I
cannot emphasize this enough: an entire generation is
being disenfranchised because they cannot access a
basic necessity in today's society. The cost today will
seem paltry when compared to the economic devastation sure
to follow tomorrow. By Diane Carroll, Kansas City Star,
September 2, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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