By Stephen Downes
December 26, 2003
Winter Mist
So it has been a
pretty slow news week, and today's newsletter reflects
that, which some off topic but interesting items. Begin
your vacation browse with this collection of photos, taken
at my home in Moncton, where the weather and the melting
snow produced an unusual winder fog on Christmas Day. These
photos, as with all my work, may be freely downloaded and
used for anything you want. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's
Web, December 25, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
The Internet in a Cup
Coffee
houses... the internet of the 1600s. "A proclamation by
Charles II of England in 1675... Coffee-houses, it
declared, had produced 'very evil and dangerous
effects...for that in such Houses...divers False, Malitious
and Scandalous Reports are devised and spread abroad, to
the Defamation of His Majestie's Government, and to the
Disturbance of the Peace and Quiet of the Realm.'" My kind
of place.
By Unknown, Economist, December, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Standards: Do We Really Need
Them?
Useful and informed discussion of
standards. After some discussion of de facto standards
(what the purists would call 'specifications') and 'de jure
standards', such as those approved by ISO and IEEE, the
author points to the importance of open standards and
suggests things you can do to start using them now. I like
the way this article captures both the utility of standards
and the manner in which commercial interests skew the
standards process. By Luigi Canali De Rossi, Robin Good,
December 26, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
IceBlog
Not really about online
learning, but this blog from an Antarctic researcher will
help you fill some of those holiday hours. The site is a
great read, and there are some lovely photos of the
Antarctic summer. By Beth Bartel, IceBlog, December, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Students Slowed by School Access,
Time
This should be no surprise to those working
in schools, but students are increasingly reporting that
their internet access at school is slower than at home. The
report points out that most schools use broadband
connections, "contrary to students' perceptions about
speed." But, silly, if you split a broadband connection a
hundred ways or more, it resembles a slow dial-up. Students
also report having too little time online at school, again
because internet resources in the learning environment are
shared. By Robyn Greenspan, CyberAtlas, December 23, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Chatters Quieting Down
This is one
of these things that should have been forseen but is still
worthy of note when it happens, if only for the lesson it
offers for next time. The rate at which chat room use is
increasing has slowed down. Factors cited are a more
focussed use of the internet, disruption caused by younger
participants in the unmoderated environment, and concerns
about predators. A better explanation, in my view, is that
as the growth of the internet as a whole slows (as it
must), growth in established parts of the internet also
slows. By Robyn Greenspan, CyberAtlas, December 24, 2003
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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