By Stephen Downes
April 6, 2004
L'état, C'est Moi
A system of
public education should have as its primary objective the
teaching of means and mechanisms of interaction with others
in a maximally harmonious network of distinct and
autonomous individuals. By Stephen Downes, Stephen's Web,
April 6, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Pulitzer Prizes Show Strength of Big
Journalism
The Pulitizers are announced and Dan
Gillmor points to the winners - all from major newspapers -
as evidence that traditional journalism is better than
blogs, asking whether readers think bloggers "could pull
off" the sort of work demonstrated by the winners. I don't
know. But the Pulitizers don't answer the question. I don't
really think that pointing to the winners of a competition
that requires that the entries be published in a newspaper
constitutes any sort of evidence that non-published
content, as in blogs, is of lower quality. When bloggers
(and Canadians) are eligible for the Pulitizers, then we'll
talk. By Dan Gillmor, April 6, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Blogs Put Developers in Microsoft
'Cockpit'
When I flew back from Phoenix last
least I was able to listen to 'Channel 9' on the internal
sound system. Instead of music or business programming, the
staples of in-flight fare (remember: your tax dollars
subsidize business class passengers), I got to listen to
all cockpit communications. I listened to it the entire
way; great entertainment. Anyhow, Microsoft has, according
to this CNet article, "quietly" launched a website called
'Channel 9', a site that allows you to read the thoughts of
Microsoft developers, "to listen in to the cockpit at
Microsoft, an opportunity to learn how we fly, a chance to
get to know our pilots." It's an outstanding idea, easily
the best initiative I've seen come from Redmond in a long
time. I wholeheartedly endorse the credo: "Channel 9 is all
about the conversation. Channel 9 should inspire Microsoft
and our customers to talk in an honest and human voice.
Channel 9 is not a marketing tool, not a PR tool, not a
lead generation tool." Now, if only we could get the
business side of Microsoft to do the same thing, and we'd
really have something here. By David Becker, CNet News.com,
April 6, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Degussa AG Will Work on USC 'House-Printing'
Project
This is pretty interesting: a system
that will 'print out' an entire house in hours (furniture
and house pets extra). Very cool. Via Syllabus. By Press
Release, Information Sciences Institute, April 6, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Project-based Distrubuted Learning and Adult
Learners
I have always been partial to project
based learning - some of my most cherished memories in
education are of the elaborate projects I put together
while in school. This paper describes project based
learning, outlining briefly some founding literature, and
considers the application of project based learning in a
distributed environment. The results from this study are
mixed, as I would think they should be in a population more
used to directed learning. By Erkan Tekinarslan, Turkish
Online Journal of Distance Education, April, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Distance Education in Turkey
Good
survey article that shouldn't contain any surprises for
readers but manages to back up intuitions with solid data.
The Turkish distance education has focused traditionally on
mass instruction with one-way broadcasting. Distance
education is being slowly accepted. But new technologies
and methodologies are allowing for an increasingly
interactive mode of instruction. By Nursel Selver Ruzgar,
Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, April, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Humanoid Robot Conducts Beethoven
Symphony
We may not have robot teachers yet, but
we have robotic conductors. "The 58-centimetre-tall
humanoid robot led the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in a
unique rendition of Beethoven's 5th symphony during a
concert held at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo on 15
March." Via ArtsJournal. By Will Knight, New Scientist,
April 4, 2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
Updated OFAC Ruling Removes Government
Restrictions
The U.S. government has relented;
IEEE publications are no longer under the embargo rule,
which means papers from authors in such countries as Cuba
and Iran may now again be edited for publication. More. By Press Release, IEEE, April 5,
2004
[Refer][Research][Reflect]
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